never spoken about. Since he’d brought the subject up, Jack decided to get some closure at the same time. “That is over, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Henry said without acknowledging his part in anything. “The Eel called me a few days later and said it was finished. It’s one less thing you have to worry about, Jack.”
“Good. I won’t bring it up again. Now back to this man on death row. You’re forgetting something, aren’t you, Henry?”
“What’s that, Jack?”
“A lot of people said pretty much the same thing about you. Nobody gave a rat’s ass about a career criminal like you going to meet his maker.”
“One slight difference, Jack: You don’t rehabilitate serial killers. They’re like vampires. You have to cut out their heart to make them stop.”
“Just because it’s a serial killer case, everybody, including you, assumes this guy is guilty. He could be innocent.”
“You’re the one who pointed out that Felton’s fingerprints were on the murder weapon and that the killings stopped after he was arrested.”
“The prints are pretty substantial evidence, but I don’t think the same way about the cessation of the murders. Serial killers for the most part are not stupid. And, contrary to popular opinion, most of them don’t want to get caught. So somebody gets arrested for the murders. It’s a perfect time to move on. The killings don’t stop, they just move to a different location. That can be new and exciting for a killer.”
“I guess you’re right,” Henry said. “You know, Jack, for a guy who has been clean as a whistle his whole life, you do a good job getting inside of the heads of criminals. So what are you going to do?”
“Don’t know yet.”
“And what’s a lawyer’s lawyer? I never heard that term before until Chapman said it.”
“It’s just a figure of speech.”
“What does it mean?”
“It’s a term to describe a really good lawyer—you know, the guy other lawyers want when they get in trouble.”
They arrived at the hotel. Henry slid out of the passenger seat chuckling.
“What’s so funny?” Jack asked.
“I was just thinking,” Henry said. “What happens to the lawyer’s lawyer when the lawyer’s lawyer needs a lawyer?”
“Is that a tongue twister? And why would you think it was funny that I wouldn’t have a lawyer?”
“I don’t know—sick sense of humor, I guess. Besides, I’m the only one of us who gets in trouble and I’ve got you.”
“Babe.”
“What?”
Jack was laughing now. “I’ve got you—babe.”
“I don’t know about you, Jack. I think I just might get my own room.”
Jack was still laughing. “More space for me. You were never meant for a double room anyway, Henry. And I won’t have to wear earplugs anymore.”
“Jesus, Jack, you’re brutal. Gimme a break, will ya?”
“You don’t mess with the lawyer’s lawyer, Henry.”
The next morning at eight, Jack called Chapman’s office and set an appointment for eleven. He hadn’t made up his mind yet but he wanted to set a deadline for himself. That left him three hours to bounce things off of Henry.
“I don’t mind taking the case. I really don’t. I think there’s merit in arguing that this was a circumstantial evidence case and that it doesn’t merit the death penalty. I mean, the murders were gruesome enough to warrant it, but the evidence was a little flimsy, at least according to Chapman. I haven’t seen anything yet.
“The thing that bothers me, and I don’t know why, maybe it’s just a feeling—what if there’s a loophole and this guy goes free? Do I want that on my conscience?”
They were at breakfast in the hotel dining room: silver coffee pot, cloth napkins, white table cloth.
“Don’t you have to ask that question in every case, Jack? I mean, you weren’t absolutely positive that I was innocent, were you? Yet, you got me set free.”
“I was pretty sure of you, Henry. I’d have staked my life on you by the time it was all over.”
“Why don’t you give this Felton guy the same opportunity to convince you of his innocence? Tell Chapman you’ll review the file and you’ll visit Felton and then you’ll make your decision.”
“He won’t like that. He wants me to represent Felton whether he’s innocent or not.”
“Who cares what he wants? You’re not looking at him when you look in the mirror in the morning.”
“I could still make a mistake.”
“You could, but you convinced me of something last night, Jack. Something I had not thought about in a while. This man might be innocent and you, my friend, are probably the only person capable