Murder in Plain Sight (2010)

by Perry, Marta

  “It does,” he agreed. That was the attitude he hoped for from folks around here. “I need to take Ms. Langdon over to the jail on King Street for a meeting. You mind dropping the car over there when you’re done?”

  “Sure thing, Trey. No problem at all.” He settled his cap firmly on his head and nodded toward Jessica. “I’ll take care of it. Don’t you worry. I’ll bring the keys in and leave ’em at the desk, okay?”

  “Good.” He clapped Tom’s shoulder. “Thanks, Tom. You tell Tommy I said hi, too.”

  “Will do.”

  Trey raised an eyebrow at Jessica. “That all right with you?”

  “I suppose so.” The words came out grudgingly. “I can get a cab…”

  “My truck’s right here.” He took her arm. “By the time you wait for a cab, you’ll be even later.”

  She pushed back her sleeve to glance at the gold bracelet watch that circled her wrist. Nice. And expensive. A gift, maybe, from a boyfriend or fiancé? She didn’t wear a ring, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t involved with someone.

  “All right. Thanks.”

  He opened the door for her. She climbed in, smoothing her skirt down over her knees. The skirt didn’t quite make it.

  Removing his gaze with an effort, he rounded the truck, got in and started the engine. He shouldn’t be looking at her legs, much as they were worth a second glance. And he shouldn’t be wondering whether she had a man in her life. The only thing that should interest him at the moment was whether this unpleasantness might make her back off from the case.

  They drove for a block in silence. “I’m sorry that happened,” he said finally. “I knew feelings were running high, but I never expected open vandalism. I hope it didn’t upset you too much.”

  “Is that really what you feel? Or were you thinking that this might be what it took to drive me off?” Her tone was sharp, and he could hardly blame her. Jessica seemed to have an uncanny ability to read his mind.

  He took a deep breath and sought for a rational answer. It wouldn’t come.

  “I suppose you’re thinking that I might have done it myself to get rid of you,” he said.

  A glance at her face told him she’d been thinking exactly that. He clamped his lips shut on the angry words that wanted to pour out. He wasn’t sure whether he was angrier at her for thinking that of him or at himself for caring.

  He took a deep breath and held it for a count of five. Ten would probably have been better.

  “I’m not going to keep protesting my innocence to you. But you ought to see that this is the very thing I’m trying to protect my mother against. I’m not pleased it happened to you, but—” He stopped. That sentence wasn’t going anywhere good.

  “But you’d rather it was me than your mother,” she finished for him. “All right, I get that.” She slanted a sideways glance at him. “And I’m willing to concede that you don’t seem the sort of person to stick knives into people’s tires.”

  “Thank you,” he said stiffly.

  She shook her head. “I just don’t understand why anyone wants to take their anger at the crime out on me. Surely they realize that Thomas has to have a defense attorney. If not me, it will be someone else.”

  “I’m not sure the person who slashed your tires is capable of logical thought. Besides, you’re a Philadelphia lawyer.”

  She looked at him blankly. “So?”

  “You don’t know the expression?” He couldn’t help smiling. “I hate to be the one to break it to you, Counselor, but out in country places, the term is used as a not-very-complimentary comparison. As in, ‘He’s as slick as a Philadelphia lawyer.’”

  “Charming,” she said. “No, I didn’t know that. But our vandal might as well get one thing clear.” She turned toward him as he pulled up in front of the jail. “I’m not quitting this case. Not if I have to put new tires on my car every day of the week.”

  “That could get expensive,” he said mildly, but he wasn’t deceived. Jessica didn’t just mean that for the vandal, whoever he might be. She meant it for him, as well.

  He should be annoyed. He was. But he was also experiencing a certain sneaking admiration for Jessica Langdon. She might be a thorn in his side at the moment, but he had to admit that she had guts.

  TRUE TO HIS WORD, Leo Frost was waiting for Jessica at the jail. She walked toward the spare, slightly stooping figure, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand. Thomas must be persuaded to talk to her. To give her something upon which she could build a case.

