Page 7 of The Best Lawyer
“Sharon seems to have inherited the family grudge,” I said. “I think Katy could make a solid case that she was questioned in violation of due process rights. But even if she hadn’t dug herself deeper by talking to the police, she’s claiming she just woke up and Tom was already dead next to her.”
“Wow,” Jeanie said. “I mean … wow.”
“I know,” I said. “You see the problem.”
“How does a person sleep through their spouse getting stabbed to death in the bed beside them?”
“I have no idea,” I said.
“Ay yai yai,” Jeanie said. “She told the police that? Katy knows better!”
“DePaul claims Katy only asked to see her sister-in-law. Since technically she’snotmy sister-in-law anymore, our newly minted detective thinks she’s in the right. She thinks since Katy never specifically said the word lawyer, everything she told her was fair game.”
“What all did she say?” Jeanie asked.
I relayed what Eric had heard as best I could.
“Oh dear,” Miranda said. “They’re going to charge her with first degree. My goodness.”
“Exactly,” I said.
“You can’t get any closer to this,” Jeanie said.
“I’ll try to find someone who can help her. She won’t get a bail hearing until Monday.”
“What do you think of her chances for bail?” Miranda asked.
“Slim to none,” I said. “I saw a picture of the crime scene. It’s pretty brutal. A literal bloodbath. The man appears to have been killed while he slept. I’m no expert, but I’ve seen enough murder scenes to know he doesn’t appear to have put up a fight.”
“Could she have sleepwalked?” Jeanie asked. “I mean … did she take something?”
“I don’t know if it does any good to go down that road,” I said. “The good news, if there is any. I really think Sharon DePaul screwed up. Katy was in custody when her blood sample was taken. She’d been asking for me from the get-go. They didn’t have a warrant. But it’s a catch-22. If toxicology showed she was impaired, that makes voluntary consent harder to prove. But one can only make that argument if toxicology is admitted.”
“You’re already coming up with defense strategies,” Jeanie said. “You sure that’s wise? I mean, let’s be real about what we’re talking about here. Katy may or may not be a murderer. But we already know she has a motive?”
“We do?” Miranda said, her eyes widening. I hadn’t told herallof Joe’s business like I had Jeanie.
“Joe and Katy got briefly back together last year.”
“You mean after she was already married to Tom?” Miranda asked.
“Yes.”
“Oh my,” she said. “But … that would give Tom a motive to hurt Katy … or Joe. Why would Katy want to kill Tom because of her own questionable behavior?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“If Katy wanted out of that marriage,” Jeanie said. “If Tom was making it difficult for her. It’s just a mess from any angle I look at it.”
“Which is why I need to talk to my brother.”
I picked up my phone and punched in his number once again. This time, I got a message that his voice mailbox was full. I wanted to throw the phone against the wall.
“You don’t think he had anything to do with this, do you?” Miranda asked.
“No,” I said. And I didn’t. But Jeanie was right. This was a mess from all sides.
“I don’t believe her,” Miranda said. “I mean, I don’t believe she’d actually kill anybody. But I don’t believe a person could sleep through a murder happening six inches away from them. Was there any sign of forced entry?”
