finally stop.”
“I’m sorry, Doc. I am so fucking sorry.”
“I married the girl from high school, you know. Julie. We had a son. I named him James Ronald Desmond, after Ronnie. He grew up into a fine young man, married a pretty girl from Savannah whom he’d met at the University of Georgia. And then some son of a bitch shot him dead on the beach over near the Hilton. Six weeks ago.”
It hit me. I’m sure I must have heard the name of the shooting victim, but it didn’t connect, didn’t even make an impression on me. “Shit, Doc. I’m sorry. I never made that connection.”
“He was our only child, Matt. Julie’s not doing well. This thing is about to kill her. She had a hard pregnancy, but wanted Jimmy so bad she stayed in bed most of the nine months. He came out healthy, and so did she, but she couldn’t get pregnant again. We gave up on that years ago, but we’d been happy. Now, life is a dismal pit.”
“Do you know if the police have any leads on who killed your boy?”
“Not much. A detective, a woman named J. D. Duncan, is working the case.”
“I know her. She’s good.”
“Yeah. I checked her out. A lot of years on the Miami-Dade police force, ten years as a detective and toward the end, the vice commander of homicide. She’s good, but she has almost nothing to go on.”
“I wish there was something I could do,” I said.
“There is. I want you to sue somebody.”
“I don’t practice anymore, Doc.”
“I checked you out, too. You were one of the best trial lawyers around, practiced a long time in Orlando, and gave it up to come here and be a beach bum.”
That pissed me off. “You checked me out?” I asked, my voice cold.
“Don’t get your panties in a wad, L.T. I’m a businessman. I check people out before I get into bed with them.”
“And just what kind of business are you in, Doc?” My voice was tinged with suspicion and skepticism.
He chuckled. “You can check me out, Matt. After I got out of the army, I went to Georgia Tech, got a degree in mechanical engineering, and then over the years built a consulting firm that does business in twenty-six states. It’s all legit.”
I relaxed. “Sorry, Doc. I’ve had a few rough patches over the last few years. People trying to kill me, if you can imagine that.”
He laughed. “I can’t. Will you help?”
“Asked the man who saved my life. It ain’t like I owe you much, Doc. Whatever you want, if it’s in my power to do, I’ll do it. Tell me how I can help.”
“I understand that you can often prove a case in civil court that you couldn’t prove in criminal court.”
“That’s right. The standard of proof is different. In criminal court, the prosecution has to prove the state’s case beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil court, the plaintiff only has to prove his case by the greater weight of the evidence. That’s quite a difference in the burden of proof. What are you thinking?”
“And any evidence you dig up can then be used in the criminal system?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’m thinking that if you could use the civil system to gather evidence that the cops can’t get to, we may be able to find out who killed Jimmy.”
“Then what?”
“I’d want it all turned over to the prosecutors. I’m not going after them, if that’s what’s bothering you. I learned back in Operation Thanatos that all the killing in the world won’t bring back the dead. I just want to see justice done to the bastards who killed my son.”
“Do you have any kind of a starting place? Any suspicions about who may have wanted to hurt your son? Or you, for that matter?”
“I’ve thought a lot about that, but can’t come up with anybody. If Detective Duncan has any persons of interest, I think they call them, maybe you could sue those people and sort some things out that law enforcement can’t get into.”
“It’s a thought, Doc. But we have to have a starting place. We can’t just haul off and sue somebody. We have to find a legitimate defendant. Somebody who we think is guilty, that we at least have an outside chance of proving he murdered your son.”
“Will you talk to the detective?”
“Sure. She’s a good friend of mine. So is the chief of police.”
He looked at his watch. “I’ve got to go. My plane is at