  That was the important thing, not the vandalism to her car. And certainly not whatever random feelings and questioning doubts Trey had managed to raise.

  “Mr. Frost.” She gripped his hand briefly. “Thanks again for coming.”

  “No problem at all.” He nodded toward the desk. “I asked the officer to have Thomas brought down. We may as well go on into the interview room.”

  Maybe he needed to sit down. Compunction hit her as she fell into step with him. “Have you been waiting long? I’m sorry I’m late.”

  “Not at all.” He held the door for her and then sank into one of the straight chairs with a sigh. Someone had brought an extra chair in, she noted, showing more consideration for Frost’s health than she had, it seemed.

  “Mr. Frost, I do apologize…”

  “It doesn’t matter in the least. And call me Leo, please. I can hang on to an illusion of youth as long as a pretty woman calls me by my first name.”

  She smiled, making an effort to throw off the negative effects of the past hour. “Leo, then.”

  Sharp eyes zeroed in on her face. “Something’s wrong. What is it? Something to do with the case?”

  The concern in his voice cut through her reserve. She hadn’t intended to tell him, but the urge to accept that concern was too strong.

  “While I was in your office, someone let the air out of my tires.” That wasn’t correct. “Actually, whoever it was slashed my tires. And left me a nasty little note.”

  “That can’t be.” Leo’s voice was sharp with disbelief.

  She stiffened. “I assure you, that’s what happened.”

  “I’m so sorry. Jessica, I didn’t mean I thought you were lying. I’m just…” He shook his head, and she realized his face had lost whatever color it had. “I’m stunned. That’s so out of character for people around here. Or at least it used to be.”

  His obvious distress touched her. She wanted to say something to ease the situation, but the door rattled. She turned toward it to see Thomas brought in…and to see the relief that flooded his face at the sight of Leo Frost.

  The boy didn’t speak until the door closed behind the guards. Then he leaned across the table. “You came. Denke.”

  “You’re welcome.” Leo gave him a reassuring smile. “I told you I’d come back. Are they treating you all right?”

  A trace of anxiety touched the older man’s voice. Jessica understood. Thomas seemed ill-prepared to mix in with the general population of the jail.

  “Ja.” He plucked at the front of the jumpsuit. “I would like to have my own clothes, but the other lawyer said that I could not.”

  “Ms. Langdon is right about that.” Leo leaned toward the boy. “Thomas, I explained that you would have another lawyer to take care of you. You can trust Ms. Langdon. You have to tell her everything.”

  Thomas’s glance touched her face and then slid away. “Ja. I understand.”

  Jessica understood, too. Thomas would take Leo’s word for it, because he had faith in Leo.

  “Good.” Leo started to rise. “I’ll leave you two together then.”

  “Don’t go.” It was an anguished cry, and Thomas grasped the older man’s hand, earning a sharp rap on the glass from the guard outside.

  “Thomas, Ms. Langdon is your attorney now. You need to talk to her.” Leo’s voice was deep with sympathy.

  Thomas nodded, but he looked miserable. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of her, was it?

  She managed a
smile. “Leo, if you don’t mind staying…” She left it open, with a faint, apologetic thought for Henderson, Dawes and Henderson. Mr. Henderson would not approve.

  Leo hesitated for a moment. Then he nodded and sat down, and the tension in the small room eased.

  Jessica took a deep breath, feeling as if some barrier had been surmounted. Now, maybe, she could get to work on the case. She took a pad from her briefcase.

  “Thomas, I…we…have to ask you some questions about what happened the night Cherry died. Just try to answer as fully as you can. Okay?”

  He nodded, blue eyes filled with apprehension.

  “All right, then.” She started with some easy questions—who had planned the party where he’d met Cherry that night, where was it, how had he learned about it.

  Thomas answered readily enough, sometimes groping for a word. She reminded herself again that English, according to Trey, wasn’t his first language.

