PMadriani 12.5 - The Second Man (15 page)
Herman is still scribbling on the notepad.
“I would start with the local tattoo parlors.”
“Hell, there must be seven thousand of them,” says Herman, “and that's only on one block downtown.”
“Got your work cut out,” I tell him. “Harry and I need to go to work on Alex, to loosen his tongue regarding this hot news tip he's got involving Serna. Makes sense that if that's the only connection between the two of them, and if the accident was staged to trap them both, that the story he was working on is probably the reason.”
“OK, tell me this,” says Harry. He finally looks up from the report. “Says here there is no evidence of mechanical malfunction in the steering or brake systems of either car. And catch this, no evidence of any malfunction or tampering with the accelerator, cruise control, or other speed maintenance systems in either vehicle.”
“They can tell all that from the burned-out remains?” says Herman.
“Steel doesn't burn,” says Harry. “So, if he was unconscious, on
roofies
, unable to coordinate his arms or his legs and there was no alteration to the steering, the accelerator, or the cruise control, how did they do eighty miles an hour and steer one car into another in the space of a small intersection? And don't tell me they did it remotely because if they did, there would be evidence of hardware left behind no matter how small it was. The cops would have found it.” Harry looks at me across the table, tapping the page of the accident report with his finger.
It is a good question, and one for which I have no answer.
Â
STEVE
MARTINI
is the author of numerous
New York Times
bestsellers, including
Trader of Secrets
,
The Rule of Nine
,
Guardian of Lies
,
Shadow of Power
,
Double Tap
, and others featuring defense attorney Paul Madriani. Martini has practiced law in California in both state and federal courts and has served as an administrative law judge and supervising hearing officer. He lives in the Pacific Northwest and is currently at work on the next Paul Madriani novel.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at
hc.com
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Double Tap
The Arraignment
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Critical Mass
The List
The Judge
Undue Influence
Prime Witness
Compelling Evidence
The Simeon Chamber
Coming Soon
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from
The Enemy Inside
copyright © 2015 by Steve Martini.
THE SECOND MAN
. Copyright © 2015 by Steve Martini. All rights reserved under International and Pan-ÂAmerican Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-Âbook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-Âengineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperÂCollins e-Âbooks.
EPub Edition APRIL 2015 ISBN: 9780062414724
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062414731
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