Page 6 of The Best Lawyer
“I know,” he said, clicking his phone off. “Katy’s in real trouble. And this is going to be a mess.”
Chapter 3
It wasafter two by the time I finally made it into the office. Katy had been arrested and booked. As it was Friday, she wouldn’t go before a judge until Monday morning. As I walked in the front door, Miranda and Jeanie were already waiting for me in Jeanie’s first floor office.
“Is she okay?” Miranda asked. “That poor thing.”
“Poor thing?” Jeanie said. “Have we all forgotten we’re still Team Joe around here?”
Jeanie had a glowing tan. She wore a pair of uncharacteristic capris pants and a tee shirt that read “I Love Barbados” spelled out in seashells.
“They lost my luggage on the way down,” she explained before I asked. “I came straight from the airport when Miranda texted. I’ve got six more tee shirts just like this. Guess what you’re getting as a souvenir.”
“How is Katy?” Miranda repeated.
“About how you’d expect,” I said. Already weary, I took a seat on Jeanie’s couch. “Is Emma here? Joe’s not picking up. I’m getting concerned. And a little bit pissed.”
“She took the day off,” Miranda said. “She had a meeting with her advisor this morning. Something about some graduation paperwork she still has to turn in.”
“Maybe that’s for the best. Do we know if she knows about Katy yet?” Though Emma wasn’t on speaking terms with her at the moment, Katy was the closest thing to a mother she’d ever known.
“Don’t know,” Miranda said. “She texted me yesterday evening to let me know she wasn’t coming in today. Do you want me to try to get a hold of her?”
“No. Let her focus on school. This is all going to hit the fan whether she gets a heads-up or not.” My phone buzzed. I had a jolt of adrenaline, expecting it to be Joe. But it was a text from my younger brother, Matt.
“Katy got arrested? Is Tom really dead?”
I hovered my thumb over the screen. I didn’t really want to have this conversation via text message.
“Yes on both,” I said. “Have Joe call me.”
Matt sent back an exploding head emoji. That was a definite understatement. I put my phone on the table in front of me.
“What happened?” Jeanie asked.
“I’m still trying to piece that together,” I said. “Basically, the cops are saying Katy’s housekeeper walked in on Katy standing over Tom with a knife in her hand, covered in Tom’s blood. Tom was lying in the bed in front of her with his throat sliced open.”
“My lord,” Miranda said. She took a seat on the couch beside me.
“What’s Katy saying?” Jeanie asked.
“She’s not making a whole lot of sense so far. She says she didn’t do it, of course. She says she just woke up and found him like that.”
“Wait a minute,” Jeanie said. “Say again?”
“You heard me correctly the first time. She says she woke up and he was already dead.”
“How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know. The bigger problem is she’s already changed her story a few times when talking to the cops.”
“Why was she talking to the cops?” Miranda asked.
“Sharon DePaul has apparently been promoted to detective. She claims Katy never made an unequivocal request to talk to an attorney. That’s debatable.”
“DePaul,” Miranda said. “Why do I remember that name?”
“Her dad was Bob DePaul,” Jeanie answered. “Deputy Sheriff for a while. Not a huge fan of your dad, Cass.”
