William Bernhardt - Capitol Murder

“He says it’s a friendly color. A larger percentage of the American population says blue is their favorite color than any other. Personally, I don’t care what color ink he uses. I just want to make copies. I’ve got a prepared statement I’m supposed to distribute to about a billion news agencies, and I can’t get it photocopied.”

“Loving?”

The burly man stepped forward.

“Would you mind helping this first-day intern see if she can get her copier working?”

“’Course not. Let’s go, Shandy.”

The young woman hesitated. “Is he some sort of… repairman?”

“Well,” Christina answered, “actually, he’s a private investigator. But he’s been fixing Ben’s copier for years. Yours should be a piece of cake.”

“I don’t know. This machine is pretty old. The senator is renowned for his thriftiness.”

“I bet it isn’t as old as Ben’s,” Christina replied. “Ben is renowned for his impoverishedness.”

Loving strolled off with the attractive young intern-not appearing at all displeased with the goodwill assignment, Ben noted. He and Christina crossed the anthill toward the office with the nameplate reading AMANDA BURTON. Unfortunately, just as Ben was about to step in, she came charging out, almost toppling him in the process.

“Hazel? Where the hell is that speech?”

The receptionist immediately put both lines on hold. “I’m doing the best I can. The phones have been ringing constantly and-”

Burton placed her hands akimbo. She was thin-too thin, as far as Ben was concerned-and her obviously tailored suit accented her nearly nonexistent waist. She wore fashionable thin black rectangular glasses and kept her raven-black hair pinned to the back of her head. Not exactly Ben’s type, but she was undeniably eye-catching. “Eighty-six the phone calls. Didn’t I tell you to make this your number one priority?”

“Yes, but when I’m getting calls from the top brass-”

“I can solve that problem.” Burton reached down and yanked the cord out the back of Hazel’s phone console. “In this office, Hazel, I’m the top brass. You will not replace that cord without my permission. You will not get my permission until you have finished that speech.”

“But-we’re expecting a call from the president.”

“I don’t care if we’re expecting a call from God.” She leaned in close. “Like it or not, Senator Glancy is going to have to make a public address today. And I think he just might like to read what he’s going to say before he says it. So get to work. Capice? ”

Hazel lowered her chin. “Yes, ma’am.”

Ben and Christina observed the entire scene. “So,” Christina said, “you want to approach her, or shall I?”

Ben hesitated. “You know… she does seem to be more your type…”

“Somehow I had a hunch you’d say that.” Christina marched up to the woman, and Burton did a sidestep to maneuver around her. Christina grabbed her arm tightly and held her in place.

“Excuse me? Your hand is on my arm.”

“Yes. Lovely jacket, by the way.” She tilted her head backward. “This is Ben Kincaid, and I’m his partner, Christina McCall. We have an appointment with the senator.”

“No, you don’t.”

“I can assure you that-”

“I can assure you, ” Amanda said, glowering, “Ms. Whoever the Hell You Are, that if the senator had an appointment with you, I’d know about it.” She shrugged off Christina’s hand. “I keep the man’s calendar. He doesn’t go anywhere unless I tell him to.”

Ah, Ben thought, the power behind the throne. Or at the very least, the ego behind the throne.

Christina was trying to be patient, but Ben could tell it was a strain for her. “We set up this appointment with the senator himself just-”

“Doesn’t matter,” Burton said, holding the flat of her hand between them. “Today all our appointments have been canceled. As you’ve no doubt heard, we have important issues to deal with.”

“But that’s why we’re here. We-”

Burton ’s cell phone chirped. She flipped it open and checked the caller ID.

“It’s very important that we-”

“Talk to the hand, lady.” She turned her attention to the phone. “I know you have, Maury. I know I owe you one. But this isn’t the one. I can’t say anything until…” She closed her office door behind her.

Christina stared at the closed door, fuming. “If I killed her,” she said, “do you think you could get me off on justifiable homicide?”

“Probably,” Ben said. “But let’s not go there.”

“Are you Kincaid?”

They both turned and saw a small wizened man in a wheelchair. His hair was gray and not ample. Even through his trousers, his legs appeared atrophied, and he wore extremely thick glasses. Ben guessed he was around sixty, but given the obviously poor state of his health, it was difficult to know for certain.

“I’m Ben Kincaid, and this is my partner, Christina McCall. You are…”

“Marshall Bressler, at your service. I’m Todd’s AA.” He noted their blank faces. “That’s short for administrative assistant. It’s like being chief of staff. I’m the top dog. After the senator himself, of course.”

Ben frowned. “I was under the impression that Ms. Burton-”

“No, she just thinks she’s the top dog.” He grinned a little, and Ben couldn’t help grinning back. “Amanda came on during the senator’s last reelection campaign. The idea was that we needed to reach out to a younger, female constituency, so I hired her to show this old geezer how to do it. After the campaign, we kept her on staff. Mostly she’s in charge of media relations.”

“She’s a spin doctor,” Christina said.

“Yup. Which explains why she’s so frazzled. If ever Todd needed a good spin, this is the day. But she still reports to me, and the only person I report to is Todd.”

“He must have a lot of faith in you.”

Bressler shrugged in a self-effacing way. “I’ve been with him since the get-go. Managed his first campaign for Oklahoma County DA, and every campaign since. Even after a traffic accident seven years ago did this to me.” He gestured toward his useless legs.

“I’m sorry,” Ben said quietly.

“Don’t be, son. Hasn’t slowed me down a bit. I still work as hard for Todd as I ever did-maybe more. I think it would be fair to say he has a lot of faith in me. And I have a lot of faith in him.” He pursed his thin lips. “Which makes these recent developments all the more distressing.”

“Senator Glancy called me yesterday,” Ben said. “He’s concerned about a possible legal action. Maybe a sexual harassment suit, since Ms. Cooper did work under him.”

“There’s also a possibility of censure from the floor of the Senate. Even possible expulsion. He’s going to need some astute legal advice.” Bressler rolled in even closer. “Can I be honest with you?”

“Of course.”

“I didn’t want him to call you in. You or your partner.”

“Oh.”

“Nothing personal, son. But this is serious business. He needs the best there is, not some chum from law school. But then I started doing a little research on you. Even read one of your books last night. You’ve done pretty well for yourself.”

Ben felt his face burning. He was never good at accepting compliments and always changed the subject as quickly as possible. “Well, thanks, but if you want to hire other counsel-”

“Let me finish, son. What Todd told me was that he thought it was important that we hire an Oklahoman-not some fancy-pants DC or New York City lawyer-and that he thought you had one of the best, if not the best, reputations of any lawyer in the state.”