  She made notes, sure that all this ground would have been gone over by the police. Still, they could have missed something, convinced as they were that their murderer had been lying there at the crime scene, waiting for them.

  “You’re doing fine, Thomas. Now, I want you to write down the names of the people who were at that party.” She pushed the pad and pen over to him.

  “They were mostly Englisch,” Thomas said, taking the pen. “I don’t know all the names.”

  “Non-Amish, he means,” Leo said. “Just put down the names you remember.”

  Thomas nodded, beginning to print on the yellow pad. Mostly first names, she realized. It would take some work to track down everyone who’d been at that party, and even when she did, what would they have to contribute? The crime hadn’t occurred there.

  Leo was watching the movement of Thomas’s hand on the paper. When it stopped, he spoke. “Now the names of all the Amish at the party.”

  Something that might have been rebellion tightened Thomas’s face. “I don’t—”

  “We know you weren’t the only Amish there.” Leo’s voice had a note of command. “Names. Ms. Langdon won’t tell on them to their parents if she can help it.”

  She opened her mouth to say that she probably would have to talk to parents, especially if any of the party crowd was underage. Then she shut it again. Thomas was writing down the names. Leo had the knack of dealing with the boy.

  When Thomas finally pushed the pad back across to her, she felt a sense of satisfaction. At least it was a place to start. But now she had to ask the tough questions.

  “When did you and Cherry leave that party?” she asked.

  The whites of Thomas’s eyes showed. “I don’t know.”

  “How did you get to the barn?”

  “I don’t know.” His big hands clasped together.

  “How can you not know?” Her voice sharpened. “Thomas, you have to be open with me if I’m going to help you.”

  “I don’t know,” he said again, desperation in his voice. “I don’t remember.” He looked at Leo, unleashing a torrent of words in a language she didn’t understand.

  Leo listened, then waved him to silence and turned to Jessica. “He says the last thing he remembers is being at the party, having a beer and talking to some English kids. Then it’s a blank until the police woke him up.”

  Her heart sank. I don’t remember wasn’t a particularly good defense.

  She wanted to ask if Leo believed him, but that was a question best left until they were alone. She put a few more questions to Thomas, not expecting much and not getting it. Ja, of course he knew the barn that the Morgan family owned. He hadn’t been there in a long time.

  When the guards had taken Thomas back to his cell, she stared at the single sheet of yellow paper. Not much to show for the interview with her client.

  She glanced at Leo. He looked a little better than he had earlier, as if getting his teeth into the case had been good for him.

  “You understood the language…Amish, is it?”

  “Pennsylvania Dutch. Or Pennsylvania German, if you wanted to be more accurate, which most people don’t.” He shrugged. “Plenty of old-timers like me understand. My parents spoke it when I was a child.”

  “Your family was Amish?” She tried to get a grip on a situation that seemed to be slipping out of her hands.

  “Not Amish, no. Of German-Swiss descent, like them. It’s not that unusual in this area. Even some of the younger folks understand. Trey, for instance. He’s quite fluent.”

  Trey, again. She could do without having Trey Morgan shoved in her face every other minute.

  “About the other kids who were at the party,” Leo said. “I don’t want to interfere—”

  “If you know anything that will help, just tell me,” she said quickly. “I’m beginning to understand just how much a fish out of water I am in this case.”

  “The English kids will probably be easy. Some of them may have already talked to the police. But the Amish are another story.”

  “They won’t willingly get involved with the law.” Trey had said something like that, and Thomas had confirmed it.

  “That’s right.” Leo looked relieved that she understood. “You’ll need an entrée—someone who knows them, if you’re going to get anything out of them.”

  It went against the grain, but surely she was smart enough to know when she needed a hand. “If you’re willing to help, I’d be grateful.”

  He nodded, smiling a little. “One last challenge before I retire. I’d like that.”

