A Reasonable Doubt (Robin Lockwood #3) - Phillip Margolin
CHAPTER ONE
On a Monday morning in March of 2017, Robin Lockwood rose before the sun and ran the five miles from her apartment to McGill’s gym.
For years, the Pearl had been a decaying warehouse district. Then the developers invaded and expensive condos, boutiques, art galleries, and trendy restaurants sprang up like mushrooms after a heavy rain. The old brick building in which McGill’s gym was housed was one of the few places that had evaded the agents of gentrification.
Barry McGill, the gym’s owner, had been a top ten middleweight many moons and pounds ago, and his idea of what a gym was supposed to be had gone out of fashion about the same time he started ballooning up to heavyweight. McGill’s wasn’t air-conditioned, it stank from sweat, and it didn’t have a pool or spa. That turned off the millennials and young professionals who worked out so they would look good in the Pearl’s singles bars, but it did attract professional boxers and mixed martial arts combatants, masochistic weight lifters, and serious bodybuilders. Anyone wearing spandex need not apply. Robin fit right in.
Robin had been the first girl in her state to place in a boys’ high school wrestling championship. She didn’t try out for the wrestling team in college, because her university fielded a top NCAA Division I squad, but there was a gym near the school that taught mixed martial arts. By Robin’s first semester at Yale Law School, she was ranked ninth in the UFC in her weight class and her fans sang the old rock and roll song “Rockin’ Robin” when she walked into the octagon.
Robin’s UFC career ended shortly after law school started. Mandy Kerrigan, a top contender, had a fight scheduled on a pay-per-view card in Las Vegas. When her opponent was injured a week before the fight, Robin was asked to fill in. Robin saw the fight as a chance for fame and glory. Her manager told her it was a huge mistake. Robin admitted he had been right, as soon as she regained consciousness. Short-term memory loss convinced her that it was time to stop fighting, but she still loved to work out.
Barry McGill was a crusty old bastard, but he had a soft spot for Robin. “Your gal pal, Martinez, is over by the weights,” he called out when he spotted her heading for the locker room. “Think you two girls can stop gabbing long enough to work up a sweat?”
“Let us girls know when you’re ready to go a few rounds, Barry, and I’ll put the EMTs on notice,” Robin shot back. “They have a special rate for AARP members.”
McGill chuckled and Robin gave him the finger.
After she changed into her workout gear, Robin joined Sally Martinez, who was doing curls in front of a floor-to-ceiling mirror. Martinez was a CPA who had won all-American honors wrestling for Pacific University and had trained in mixed martial arts. Sally and Robin sparred together occasionally, but Sally usually worked out in the evening.
“What are you doing here so early?”
“Tax season. I’ve got to get my workouts in while I can.”
Robin and Sally were a study in contrasts. Robin was five eight with a wiry build; a midwesterner with blond hair and blue eyes that proclaimed her Nordic ancestry. Sally’s brown skin and straight black hair were clues that her parents had emigrated from Mexico. She was shorter than Robin but more muscular.
After Robin warmed up, they walked over to the mats and began circling each other. Robin saw an opening and snapped a front kick. Sally slipped past it, grabbed Robin’s ankle, kicked her other leg out from under her, and put Robin in a submission hold.
Robin tapped out and they got to their feet. Sally shot a double leg tackle and threw Robin to the mat. They scrambled for a few seconds before Sally wrapped her legs around Robin’s waist in a figure four and put her in a choke hold.
“You’re slow as molasses this morning,” Sally said when they were standing again.
“A case kept me tossing and turning all night,” Robin answered.
“You sure it wasn’t Jeff?”
Robin blushed. When Sally laughed, Robin took her down with a single leg tackle.
“Hey, that’s cheating,” Sally complained.
* * *
After her workout, Robin showered and changed into the clothes she kept in her locker before walking across town to the law offices of Barrister, Berman & Lockwood.
The walls of the firm’s reception area were decorated with photographs of Haystack Rock, Multnomah Falls, Mount Hood, and other