"Goddamn it, Tannenbaum. You get me out of this fast. I paid you to protect me. I'm not going to rot in jail."
Betsy saw Detective Barrow motion the two officers toward them.
"Remember, not a word," she said as Barrow reached them.
"Hands behind you, please," said one of the uniforms. Darius complied and the officer snapped on the Cuffs. The woman watched in wide-eyed disbelief "I'll expect you first thing in the morning," Darius said as they led him away.
"I'll be there."
Betsy felt a hand on her arm.
"Mrs. Tannenbaum… "It's Betsy."
"I'm Martin's wife, Lisa. What's happening? Why are they taking Martin away?"
Lisa Darius looked bewildered, but Betsy did not see any tears. She seemed more like a hostess whose party has been a stunning flop, than a wife whose husband had just been arrested for mass murder.
"You know as much as I do, Lisa. Did the police mention anything about why they were at your home?"
"They said… I can't believe what they said. They asked us about the three women who were found at Martin's construction site."
"That's right," Betsy said, suddenly remembering why the names Barrow had spoken sounded so familiar.
"Martin couldn't have had anything to do with that.
We know the Millers. They were out on our yacht this summer. This has to be a mistake."
"Mrs. Darius, Betsy and Lisa Darius looked toward the living room stairs. A black detective dressed in jeans and a black and red Portland Trail Blazers jacket was walking toward them.
"We're going to seize your BMW. May I have your key, please?" he asked politely, handing her a yellow carbon of a property receipt.
"Our car? Can they do this?" LISA asked Betsy.
"The warrant mentioned cars."
"Oh, God. Where will this end?"
"I'm afraid my men are going to have to search your house," the detective told her apologetically. "We'll try to be neat and put everything back that we don't take. If you like, you can come along with us."
"I can't. just be quick, please. I want you out of my house."
The detective was embarrassed. He looked down at the carpet as he walked off. Barrow had taken his raincoat with him, but there was a damp spot on the sofa where it had lain. Lisa Darius looked at the spot with distaste and sat as far from it as she could. Betsy sat next to her.
"How long is Martin going to be in jail?"
"That depends. The State has the burden of convincing the court that it's got a damn good case, if it wants to hold Martin without bail. I'll ask for an immediate hearing. If the State can't meet its burden, he'll be out quickly. If they meet it, he won't get out at all, unless we get a not guilty verdict."
"This is unbelievable." any idea something like this might happen?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's been my experience that the police usually don't act unless they have a pretty good case. They make mistakes, of course, but that's rarer than you'd think from the way they're portrayed on television. And your husband's no street punk. I can't imagine Alan Page rousting someone of Martin's stature in the community without some pretty strong evidence.
Especially on a charge like this."
Lisa stared openmouthed at Betsy for a moment.
"Are you suggesting…? I thought you were Martin's lawyer. If you don't believe him, you have no business handling his case. I don't know why he hired you, anyway. Daddy says Oscar Montoya and Matthew Reynolds are the best criminal lawyers in Oregon. He could have had either one of them."
"A lawyer who only thinks what her client wants her to think isn't doing her job," Betsy said calmly. "If there's something you know about these charges, I have to know it, so I can defend Martin properly."
"well, there isn't," Lisa answered, looking away from Betsy. "The whole thing is outrageous."
Betsy decided not to push. "Do you have anyone who can stay with you?" she asked.
"I'll be fine by myself "
"This will get rough, Lisa. The press will be hounding you night and day, and living in a spotlight is much worse than most people imagine.
Do you have an answering machine you can use to screen your calls?"
Lisa nodded.
"Good. Put it on and don't take any calls from the media. Since we don't have any idea of the case against Martin, we don't know what can hurt him. For instance, where Martin was on a certain date might be crucial.
If you tell the press he wasn't with you on that date, it could destroy an alibi. So don't say anything. If a reporter does get through to you, refer her to me. And never talk to the police or someone from the da's office. There's a privilege for husband-wife communications and you have a right to refuse to talk to anyone. Do you understand?"
"Yes. I'll be okay. And I'm sorry I said that. About how Martin could have gotten someone better. I'm just…"
"No need to apologize or explain. This must be very difficult for you."
"You don't have to stay with me."
"I'll stay until the search is finished. I want to see what they're taking. It might tell us why they think Martin's involved. I heard one officer tell Barrow they matched the tread on the BMW to something. That means they've placed Martin's car somewhere. Maybe the crime scene."
"So what? He drives to his construction sites all the time. This whole thing is ridiculous."
"We'll see soon enough," Betsy said, but she was worried. Lisa Darius may have been shocked and surprised by her husband's arrest, but Betsy knew Martin Darius was not. No one gives a $58,000 retainer to a lawyer in anticipation of being arrested for shoplifting. That was the type of retainer a good lawyer received for representing someone on a murder charge.
Chapter Nine.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Tannenbaum," Alan Page said when Betsy was seated across his desk in front of him. "Randy Highsmith was very impressed with the way you handled the Hammermill case. He had nothing but nice things to say about you. That's really high praise, because Randy hates to lose."
"I think Randy might not have brought the charges if he knew how brutal Andrea's husband was."
"That's being charitable. Let's face it. Randy thought he'd run over you. You taught him a good lesson. Losing "Hammermill" will make Randy a better prosecutor. But you're not here to talk about old business, are you? You're here to talk about Martin Darius."
"Detective Barrow must have called you at home at the phone number he wouldn't give me."
"Ross Barrow's a good cop who knows how to follow orders."
"Do you want to tell me why you've arrested my client?"
"I think he murdered the four people we found buried at his construction site."
"That's obvious, Mr. Page "Why don't you call me Al?"
"I'd be glad to. And you may call me Betsy. Now that we're on a first-name basis, how about telling me why you searched Martin's house and arrested him?"
Page smiled. "Fraid I can't do that."
"Won't, you mean."
"Betsy, you know you're not entitled to discovery of our police reports until I've filed an indictment."
"You're going to have to tell the judge what you've got at the bail hearing."
"True. But that's not scheduled yet and there's no indictment, so I'm going to stick to the letter of the discovery statutes."
Betsy leaned back in her chair- and smiled sweetly.
"You must not have much confidence in your case, Al."
Page laughed to cover his surprise that Betsy had seen through him so easily.
"I've got plenty of confidence in our case," he lied.
"But I also have a healthy respect for your abilities. I won't make Randy's mistake of underestimating you. I must confess, though, that with your commitment to feminism I was surprised when Ross told me you were defending Darius."
"What does feminism have to do with my representation of Martin Darius?"
"Hasn't he told you what he's done?"
"Martin Darius has no idea why you're holding him and neither do I."
Page looked at her for a moment, then made a decision.