The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter Page 0,117

other business of the court. I will request those matters be taken up when my father, Mr. Rusty, has recovered, which will likely be within the next week. You need not speak during any part of this process. I will speak for you. Do you understand?”

Kelly said, “Your daddy told me not to talk to nobody, and I ain’t. Not unless it was the guards and telling them I was feeling sick.” Her shoulders rolled farther inward. “They was nice though, like I said. Everybody’s been treating me real nice here.”

“Except for some of the mean ones?”

“Yes, ma’am, there’s been some mean ones.”

Sam looked down at her notes. Rusty had been right. Kelly was too agreeable. She did not seem to understand the depth of trouble that she was in. The girl would have to be evaluated for mental competency. Sam was certain she could locate someone in New York who was willing to work pro bono.

“Miss Quinn?” Kelly asked. “Can I ask, do my mama and daddy know I’m in here?”

“Yes.” Sam realized Kelly had been left in the dark for the last twenty-four hours. “Your parents weren’t allowed to visit you in the jail until after the arraignment, but they are both very eager to see you.”

“Are they mad about what happened?”

“They’re worried about you.” Sam could only go on assumptions. “They love you very much, though. You’ll all get through this together. No matter what.”

Kelly’s lip quivered. Tears fell from her eyes. “I love them, too.”

Sam sat back in her chair. She reminded herself of Douglas Pinkman, the way he had cheered for her at every track meet, even after she had moved up to high school. The man had been to more of Sam’s events than her own father.

And now Sam was sitting across from the girl who had murdered him.

She told Kelly, “Your parents will be in the courtroom upstairs, but you aren’t going to be able to touch them or talk to them other than to say hello.” Sam hoped there were no cameras in the courtroom. She would have to make sure Kelly’s parents were forewarned. “Once you’re transferred back to the jail, you’ll be able to visit with them, but remember anything you say to your parents, or anyone else, while you are in jail will be recorded. Whether it’s in the visitation room or on the telephone, someone is always listening. Don’t talk to them about what happened yesterday. Okay?”

“Yes, ma’am, but can I ask, am I in trouble?”

Sam studied her face for signs of guile. “Kelly, do you remember what happened yesterday morning?”

“Yes, ma’am. I killed them two people. The gun was in my hand.”

Sam considered her affect, looking for signs of remorse.

There was none.

Kelly might as well have been describing events that had happened to someone else.

“Why did …” Sam thought about how to pose the question. “Did you know Lucy Alexander?”

“No, ma’am. I think she must’a been at the elementary school, ’cause she looked real little.”

Sam opened her mouth and drew in some air. “How about Mr. Pinkman?”

“Well, I heard people say he wasn’t a bad man, but I never got sent to the principal’s office.”

The randomness of the victims somehow made it worse. “So they both, Mr. Pinkman and Lucy Alexander, just happened to be in the hallway at the wrong time?”

“I guess,” Kelly answered. “Like I said, the gun was in my hand, and then Mr. Huckabee put it down his pants.”

Sam felt her heart shake inside of her chest. She looked at the timer on her phone. She made sure there was no shadow lingering at the door. She asked Kelly, “Did you tell my father what you just told me?”

“No, ma’am. I didn’t say much to your daddy yesterday. I was upset ’cause they had me at the hospital, and plus my tummy was hurting like it does, and they were talking about keeping me overnight and I know that costs a lot of money to be there.”

Sam closed her notepad. She capped her pen. She exchanged her readers for her regular glasses.

She was in a somewhat unique situation. A defense lawyer was not allowed to put a witness on the stand knowing that the witness was going to lie. This rule explained why attorneys never wanted their clients to tell them the whole truth. The whole truth seldom made for a good defense. Everything Kelly told Sam would be held in confidence, but Sam would never call or cross-examine a witness, so she