Teddy felt his stomach turn and thought he might vomit. He’d seen enough and slipped past Powell through the entryway. Not sure that he could drive just yet, he found a seat in the living room and sat down in the darkness. He wondered what kind of person could do this. We all share the same world and even breathe the same air, he thought, but what could be going through this person’s twisted mind? What brand of madness brought him to think it and desire it, let alone carry it through?
Someone entered the living room. Teddy looked up and saw the district attorney take a chair on the other side of the coffee table across from him. Andrews was a seasoned veteran. But Teddy could tell that what happened to Darlene Lewis was a mile or two beyond even the district attorney’s every day tour.
“You okay, Teddy Mack?”
Teddy nodded. The district attorney’s continual use of his full name irritated him, but not enough to say anything right now. He watched the man light a cigarette. Andrews must have sensed his need and offered him one. Teddy took it, leaning into the flame with a shaky hand as Andrews struck his lighter. Teddy didn’t smoke very often-one or two at parties-but the nicotine seemed to help quiet him down.
“What was wrong with her breasts?” Teddy whispered. “That clear liquid oozing out.”
“Implants,” Andrews said.
Teddy took another drag on the cigarette, drawing the smoke in and wondering why an eighteen-year-old girl who looked as good as Darlene Lewis thought she needed breast implants. He thought about what Carolyn Powell had said in the girl’s bedroom-Darlene Lewis in the modern world.
“We’re glad you’re here,” Andrews said after a moment. “You can go back to Barnett and tell him what you’ve seen. Holmes will face his preliminary arraignment tonight. After that, he’ll be transferred to one of the city’s prisons. When I know which one, I’ll let you know.”
Teddy looked for an ashtray, but couldn’t find one. Andrews slid his across the table.
“The reason I mention it,” Andrews said, “is that I’d like you to be there when Holmes checks in. I want to make sure everything’s done just right. I’m offering you a chance to observe the process so you’re as sure as I am. If he’s got a black eye, it’s because he walked into a door on his own. If he should die tonight with a bump on the head, it’s because he slipped on the floor and fell down. If you’d like to meet with your client after he’s checked in, that’s okay, too. I’ll make the arrangements no matter what the hour.”
Teddy nodded, crushing the cigarette out and ready to hit the road. He stood up. Andrews followed, shaking his hand. As Teddy started for the front door, he remembered the dismantled plumbing and turned back to Andrews.
“What was with the sinks and toilets?” he asked. “What were you guys looking for?”
“Her skin,” Andrews said quietly. “We tore everything apart. We did the same thing at his place downtown. We couldn’t find it.”
“What do you think he did with it?”
Andrews repeated the question, then paused a moment, mulling it over as he stared back at him. “Don’t you get it, Teddy Mack? It’s the reason we let you in this afternoon. The reason you’re going to the prison tonight. Your client’s from the planet Neptune. He cut the girl’s skin away, and then he ate it.”
FIVE
Teddy drove back into the city with the windows open and the heat off. The digital temperature gauge on the dash pegged the night air at a crisp thirty-five degrees. It may have been cold, but Teddy couldn’t feel it.
He found a space in the garage at One Liberty Place, turned the ignition off, and sat for a while taking in the view of the concrete wall through his windshield. He listened to the silence, the stillness, the sound of his breathing. After a moment, he glanced at his watch. It was after seven and he thought he’d skip dinner tonight. He was numb, but he was also angry.
This was more than a favor for Barnett. More than shit duty.
He checked his cell phone and realized it was dead. Digging through his briefcase, he found a fresh battery and snapped it in. When he checked his messages, there were only two. The first was from Jill Sykes, his friend at the firm, updating him on how Brooke Jones made out in court this afternoon. Judge Brey had been disappointed by Teddy’s absence, but it sounded like they won the ruling. Capital Insurance Life hadn’t made a decision to settle though, probably due to the change in attorneys, and the case was scheduled for trial in two weeks. At least for now. The second message was from Jim Barnett, recorded one hour ago. Barnett was on his way home and repeated that they should talk later tonight, then meet first thing in the morning. Barnett must have spoken with the district attorney at some point because he agreed that Teddy should follow Holmes to prison, though not for the same reasons as DA Andrews. Apparently Holmes wasn’t cooperating with Barnett. Instead of talking about a possible deal with Andrews that might include avoiding the death penalty, Oscar Holmes wanted to plead not guilty and take his chances in court. Barnett said he wanted Teddy to meet with Holmes tonight and try to talk some sense into him….
Teddy switched his cell phone off and slipped it into his pocket. He knew that if he returned Barnett’s call right now and spoke his mind, he’d be fired.
“Talk some sense into him,” he said aloud. “In what language?”
Teddy shook it off, climbing out of the car with his briefcase. He took the elevator up to street level, then stepped outside heading for the Wawa minimarket one block south. As he walked in the fresh air, he thought about Barnett’s message and how ridiculous it sounded. There was no way District Attorney Alan Andrews would want to make a deal on this one. Andrews had taken a big hit in the press this morning. Someone he prosecuted for murder and later died by lethal injection had been proven innocent. The Holmes case would clear the table. The crime was horrific enough to change the headlines. And Alan Andrews needed a fresh set of headlines. As big and bold as he could get them, and for as long as he could sustain them.
Teddy entered the market and poured a large cup of coffee. At the register he hesitated a moment before buying a pack of cigarettes. Then he walked out, heading over to the Criminal Justice Center at Thirteenth and Filbert with a pack of Marlboros in his pocket. The high-rise building was fairly new, and in the past, Teddy had always found it architecturally impressive. It didn’t have the look or feel of a typical government building. Instead, there was a certain elegance about the place, almost as if it were the flagship for a major corporation or even a four-star hotel. Because civil cases had been relegated to City Hall, Teddy didn’t have a chance to spend much time in the building. Still, he knew that preliminary arraignments were held in a high-tech courtroom somewhere downstairs.
He skipped the view tonight and crossed the lobby, stepping over to a window on the other side of the front desk. An old man dressed in a uniform sat on a stool exchanging tickets for cell phones as if checking hats or coats at a nightclub. Behind him were hundreds of numbered slots where each phone was kept. The man smiled with reassurance, taking Teddy’s cell phone and handing him a ticket marked 407. Teddy glanced at the number, then slipped it into his pocket on his way around the corner to the metal detectors and X-ray machines. Once he was through security, he gathered his things and followed the signs down the wide staircase, surprised they hadn’t noticed his coffee and more than grateful.
Preliminary arraignments were held twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and only stopped when the judges were due to make a shift change or in need of a break. The court worked like a deli. You took a number and waited your turn. Teddy guessed it would be some time before Holmes’s number came up, but didn’t mind. He wanted to watch the cases that preceded theirs while he figured out what he was supposed to do. Not in the legal sense. He knew a preliminary arraignment wasn’t much more than a formality, particularly in a murder case because there could be no discussion of bail. Teddy’s concerns were technological. Besides, he was still rattled, still shaky at the core, and he needed time to chill.