Page 91 of The Best Lawyer
“I was visiting my dad in St. Pete Beach,” she said. “He lives in a condo with my stepmom. But I don’t stay there when I go. I stayed at the Don CeSar. I can find my reservation if you wantthat too. I’ve got an alibi for the morning Tom was murdered. Does your brother?”
I clutched the papers, crumpling them.
“Then why?” I asked.
“I didn’t love Tom,” she said. “Not anymore. Maybe not ever. I was young. Just starting out in the news. WDTN was my first job out of college because I’m good at what I do. Except I walked into the biggest cliché and I’m not proud of it. Tom was handsome and charming. And dumb as a post. Oddly, I found that endearing. But then I also figured out he was a jerk. He could have just broken up with me. Told me the truth that he had met somebody else. I admit I didn’t handle it great. I got mean. Things were tense at work. But we could have worked it out. He just needed to give me a little time to cool off. Instead, he tried to get me fired for his own convenience. Well, I wasn’t going to stand for that so I filed a complaint.”
“So you got him fired,” I said.
“Forced to resign,” she said. “It was kind of a shock, really. That management sided with me. Tom was a major talent. They were going to promote him.”
“They made you sign an NDA,” I said. Her comment about not wanting to cover for Tom anymore made sense.
“He left. I got to stay. But people treated me differently after that. I could tell they thought I was a problem. I did the right thing. I wasn’t a victim, but Tomdidtake advantage of me. The whole thing soured me on the corporate news business.”
“But not broadcasting,” I said.
“I builtTallon for Justiceall on my own,” she said. “The first two seasons weren’t huge. But I was gaining steady subscribers.”
“Then your ex-lover ended up a murder victim and you saw an opportunity.”
“That’s not it,” she said. “I was angry about how things ended. Yes. But I never hated Tom. What happened to him made me sick. I really do want to bring his killer to justice. No matter who I have to go through to find the truth.”
“Your story,” I said. “On your terms. You’ve got a nice little ratings-grabbing twist, haven’t you? That’s the plan? Reveal your true relationship after the verdict?”
“I haven’t broken a single law,” she said. “If the police had wanted to question me, I would have cooperated without revealing my sources. I still will. But I’m not a witness. I wasn’t even in town. I hadn’t spoken to Tom in nearly six years. I’m nothing more than a footnote in his life story.”
“It’s unethical,” I said.
“You really think you should be calling anyone else out on their ethical duties? And you still haven’t answered my question. I know you won’t. But I also know I’m right. It’s you who’s hiding something. I think if your brother really was involved, you’re willing to let Katy take the fall for it all by herself. And maybe she really is the only one who’s guilty. But you know more than the police do. I’m sure of it. I’m just as sure I’m about to prove it. So consider this a warning. If anything happens to me, I’ve got a file saved to the cloud outlining everything I suspect and how far I’ve gotten in this case. A friend of mine knows what to do with it. And she knows I’m meeting with you today.”
I was seething. She’d outplayed me. In my rage at Josie, my concern for Emma and Joe, I’d let my guard down. I’d been thinking with my emotions far too long. I had walked right into this.
Almost on autopilot, I stepped out of her car. “You can keep that, by the way,” she said. I was still holding on to her flight itinerary. She gave me a wave and a smug smile as she pulled out and left me in the dust.
Chapter 31
“She played me, Eric,”I said. He sat on the edge of my office couch, studying the flight itinerary Tallon had given me. “The problem is, she doesn’t realize how close she really is to the truth.”
He raised a brow and tossed the papers onto the table in front of him. “She took a pretty big risk. This is borderline obstruction.”
“How? She was never called as a witness. She was never even interviewed by DePaul. When I confronted her about who she really is, she didn’t deny a bit of it.”
“But do you believe her? This noble justice warrior routine?”
“I don’t know,” I said. I reached into my top desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen. Popping three into my mouth, I left the bottle on the desk. Jeanie was due back from court any moment. I hoped she had a better day than I had.
“She’s going to expose Joe,” he said. “I have a feeling her next episode will be about how he lied on the stand. If you figuredout his story didn’t check out, she will too. I’m surprised she hasn’t already.”
I crashed my head into my desk. Eric came over to me and started rubbing my shoulders. “I’m out of road. Maisy Carmichael had an alibi. Tallon Shipley or Theresa Sheffield has an alibi. Joe’s the only one who doesn’t.”
He stopped rubbing my shoulders and sat on the desk beside me. My pulse pounded in my ears. With each beat of my heart, a simple truth echoed through me.
The only proven liar in this whole mess was Joe.
“The facts are still the facts,” he said. “There’s no proof Joe was even there. I don’t know why he lied either. But I just don’t see it. I don’t believe Joe killed Tom.”
I stood and walked over to the window. Jeanie pulled into the parking lot. It would take her a minute to get out of her car and head to her office downstairs.
