School of Fish (Fish Out of Water #6) - Amy Lane Page 0,66
hand cases over if they felt as though they couldn’t defend their client objectively. And he’d met Ambrose Pfeist, who was a petty, irritating man with a swaggering god complex. One word from Ellery and Suzanne Mayer might have to pay out of her pocket to get representation that wouldn’t plead her into a woman’s correctional facility general population.
Ellery liked that idea very much.
He texted Jackson while his phone was ringing, and Andre Christie picked up while he was waiting for an answer.
“Christie.”
“Detective Christie, this is Ellery Cramer, defense attorney. I’m a friend of Sean Kryzynski.”
“I know who you are.”
Christie’s voice was neutral, and Ellery took that as a good sign.
“Are you familiar with the case that got Sean stabbed?”
“No, dammit,” Christie muttered. “Oh my God, Sean is doped to the gills, and the idiots who worked the scene yesterday—”
“Couldn’t fix a monkey with a banana,” Ellery said dryly. “Yes, we’ve met. And it wasn’t fair, but Jackson Rivers and I aren’t letting it go. The people who stabbed Kryzynski were looking for a particular file. They wanted it lost in the system so they’d have time to kill the innocent kid who’d been booked for murder. We’ve tracked the leak who tipped his assailant off to where the case file would be to a bailiff here at the DA’s office. Arizona Brooks wanted to call Lieutenant Chambers from the first district, but—”
“Not her,” Christie bit out. “Please, for the love of God, not her.”
“You want in on this?”
“You’re at the DA’s offices?”
“Arizona Brooks’s office. How soon can you make it?”
“I’m at my desk. Give me ten minutes. Sean deserves better than what he’s gotten.”
“See you in ten,” Ellery said. As he hung up and pocketed his phone, Jackson rounded the corner, his own phone to his ear.
“Who?” Ellery mouthed as Jackson drew near.
“Codromac—returning my call.” Jackson slouched against the wall, making brief yesses and nos into the phone after that. Then, “We’ve got his wife at the courthouse, sir.” He looked at Ellery. “Guilty?” he mouthed.
Ellery nodded vigorously. “And mean as a snake,” he murmured.
Jackson grimaced. “She’s apparently guilty as fuck. And not particularly nice about it.” He paused. “Lawyered up, you say?”
Ellery extended his hand. “Officer Codromac?” he said into the phone. “This is Ellery Cramer. We met yesterday.”
“I remember” came the mild voice. “You got your bell rung pretty nicely. How you feeling, son?”
Ellery tried not to cross his eyes. Such a nice grandfatherly man. “Like I’ll be eating soup and pasta for a couple more days,” he said truthfully, because all the ice and ibuprofen in the world wasn’t making his jaw any less stiff. “Thank you, sir, for asking. You say Jarvis Mayer has lawyered up?”
“Yes, son, came in with his union representative this morning, looking smug as hell. They legally don’t have to say a thing until they’re assigned a lawyer. Wanted to kick him in the balls too, because sure as shit he’s dirty.”
Ellery felt his lips curl up like Snidely Whiplash or a cartoon cat. “You know, there’s lawyers and there’s lawyers, sir. I happen to know the firm that represents the law enforcement branch. Which kind of lawyer do you think would best suit Jarvis Mayer’s particular needs?”
J. Codromac’s laugh was low and dirty; not sexual, but it had a lot of living in it. “You do know how to talk sweet, Mr. Defense Attorney. I’d say Mayer needs a lazy lawyer. Do they make that kind?”
“Let me find out,” Ellery said. “And I’ll be sure to let you know who he ends up with.”
“Thank you, son. You do wheel and deal better than you duck.”
“Thank you, sir. Have a good day and thank you for all you do.” Ellery hung up and gave Jackson a “here goes” look.
“Are you trying to deal under the table, Counselor?” Jackson asked mildly.
“That woman in there is not a nice person,” Ellery replied. “And the first thing she did when confronted with the three of us was go for our most exposed, most painful nerve, which tells me she’s caught dead to rights and she’s going to try to catch us doing something emotional or something wrong. She’s going to lawyer up, of that I have no doubt. But I don’t want it to be easy for her.” He pulled up Ambrose Pfeist’s number and gave Jackson another grim look, relaxing only infinitesimally when Ambrose answered.
“Ellery! So glad to hear from you. I was so disappointed when you left my brother’s firm and we