Page 4 of The Best Lawyer
“They drew your blood at the hospital?” I asked, my anger rising. “Did you give them permission to do that? Please tell me you asked for a lawyer, Katy?”
Every member of my family knew the drill. When my brothers were younger, they had a tendency to let their tempers get the better of them. The elder baby boomers and silent generation cops in this town made assumptions about us due to our last name. Deputy DePaul’s father was one of the worst of them. Our father’s and grandfather’s reputations preceded us. It had taken a long time to shakethat stigma. As a result, my brothers and sister knew you always asked for a lawyer if you found yourself in trouble. Always.
“I didn’t know what to do?” Katy said. “I did ask for you. I said I want to talk to my sister-in-law.”
I had to keep my own Leary temper in check. If she’d asked for me, that should have ended all questioning. They certainly shouldn’t have taken her blood without a warrant. Though I wanted to rail about her constitutional rights, and I would, Katy was falling apart right in front of me.
“Okay,” I said, not wanting to upset her further. “Just try to calm down.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I swear. I don’t know. I just woke up and he was dead, Cass.”
“Stop,” I said. “Stop talking. Even to me.” I didn’t know yet how deeply I wanted to get involved. I needed to talk to Joe above all else.
She collapsed in tears. “You have to help me! Please tell me you’re going to get me out of this.”
“Just stay put,” I told her, as if she had any other choice just now.
“No!” she shrieked as I started to rise. “Don’t leave me. You can’t leave me here. I want to go home. Oh God. I can’t go home. He’s there. Tom is still there. The police are everywhere. What is everyone going to think?”
“Sit tight,” I said. “Let me try to figure out what’s going on. I’m going to see if I can get those taken off of you. You need to drink something. When’s the lasttime you ate?”
She doubled over and dry heaved into the garbage can again. “Never mind,” I said. I closed the door behind me and walked out into the hallway. Eric was at the end of it deep in conversation with Deputy DePaul. I marched toward them.
“She asked for a lawyer,” I spat. “Whatever she said, whatever she told you. It’s inadmissible. She’s in no condition to waive her rights. Did anyone even read them to her?”
“Cass …” Eric started.
Sharon DePaul faced me full on, squaring her shoulders. “She was read her rights. She signed a waiver at the hospital.”
“She told me that she asked for a lawyer.”
“She did no such thing,” she said. “She was eager to talk to me. All she said was that she wanted to talk to her sister-in-law. She never said she wanted a lawyer. I asked her repeatedly. She never asked for you specifically.”
Eric dropped his chin and covered his face with his hand.
“This is the game you’re going to play?” I asked. “You know who I am, Sharon. I want to talk to the detective handling this case. Where’s Patel?”
“You’re not her sister-in-law,” Sharon said coldly.
“Cass,” Eric said, looking back at me. “Patel’s been reassigned. Sharon was promoted to detective a few months ago.”
“So you’re new,” I said. “Great. Sharon, you know I’m a lawyer. You know Katy was my sister-in-law. You know what Katy meant. Whatever she told you was in violation of her rights. Are you arresting her?”
“Not yet. As soon as …” Sharon said.
“Great. Then you can take the cuffs off her. And if she’s not under arrest, I’m taking her home.”
“Her home is a crime scene,” Sharon said.
“Figure of speech,” I said.
“I said she hasn’t been arrested yet. She will be. I’m getting my warrant signed. Then she goes to booking. She’s not going anywhere after that but into a holding cell. You wanna take it up with the sheriff? Be my guest. But this conversation is over. Nice catching up,” she spat just before she stormed off.
Eric turned to me.
“Don’t start.” I put a hand up. “You know I’m right.”
“Come on,” he said, gently taking me by the elbow. “We can talk in here.”
