Marta Perry - Murder in Plain Sight

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.

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.

“Was ist letz?” he murmured. “What is wrong? Why have they brought me here?”

“Don’t be alarmed.” She patted the black sleeve. “It’s just part of the legal formalities. The judge is going to ask how you plead to the charges.”

He gave her a blank look.

Patience, she reminded herself. “He’ll want to know whether you say you are guilty or not guilty, that’s all. When that happens, you’re going to say ‘Not guilty.’ Understand?”

A murmur of excitement behind her made her look around. Trey and Geneva walked down the side aisle, accompanying a man and woman dressed in sober black. Thomas’s parents, to judge by the sob the boy choked on. Trey looked as if he’d rather be hanging over a seething volcano than walking into the courtroom.

They filed into the first row of seats, and Thomas reached out to clasp his parents’ hands. Tears trickled down his mother’s face as she murmured something softly to him.

Jessica hated to interrupt, but the judge could enter at any moment. “You understand, Thomas? You say not guilty.”

He blinked, fixing those wide blue eyes on her face. “But if I tell them I’m guilty, will they let me go home then?”

She managed to resist putting her hand over his mouth. He’d said it softly-no one but Leo was close enough to hear.

Leo leaned across her, compelling Thomas to look at him. “Absolutely not,” he said firmly. “It doesn’t work that way here. Understand? Just do exactly as Ms. Langdon tells you. Okay?”

Thomas nodded, reluctantly it seemed.

She looked at Leo, who shrugged. “That’s how it’s done in the Amish community. You kneel before the congregation and confess, and everything is forgiven. I’ve known people to confess to something even when they hadn’t done it, just because the community means so much to them.”

Appalled wasn’t a strong enough word. “He can’t do that here.”

“No.” Leo fixed Thomas with a firm gaze. “You say exactly as Ms. Langdon told you.” Thomas nodded.

The judge entered then, and they rose. The discomfort that had been weighing on Jessica slipped away.

Maybe, as Trey so obviously believed, she didn’t belong, couldn’t understand the culture, was an outsider. But in a courtroom, she was at home. This was her natural arena.

The gavel rapped. Jessica studied the judge, trying to get an idea of the woman’s temperament. She was probably in her fifties. Judge Judith Waller’s round face didn’t give much away but the pink cheeks, the graying hair pulled back into an untidy knot and the gold-rimmed glasses through which she peered at the papers in front of her made her look like someone’s grandmother, peering at a recipe instead of at the charges that could send Thomas to prison for life.

The judge looked up, her shrewd gaze moving from Jessica’s face to Thomas’s and then to the district attorney.

“Mr. Connelly, it’s a bit unusual to see you for an arraignment.”