Milo said, “Actually, Ms. Wright, Dr. Delaware was already involved. On a whole different level.”
“What are you talking about? Stop dancing around the facts and spit it out.”
He gave her a minimally brutal summary of Connie Sykes’s aborted murder plot.
She gaped. “What? That’s impossible.”
He began to repeat himself.
She said, “I heard you, I just don’t believe it … this is bizarre.”
Milo said, “Believe it, Ms. Wright.”
Ballister muttered, “Totally nuts.”
Wright said, “You’re claiming Connie actually threatened him?”
Milo edged so close to her that she was forced to crane. “No need to defend her, Counselor. She can’t be held accountable anymore. So this is the first time you’re hearing about the plot.”
“Of course! What do you take me for?”
“Well,” he said, “maybe just a lawyer doing her job. Or thinking she was. Anything a client tells you is confide—”
“Not when someone’s life is at stake, that’s revolting and insulting, you’re being absolutely …” Swallowing whatever nasty adjective she’d intended, she breathed in and out three times, spread her hands on the table. The color had spread below her perfect jawline. She tried to slow her respiration but failed.
High-strung, compulsively combative woman, the kind of temperament that builds certain types of careers but can also corrode the psyche.
She turned to me. “You think I’d actually let something like that happen to you or anyone else? That hurts my feelings. I can’t believe you’d actually believe—”
Milo said, “Neither I nor Dr. Delaware believes anything at this point, Ms. Wright. It’s my job to ask questions.”
“Well, here’s your answer: I had nothing to do with anything. And I can prove my moral fiber because when I was aware of possible peril, I did provide notice to the intended target.”
I said, “Connie threatened someone else?”
“It didn’t rise to the level of—”
“Who?” My voice had turned hard.
She said, “Judge Maestro. Whom I promptly informed, okay? So if Connie had told me anything about you, I’d have informed you as well.”
Milo said, “You told the judge but not the police.”
Wright’s hands were fists again. “Now you listen: I was under no obligation to tell anyone because the level of threat was ambiguous. But I did so anyway. At the risk of putting my standing at the bar in jeopardy. Why? Because I’m a moral person. Now, who killed my client?”
Milo said, “What was ambiguous about the threat to Judge Maestro?”
Sharp intake of breath. “Dr. Sykes never came out and said she was planning to harm the judge or anyone else. After the case closed, she phoned me to vent, it’s a common after-reaction. And understandable, she was outraged about what she considered a miscarriage of justice. A conclusion with which I concurred. She felt the system had failed her and that the child would suffer. I allowed her to express herself. For closure. The more she talked the more worked up she got and then in the course of her discourse she said she felt like killing someone. Immediately after that, she went on a rant about Judge Maestro, specifically. How biased she’d been from the onset, how unwilling she’d been to have an open mind. It was the association that concerned me.”
Milo said, “Wanting to kill someone, then seguing to the judge.”
“There you go, Lieutenant. You’re getting it. Quite obviously, there was no actionable threat. But I warned the judge anyway and if that’s not proof of—”
“How did the judge respond?”
Beautiful teeth chewed Wright’s upper lip. “I left a telephonic message.”
“You assumed she’d receive it.”
“I never heard she didn’t receive it.” She gave another dismissive wave. “I have nothing more to say to you.”
“Actually,” said Milo, “it was Mr. Ballister we’re here to see, not you.”
Not being the focus made Wright frown.
“So if you’d give us some time with Mr. Ballist—”
“You want me to leave? Fine! I’m gone.” Milo stepped away and she slid out of the booth, stamped off.
Myron Ballister said, “Oh, man.”
Milo said, “Sorry to ruin your hot date.”
“She’s like a Ferrari, zero to a hundred in … whatever. What do you guys need from me?”
“How long you been practicing law?”
“Me? Just this year.”
“Helluva case to start with.”
“I had others before,” said Ballister. “A couple.”
“Also child custody?”
“No, just … coupla traffics … one DUI.”
“So you don’t specialize in family law.”
“I’m still trying to figure out what I’m into.”
Milo slid into the spot vacated by Medea Wright. I took up the remaining space in the booth. Ballister, hemmed in, eyed the bowl of chips.
Milo nudged it just out of reach. “Who referred Cherie Sykes to you?”
“That’s confidential.”
“Really? Something silly like that?” Milo inched closer to him.
“Whatever, Craigslist. I have an ad there.” Ballister fidgeted. “Starting out’s tough.”
“Hey, whatever works, Myron.”
“Go to Yale like Medea, it’s easier.”
I said, “You won the case.”
“Yeah,” he said, as if he still couldn’t believe it. “The day after, Medea calls, I’m thinking, It’s finished, you lost, now what? But she was different. Friendly. She asked for a meeting. Dinner, near her office. I didn’t get it, but, okay, why not?” Baleful smile. “I was hoping she was impressed with my winning, her firm wanted to interview me or something.”
“So you guys had dinner.”
“Not for long.” Ballister’s Nordic complexion made blushing a quick process. Sweat beaded his nose. “I’m thinking this can’t be happening, she went to friggin’ Yale.”
Milo said, “A girl who knows what she wants, Myron. Lucky you.”
“Yeah.” Ballister’s shoulders relaxed. He grinned. Now we were just a bunch of guys talking about women. “She says it — the attraction — is because I’m easygoing. Both of her exes were total assholes.”
“Sometimes nice guys finish first.”
“I like to go to sleep feeling okay about what I did that day. Before I went to law school I worked at a nonprofit for a couple years. Social work assistant, helping farm people get benefits. I ever pay back my student loans I’ll go back to that but as an attorney.”
“Public interest law.”
“Medea calls it public nuisance. She can get a little … outspoken.”
I said, “You like helping people, so when Cherie Sykes came to you …”
“I was surprised. That she’d just do it with Craigslist. I mean traffic is one thing, even a DUI if it’s a first offense. But your kid? I told her I’d never done anything like that, maybe she wanted someone with more experience. She said nope, she liked the vibe I gave off.”
His smile was gentle. “I figured maybe she also liked the price.”
I said, “You actually charged her?”
“A little.” Another shrug. “She’s not exactly rich, right? Not like her sister, that’s what bothered me, her sister having someone like Medea. It wasn’t balanced.”
I said, “Luckily the law was on your side.”
“After I read up on guardianship I realized that. But still, you never know. I figured we needed for Ree to not look like a serious criminal or an outright psycho. Which she isn’t — she’s a really nice person, am I right, Doctor? But with the system, you never know. When I worked at the agency I saw all sorts of crazy stuff go down, shit that didn’t make sense but there was nothing you could do, judges are in charge. When I found out we were getting Judge Maestro I tried to research her, couldn’t find any pattern. She wasn’t doing much guardianship, period, it was mostly inheritance disputes, conservatorships, whatever. So I just didn’t know. Anyway thanks for your report, Dr. Delaware. It really helped.”