Sprissler. “That’s the mark of good legal work, turning adversaries into clients.”
“But getting back to why you’re here,” said Hamilton.
“Right. How did Meldon and Tolliver know each other?”
“I guess it’s all right to tell you. It’s public record anyway. Before we were retained to represent her, Jamie was Diane’s counsel of record in her divorce proceedings from Joe.”
“While he was in private practice in New York?”
“That’s right.”
“But I was told he was primarily a mob lawyer.”
Hamilton said sternly, “Jamie represented many companies and individuals that were involved in myriad civil and criminal matters. I would not describe him as a mob lawyer.”
“Okay, but did he also handle divorce cases in New Jersey?”
“Diane lived in New Jersey, although she practiced law in Manhattan,” said Sprissler.
“A very common occurrence,” added Petrocelli.
“But did Meldon handle divorce cases as a ‘very common occurrence’?”
Hamilton cleared her throat. “No, he didn’t.”
“Is that why he passed the baton to you?”
“We’d worked with Jamie before. He knew we specialized in marital law cases.”
“So why not just get you on board from the get-go?”
“There was a matter of timing,” explained Hamilton.
“Timing? I know divorce cases can last years. What was the hurry?”
“Jamie got a restraining order against Joe Cushman. He was making threats apparently against Diane. The order had to be obtained quickly for obvious reasons, although having gotten to know Joe over the years I don’t believe he meant any of it.”
“But that still doesn’t explain why Meldon was involved in the first place. How did he know Tolliver?”
“I’m not sure that is relevant to anything,” barked Sprissler, who looked like she wanted to leap over the table and take a bite out of Mace’s leg.
“Well, I think it’s relevant. And I damn sure know the FBI would think it was.”
“They were friends,” said Hamilton after a few tense moments of silence.
Mace arched her eyebrows.
“Very good friends,” amended Hamilton.
“I see. Did Joe Cushman know they were having an affair?”
“While neither confirming nor denying the accuracy of your words, from a purely hypothetical basis, I would assume not.”
“But they didn’t end up together,” said Mace.
“Jamie’s wife developed breast cancer,” said Petrocelli. “Let’s just say he did the right thing by her.”
“We were surprised when he moved to D.C. and became a U.S. attorney,” added Hamilton. “But in a way we understood. He wanted to make a clean break of it.”
“We were stunned to hear about his death,” said Sprissler.
“So were a lot of people,” said Mace.
She asked a few more questions, got nothing else helpful, and headed back to the train station. It was good to finally know of the connection between Tolliver and Meldon, but it didn’t really advance the investigation as far as Mace could see. As she sat down to wait for her train, it seemed like they were right back at square one and running out of time.
CHAPTER 103
ROY STEPPED INTO C-10 for the first time in two years. C-10 was the courtroom where presentments were held in D.C. Superior Court, which was where the Captain was being tried for murder. The place was crammed because C-10 heard all presentments, from relatively minor crimes all the way to the most serious felonies. The defendants who were not in custody sat with their attorneys in the courtroom waiting for their case to be called. Those defendants who were already in jail were held in another room until it was their turn before the judge.
Roy took a seat on one of the crowded benches. As he looked around he could see various defendants gabbing while they were waiting. C-10 was a good place for the criminal classes to catch up with each other, he’d found. When he’d been a CJA he’d more than once had to pull his guy away from another street punk because they were plotting out some future crime right in front of the judge.
Roy suspected that his presentment would be called first, for one reason only. And that reason walked in at one minute to ten, sixty seconds ahead of the opening bell for this C-10 cattle call. Mona Danforth was dressed for battle in navy blue Chanel with a white pocket kerchief, three-inch heels, and lips set in a perfectly horizontal line. Her golden tresses oozed the scent of hairspray like blood from a finger cut.
One minute later the judge entered, everyone rose, and the bailiff called the case. The Captain appeared from behind a door with a police officer on either side of him. He joined Roy at the defense counsel