Tribal Court (David Brunelle Legal Thriller Series Book 2)

by Stephen Penner

  "Takes one to know one." She pulled her purse up off the floor and set it on the table. "Do you like my new purse?"

  Brunelle appraised it. It was nice enough. "Sure."

  "I got it for us," she said.

  He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?"

  "Yeah." She opened it and let him peer inside. He could see the butt of a gun sticking out of a built in holster.

  "Wow."

  "Apparently," Kat observed as she closed the purse again, "if we're going to date, I need to be armed. Glock G17. Nine millimeter. With polygonal rifling, so it's almost impossible to trace."

  "Impossible to trace?" Brunelle leaned back slightly. "Is that a threat?"

  "David, I'm a scientist. I don't threaten, I explain."

  He smiled. "I thought lawyers explained things."

  "No, lawyers lie. But I know that now, and I'm armed, so we're good."

  Brunelle extended his hand across the table. "Yeah? We're good?"

  Kat smiled and took his hand. "Yes. We're good."

  THE END

  A Note about the "Duwallup" Tribe

  There is no "Duwallup" tribe. The name is an amalgam of Duwamish (doo-WAHM-ish) and Puyallup (pyoo-AHL-up), two important tribes in the Puget Sound area. Chief Sealth was the chief of the Duwamish from the Seattle area (he was actually chief of both the Duwamish and Suquamish; his father was a Suquamish chief and his mother was the daughter of a Duwamish chief). The Puyallup are the largest tribe in the Tacoma area. The Puget Sound region is home to a large number of Native American tribes of varying size, not all of which are officially recognized by the U.S government.

  In Tribal Court, the Duwallup were inspired largely on the Puyallup Tribe. Their tribal land is just north of Tacoma, they have a casino near Interstate 5, and they do have a tribal court. However, there were parts of the story which were fictionalized in order to make the plot more compelling. For example, the Treaty of Medicine Creek did not give the Tribe jurisdiction over crimes committed by one member against another, and the tribal court handles family and other matters, but not criminal cases. Because of these differences, it seemed best to create a fictionalized tribe so as not to leave false impressions about a real tribe.

  For more information on the Puyallup, visit their website at www.puyallup-tribe.com.

  The website for the Duwamish is www.duwamishtribe.org.

  The following is a preview of the next David Brunelle legal thriller:

  BY REASON OF INSANITY

  Sometimes the easiest cases are the hardest. The defendant absolutely, positively murdered her own mother. She is also absolutely, positively mentally ill. Homicide prosecutor David Brunelle is tasked with holding her responsible despite the best efforts of her defense team, which includes a psychologist who's convinced she's innocent. As the case proceeds, the pressures mount and Brunelle begins to question his own sanity. Will Brunelle crack the case, or will the case crack him?

  Chapter 1

  "Holy Mother of God."

  Dave Brunelle, King County homicide prosecutor, stepped into the bedroom of the West Seattle craftsman and surveyed the carnage.

  Seattle P.D. detective Larry Chen turned around from where he was supervising the processing of the scene. His large frame seemed uncomfortable in the small room. "There's nothing holy here, Dave," he said. "And it's hard to see God at work in this." He glanced around the room. "More like the other guy."

  Blood spatter covered the walls, slashes of red reaching for the ceiling, their contents dripping to the floor. One side of the queen bed was absolutely soaked in blackish blood, the sheets and blankets cascading to the wooden floor in a scarlet waterfall. Three forensics officers were photographing the scene and collecting evidence, their camera flashes blasting the gore with a sickening strobe. The stench of death permeated the confines of the stuffy room.

  "You got the mother part right, though," said Chen. "She was the mother."

  "Who? The victim?" Brunelle asked, trying to wrap his mind around what his eyes were seeing.

  "Yep." Chen gestured to the blood-soaked indentation on the bed. "This is mom's room."

  Brunelle stepped toward the bed and frowned. "So where's the body?"

  "We had to get it out of here," Chen said. "Some of the boys were getting sick."

  Brunelle considered what could be so bad that seasoned police officers needed to have the body removed before they could finish their work. "What happened?"

  "Well, we're still piecing it together," Chen answered. He chuckled darkly. "So to speak."

  Brunelle didn't understand the joke. He shook his head at his friend.

  "Her face was hacked to pieces," Chen explained. "With a hatchet. The medical examiner guessed at least twenty times, directly to the face. Probably started where the bridge of her nose used to be."

  "Probably?"

  Chen shrugged. "There wasn't much face left."

  Brunelle looked up at the walls again. He wasn't a blood spatter expert, but he'd seen enough to recognize a cast-off pattern. Blood flying off the blade as the killer pulled it back for another blow.

  "So, the medical examiner has been and gone already?" Brunelle asked. He tried to sound casual. He should have known Chen wouldn't buy it.

  "Yeah. Sorry about that, Romeo." Chen managed a smile at his friend, despite the circumstances. "But don't worry. It wasn't your Kitty-Kat. It was Perkins. He was all business. No flirting at all."

  Brunelle nodded, suppressing his own grin. "Ah. Well, that's good, I suppose."

