Presumption of Innocence db-1

by Stephen Penner

  Yamata cocked her head, then let out a belly laugh, just making her even hotter somehow. "Is that what everyone thinks? No wonder no one will talk to me. Not 'sexual harassment,' dummy. 'Sexual discrimination.' As in 'gender discrimination.' As in one of the old-boy partners got caught saying he'd never make a woman a partner. Thought he'd hung up his phone but it was on speaker. Hello, payday, and goodbye, law firm. Finally could pay off my student loans and take a kick-ass prosecutor job for half the money."

  Brunelle was stunned. That was a lot of unexpected information all at once. He latched onto the last bit. "Half?"

  Yamata laughed again, a deep purr of a laugh. "Okay, a third." Then she thought for a second and laughed again. "Hey, don't tell anybody, okay? I kinda like everyone being scared of me."

  Brunelle shrugged. "I won't tell, but Welles probably heard and I can't speak for-"

  He turned to the defense table, but Welles had slipped away without so much as a goodbye. That wasn't like him.

  Brunelle should have known it meant trouble.

  Chapter 42

  "And then he says," Brunelle swallowed his bite and pointed at Kat with his fork, "No, my opinion is based on my education, the police reports, and…. my interview of Mr. Karpati!"

  Kat nodded. "Okay, sounds reasonable."

  Brunelle shook his head. "No, no. The point is, we didn't know he'd done that interview. Defense doesn't have to share that with us. I mean, not unless they're gonna use it at trial. Welles probably should've given it to me, but I never would have known if Orbst hadn't let it slip."

  "Ah," Kat nodded. "Well, lucky break for you."

  "Luck?" Brunelle scoffed. "More like scathing cross examination."

  Kat just raised an eyebrow.

  Brunelle laughed. "Okay, yeah, luck. But I got him to admit that Karpati had confessed to the murder."

  "Wow, how did he explain that away?"

  "He said Karpati was mentally ill and driven by an irresistible impulse. He'd do it again and that just proves he's not guilty by reason of insanity."

  Kat's face scrunched into a frown. "That logic is what's crazy."

  "I know," Brunelle laughed. "And so does the jury. No way they let him out."

  Then his cell phone vibrated. He looked down at it and shrugged. "I'm gonna ignore that, I think."

  "What if it's a new homicide?" Kat questioned.

  "Then you're probably the next person they'll call," Brunelle smiled. "We'll see if your phone goes off too."

  The persistent hum of Brunelle's phone was clearly audible over the voices of the restaurant.

  "You know," Kat leaned onto the table and gestured toward the phone on his hip. "That could be fun under the right circumstances.

  Brunelle smiled. "Hmm. Not sure I can text one-handed."

  Kat's eyes twinkled. "Maybe I'll do the texting. You can watch."

  Brunelle's eyebrows shot up. "Oh my." Then he scanned the restaurant. "Time for the check, I think."

  Kat laughed. "We're still on the appetizer, Romeo. Besides, Lizzy's at the house."

  "I have an apartment," Brunelle replied. "And we can hit the drive-thru on the way back to your place."

  "Great, walk in to see my daughter, still smelling like you and french fries. Mom of the Year."

  Brunelle's phone was still buzzing, or rather buzzing again.

  Kat nodded at it. "You better answer that."

  Brunelle frowned. "Yeah, you're probably right."

  He pulled the phone from its hip holder and pressed it to his ear. "Brunelle." Then. "Hey, Michelle. What's up? Kinda busy here."

  Kat waited and watched as Brunelle's face dropped.

  Then he lowered the phone. "Karpati posted bail. He's out."

  He thought for a moment then raised a haunted gaze to Kat. "Lizzy."

  "Lizzy?" she repeated quizzically. Then her voice hardened. "What about Lizzy?"

  "He knows it was her," Brunelle explained. "That she's the one I sent into the jail. He overheard us talking after you testified."

  Kat stared at him for just a moment, then screamed, "Damn you, David Brunelle!" and ran for the door.

  Brunelle only hesitated for a second before running after her, his hand digging the car keys out of his pocket as he went.

  Chapter 43

  The front door was kicked in, the door frame splintered by the deadbolt. No young accomplice to trick the girl inside into unlocking it.

  Brunelle stepped in carefully and scanned the scene, cursing himself for never buying that gun his detective friends kept telling him he needed, handling the cases he did. "Lizzy?"

  But Kat pushed past him. "I'll check the bedrooms, you check down here." She was practically to the top of stairs by the time she finished the sentence. A second later she was out of sight around the corner.

  Brunelle stepped through the house, trying to listen for a clue as to where they might be. There had clearly been a struggle. Drawers pulled open in the kitchen. Someone looking for a knife most likely. But had it been Lizzy for defense, or Karpati for…?

