“Relax, Mark. You’re in the clear. You just told them everything you knew and advised them to contact the police if the information should warrant it. If they fail to do it, you’ve still discharged your duty.”
“I could still go to the police myself.”
“With what? Hearsay? You don’t know anything, Mark. You only know what other people have told you.”
Steve clamped his hands together. “Okay, Mark. That’s out of the way. Let’s see if we can get that medical report.”
16
Tracy Garvin was at her desk when Steve Winslow pushed open the door.
“She call yet?” Steve said.
“No. What’s up?”
“What about Mark? Did he call?”
“I thought you were just with him.”
“I was. I mean while I came down in the elevator.”
Tracy looked at him. “No, he didn’t call. What’s going on?”
Steve ran his hand over his head, exhaled. “I’m sorry. I’m a little worked up. We’re waiting on the medical report.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Mark’s man called in the with the medical report, but we were tied up and couldn’t take it. The guy hasn’t called back yet, and Mark can’t reach him.”
“Then what are you doing down here?”
“I wanted to see if the girl called.”
“You could have called me.”
Steve waved his hand. “I know, I know. I just had to get out of there. Mark was driving me nuts.”
“Oh yeah? What about?”
“I more or less sent his detectives underground.”
“What?”
“Marcie Keller and Dan Fuller. Mark and I had a talk with them. Afterward they took off. If Marcie Keller has her way, I doubt if we’ll be seeing them again for a while.”
Tracy took off her glasses, folded them up. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me you told them not to talk?”
“No. We told them exactly what had happened, told them everything we knew and advised them if it became relevant it was their duty to go to the cops.”
“Then why is Mark upset?”
“Because Marcie Keller’s interpretation of what’s relevant is apt to be rather narrow.”
“So, you basically threw on a coat of legal whitewash and told the detectives to disappear.”
“I’m sure that’s how the police would interpret it.”
“No wonder Mark’s upset.”
The phone rang. Tracy scooped it up, said, “Steve Winslow’s office.” She looked up at Steve. “It’s Mark.”
Steve was too worked up to bother going into his office to take the call. He walked over to the desk and took the phone from Tracy. “Yeah, Mark.”
“The guy called back with the medical report.”
“And?”
“It’s the worst. They put the time of death last night between eleven and twelve.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. We’re in it now, so what the hell do we do?”
“Notify your detectives immediately.”
“I don’t know where they are.”
“That, of course, makes it harder.”
“Damn it, Steve, it’s not funny. What do I do?”
“I told you. Notify your detectives. Make every effort to reach ’em. That’s all you can do right now.”
“Steve, I don’t like it.”
“I hate it like hell, but there you are. They charge the girl yet?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Okay, keep digging.”
Steve hung up the phone.
“So?” Tracy said.
“They put the time of death between eleven and twelve last night.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“So what’re you gonna do?”
“You heard what I told Mark.”
“Yeah. So what about you? What’s your responsibility in this?”
“Absolutely none. I have professional privilege. I’m protecting the confidence of a client.”
“Is she a client?”
Steve sighed and shook his head. “Damn it. You know, you always ask the key questions. She was a client. And I have every expectation she’s gonna be calling me any minute. But the fact of the matter is, no, my job for her was finished and all this other shit I did on my own. Damn, why hasn’t she called yet?”
“Why wait?”
“What?”
“Why wait for the phone call? Why don’t you just go down there and see her?”
“As her attorney?”
“Yes.”
Steve sighed again. “That’s the whole thing, Tracy. I don’t know what her story is. It sure wasn’t what she told us-at least, not entirely. So what have we got? We’ve got some woman prancing around in the nude, extorting money from businessmen, having rendezvous with young playboys who wind up dead. I don’t know what’s going on, but until I hear her story I don’t wanna commit myself to being her lawyer. If it turns out she killed David Castleton, I don’t wanna have anything to do with her.”
“There may have been extenuating circumstances.”
“Maybe so. But you know, I don’t give a shit. Self-defense, maybe, but I still don’t like it. The guy’s unarmed and she plugs him with a thirty-two? She’d have to have a damn good story to get me to argue self-defense on that.”
Steve shrugged. “If she calls me up, it’s a different story. I’ll go down, listen to what she has to say. If I don’t like it, I’ll tell her to look elsewhere.”
“What if she doesn’t call?”
“I don’t know. We’re getting more information all the time. Sooner or later I’ll figure out what the hell I’m going to do. But right now I don’t know.”
The phone rang. Tracy picked it up, said, “Steve Winslow’s office,” listened a moment, said, “Hold on.” She covered the mouthpiece and looked up at Steve. “It’s her.”
17
“I didn’t do it.”
Steven Winslow frowned. He looked at Kelly Blaine through the wire mesh screen in the visiting room of the lockup. “They charge you yet?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the charge?”
“Murdering David Castleton.”
“That’s what you didn’t do?”
Kelly frowned. “Why are you talking like that? Like you didn’t believe me? You’re my lawyer.”
“Hang on,” Steve said. “Let’s get something clear. I’m not your lawyer. I did a job for you. That job is finished. Now you’re consulting me again. I may take the case and I may not. That’s still up in the air. I’m not your lawyer till I tell you I am.”
“But-”
“Hold on. Let me finish. You’re now consulting me as an attorney. Whether I take the case or not, anything you tell me is confidential. It can’t implicate you, and I can’t divulge it. So there’s no reason to hold anything back. You can talk as freely as if I were your attorney.”
“I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t you take the case?”
“We have a slight credibility problem here. You come into my office, tell me a story. I act on it, get you a settlement. As it turns out, I have no idea how much of your story is true. All I know is, you gave me a phony name and address and then you didn’t cash your settlement check. Next thing I know you’re palling around with David Castleton and he’s dead.
“That’s in the debit column. You expect me to have any dealings with you, you better start filling in the credit side of the ledger.”
Steve took a breath. “Okay. Let’s start with your name. You told me Kelly Blaine. The cops have you down as Kelly Wilder. Which is it?”
“It’s Wilder.”
“And what’s Blaine?”
“Nothing. I made it up.”
“Why?”
“It’s a long story.”
Steve gestured at the surroundings. “Yeah, well it looks like you’re gonna have plenty of time. So start explaining.”
Kelly took a breath. “Well, I guess you could start with my name.”
Steve’s eyes narrowed. “It isn’t Wilder either?”
“No, it is. But it’s my married name.” She wrinkled her nose. “I was married two years. To an actor. A total creep. I don’t know why it took me that long to figure it out. It was just one of those things. Anyhow, I’m divorced. Almost a year now. I just haven’t gotten around to changing my name.”
“Yeah? So what?”
“My maiden name is Clay.”
Steve frowned. “Clay? Why is that name familiar?”