  She smiled back. Maybe she hadn’t gotten what she’d hoped for from her client, but she began to feel she’d gained a friend. “Thanks, Leo.”

  “I’ll do what I can. But you know who the kids might open up to more easily? Trey Morgan. You need to get him involved.”

  Involved? She nodded, but her heart sank. It seemed to her that Trey Morgan was already involved far too much for her peace of mind.

  CHAPTER SIX

  SOMEHOW JESSICA WASN’T really surprised when she went out to the street to find that Trey was leaning against her car. She stopped, frowning at him as he held out her keys.

  “I thought your buddy Tom was going to bring the car over.”

  He shrugged. “I had time. You don’t mind driving me back to pick up my truck, do you?”

  She could hardly say no. She gave him a brisk nod and went around to the driver’s side. Trey slid into the passenger’s seat and adjusted the sun visor.

  “So, how did it go with Thomas?”

  “I can’t discuss the case with you. Not unless my client wishes it.” And her client was never going to be presented with that option, if she had anything to say about it. Leo’s recommendation that she involve Trey in the case flitted through her mind, but she ignored it.

  “Okay. I guess it’s going to be a quiet ride, then. How do you like Lancaster County?”

  “Considering that I haven’t seen much yet except the jail, I think it’s very…rural. You’d never guess it was so close to the city.”

  “That’s what most people like about it.” Trey attempted to stretch his long legs out and discovered he couldn’t. He slid the seat back, making himself more comfortable.

  “I appreciate your getting the mechanic moving so quickly on my car.” If Trey hadn’t done the calling, she might still be waiting, she suspected. “Did he leave the bill in the car?”

  “We’ll take care of it.”

  She frowned. “It’s my car and my new tires.”

  “New tires you need because of your involvement in the case. We’ll take care of them.”

  “That’s very generous.” She clipped off the words. Generous, yes, but she had a feeling he hadn’t done it for that reason. He so clearly wanted to be in control of everything. “However, that’s why I have insurance.” She held out her hand, not looking at him.

  Silence for a moment, and then she felt the flimsy paper being put into her hand.

  “Are you this stubborn about everything?” Trey asked. />
  She shot him a glance. “Somehow I don’t think I’m the only one.”

  For once, he didn’t seem to have an answer. She pulled into the parking lot next to his truck just as her cell phone rang.

  She flipped it open. Listened. And felt annoyance surge through her. She cut the connection. Glared at Trey.

  “That was the district attorney’s office. Thomas’s arraignment is in—” she consulted her watch “—less than an hour.”

  Trey frowned. “Awfully short notice, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. It is.” Her mind spun with possibilities. “I need to let Leo know. And Thomas’s family should be told. He ought to have appropriate clothes, and I have to get to the courthouse in time to brief him.”

  Trey swung his door open. “I’ll take care of getting Thomas’s family and his clothes. You call Leo and head for the courthouse.”

  She was about to ask him why he thought he should take charge, but he was already striding toward his truck. Besides, it would do no good to ask—he probably hadn’t figured that one out himself.

  She and Leo made it to the courthouse with barely fifteen minutes to spare, and she was fuming. “What does the D.A. think he’s doing, giving us so little notice?”

  “Taking advantage of the publicity, I expect.” Leo sounded a bit breathless, and she slowed her pace. “He’s up for reelection, you know.”

  No, she hadn’t known, and it didn’t do a thing for her mood. “This should be fairly straightforward, in any event. I don’t suppose there’s much chance the judge will grant bail.”

  Leo shook his head. “Not sure it’s a good idea anyway, as upset as people seem to be. Thomas might be safer in jail.”

  They entered the courtroom just as Thomas was led in. Jessica hurried down the aisle and slipped into a seat next to him, Leo right behind her. Thomas wore a black jacket and pants with a pale blue shirt, so apparently Trey’s mission had been successful.

  Thomas’s eyes were wide and frightened. No doubt he’d never been in a courtroom before, and he hadn’t grown up watching reruns of Law & Order on television, either.