  He shook his head. He needed to stop analyzing it like a crime scene.

  This wasn't Emily; it was Lizzy.

  "Mmmph!"

  Downstairs. The family room. Brunelle dashed down the stairs and pulled up short at the landing.

  Lizzy was on her stomach, her hands tied behind her, her mouth gagged with a towel. Karpati was kneeling on her back, a steak knife in his hand and a gleam in his eye.

  "Why, hello, Mr. Brunelle. Welcome to my acquittal."

  Brunelle swallowed hard. Even if he lunged, he could never reach Karpati before he sliced Lizzy's throat.

  "Acquittal?" Brunelle said. "Looks like count two to me. Attempted Murder."

  Karpati smiled broadly. "Didn't you hear Dr. Feelgood today? A second murder proves I'm insane. I get away with murder by committing a new murder. How crazy is that?"

  When Brunelle didn't respond, Karpati laughed again. "Get it? How crazy is that? Crazy. Get it?"

  Brunelle nodded. He looked at Lizzy. Her eyes pleaded the words her mouth couldn't. Karpati's knife was less than an inch from her own carotid artery. Karpati had dispensed with the formality of the bucket. It would be enough just to kill her.

  "Look, Karpati," Brunelle raised his hands but made a point not to step toward him, lest he get spooked and slash Lizzy's throat right then and there. "This won't work. A second crime never excuses the first. We can charge them together, then they're cross-admissible. Even if we don't seek death, you're looking at twenty years mandatory minimum on each count, no good time. That's forty years. You're twenty already, so best case is you're sixty when you get out. But drop the knife and this is only an attempted murder."

  Karpati shook his head and actually pressed the knife against Lizzy's throat. She whimpered but couldn’t move away from the blade. "You're not listening, Brunelle. Murder to get away with murder." Then Karpati grinned. "And you know the best part?"

  Brunelle shook his head slowly. "No," he said. "What's the best part?"

  "You picked the victim for me," Karpati chimed. "This is the bitch you sent into the jail to trick me, right? Your girlfriend's daughter? Perfect. I mean, I would have been willing to kill any little bitch, but you- You helped me decide exactly which little bitch to filet."

  Brunelle swallowed again, this time against the bile rising in his throat. "Great."

  He decided to press on. Lizzy was still alive, that was something. "Listen, Karpati, really. You don't have to kill her. Let me explain. Dr. Feelgood said it was an irresistible urge. You being here proves that, right? So you don't actually have to kill her. I stopped you. The end. Attempted murder is as good as actual murder for that."

  Karpati nodded. "Okay, yeah. I see what you mean. Sure." He nodded some more and looked down at the helpless girl he was straddling. "There's just one problem."

  "What's that?"

  "I want to kill her." A rough laugh and another wide-eyed grin. "Say goodbye to your step-daughter
, Brunelle."

  Two gunshots echoed off the walls. Karpati flew backwards off of Lizzy and Kat stepped out from behind Brunelle, a wisp of smoke trailing up from the muzzle of her.45 semi-auto.

  "God, you lawyers talk a lot."

  She stepped over and untied her daughter, who clasped her, sobbing.

  Brunelle stepped over to Karpati. One shot to the chest. Potentially survivable. The one that removed the top of his head, not so much.

  "Huh." Brunelle shoved his hands in pockets. He looked over to Kat and Lizzy, still embracing, then back at what was left of Arpad Karpati. "I guess I won't be giving that closing argument on Monday after all."

  Epilogue

  "Holly pled guilty, huh?"

  Chen was sprawled out in one of Brunelle's office chairs, gazing out the window at the sun setting over Elliot Bay.

  "Yep," Brunelle confirmed. "As soon as she heard Karpati was dead, she insisted on pleading. We actually reduced the charge to conspiracy to commit murder. Saved her some time."

  Chen turned back to Brunelle. "Why'd you do that?"

  Brunelle shrugged. "She was a victim too. No way she participates in that murder without Karpati controlling her. She seemed truly remorseful, In fact, she could barely get through the guilty plea because she was sobbing so hard."

  Chen nodded. "Well, that's probably a good thing."

  Brunelle returned the nod. "Yeah, she'll have to live with Emily's death for the rest of her life. There's more than one type of punishment."

  Chen frowned thoughtfully. "You think so?"

  Just then, there was a rap on Brunelle's door frame. It was Kat, dressed for a night on the town. "Ready for the ballet, David?"

  "Ballet?" Chen laughed.

  Brunelle shrugged. "I rest my case."

  FB2 document info

  Document ID: fbd-713510-c557-4243-a194-fd22-1e7d-95bfcd

  Document version: 1

  Document creation date: 29.06.2013

  Created using: calibre 0.9.35, Fiction Book Designer, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6.6 software

  Document authors :

  Stephen Penner

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