  "I thought," Chen teased, "Dr. Anderson might've been laying next you when I called."

  It was shortly after three-thirty in the morning.

  "No," Brunelle answered. "We're not quite there yet."

  Chen raised an incredulous eyebrow.

  "Well, not every night," Brunelle admitted.

  "Aha!" One of the forensics techs stood up and pumped a fist. She took a quick picture of something about two feet up the wall nearest the bed, then carefully peeled it off and held it up. Brunelle thought it looked like part of a smashed strawberry.

  "I told Ferguson we hadn't found all of her nose," she said. "Here's the last bit."

  Obviously not one of the cops who complained about the body, Brunelle thought.

  "So, you said she's the mother?" he asked to distract himself from the forensics officer sliding the piece of flesh into a clear evidence baggie. "Whose mother?"

  "The killer's," Chen answered.

  "She was killed by her own son?" Brunelle questioned.

  "Daughter," Chen corrected. "And yes."

  Brunelle scolded himself for his sexist assumption. Not because it was sexist; because it was a jump to conclusions without adequate information. "How do you know?"

  "Because she's the one who called 911," Chen answered. "She was waiting for us when we got here. Opened the door and showed us right up to the bedroom and everything."

  Brunelle's eyebrows shot up. "Wow."

  Chen surrendered another dark laugh. "Yeah. Wow is right."

  "Where is she now?" Brunelle asked. "Waiting for interrogation back at the precinct?"

  "Oh, no." Chen grinned. "She's at Harborview."

  "Harborview?" Brunelle asked. Harborview was the aptly named hospital perched on the hill above downtown Seattle.

  "Yep," answered Chen. "She's fucking nuts."

  End of Chapter 1

  …to read more, get your copy of By Reason of Insanity today!

  Other David Brunelle Legal Thrillers

  NOVELS

  Presumption of Innocence

  (David Brunelle Legal Thriller #1)

  Homicide prosecutor David Brunelle faces the most difficult case of his career. An innocent young girl is murdered in a heinous, unforgivable way. The only evidence against the killer is the full confession of his accomplice—another young girl he also victimized. But the accomplice is charged with the murder as well, which means she has the right to remain silent. And she's so scared of the killer, she
refuses to take a deal to testify against him. Brunelle can't just let the murderer walk, but how can he get a conviction when he has no admissible evidence and the killer is protected by the Presumption of Innocence?

  By Reason of Insanity

  (David Brunelle Legal Thriller #3)

  Sometimes the easiest cases are the hardest. The defendant absolutely, positively murdered her own mother. She is also absolutely, positively mentally ill. Homicide prosecutor David Brunelle is tasked with holding her responsible despite the best efforts of her defense team, which includes a psychologist who's convinced she's innocent. As the case proceeds, the pressures mount and Brunelle begins to question his own sanity. Will Brunelle crack the case, or will the case crack him?

  A Prosecutor for the Defense

  (David Brunelle Legal Thriller #4)

  Seattle homicide D.A. David Brunelle has spent his entire career prosecuting criminals. But when his girlfriend, medical examiner Kat Anderson, asks him to go to California to defend her ex-husband on a murder charge, he just can’t say no to her. Brunelle has to fight not only his prosecutorial instincts, but also a smooth-talking D.A., an unhelpful detective, and--worst of all--a client who won’t give him a straight answer. As the evidence piles up and the case unfolds, Brunelle waits for the other shoe to drop, but this time the shoe is on the other foot.

  Substantial Risk

  (David Brunelle Legal Thriller #5)

  A sex club. A dead “submissive.” A “dominant” in custody.

  Homicide D.A. Dave Brunelle barely understands the terms. How can he ever hope to understand the bondage subculture well enough to hold a killer responsible for the apparently accidental death of his own girlfriend? Brunelle embarks on a voyage of discovery, both of himself and of things he never even knew existed. In so doing, however, he risks losing not only his case, but everything—and everyone—dear to him.

  SHORT STORIES

  (available exclusively for Amazon Kindle)

  Case Theory

  District attorney David Brunelle has a problem: a woman and her child have been murdered, a killer is in custody, but something doesn't add up. Namely, the bullets. Either the cops botched the crime scene, or there's more going on than Brunelle knows. He'll need to figure it out quick, before the defense attorney walks a murderer out the door.

  Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

  A woman is brutally murdered, and it's district attorney David Brunelle's job to put the killer away. The defendant fled barefoot, abandoning her shoes in the pool of blood under the victim. It looks like an open-and-shut case, but Brunelle should know better. If he doesn't figure out the truth—and fast—it's his blood that might be spilled next.

  About the Author

  Stephen Penner is an attorney, author, and artist from Seattle. He writes a variety of fiction, including thrillers, mysteries, and children’s books.

  His other works include the Maggie Devereaux paranormal mystery series, starting with Scottish Rite. He also wrote and illustrated the children’s books Katie Carpenter, Fourth Grade Genius and Professor Barrister’s Dinosaur Mysteries.

  For more information, please visit www.stephenpenner.com.

  www.ringoffirebooks.com