Cut and Run (Lucy Kincaid #16) - Allison Brennan Page 0,24

for.”

Lucy couldn’t help but smile. “From you, high praise. Sean hasn’t talked a lot about the case, but he said he was intrigued.”

“In September, Realtor Victoria Mills was stabbed and drowned. One of her business partners, Stanley Grant, confessed shortly thereafter, claimed that Victoria learned he had embezzled money from the company and he killed her in the heat of the moment, came clean a week later because the guilt ate him up.”

“You don’t sound like you believe that.”

“I want to hear it from him directly. There’s a few … well, I don’t want to say yet, but he pled guilty and no one questioned it.”

“Usually if someone pleads guilty, they’re guilty—there are cases of false confessions, but cops are pretty good at weeding those out.”

“His lawyer and the prosecution were working on a plea deal to avoid the death penalty and give him a chance of parole. Then this morning, Grant changed his plea. I wish I was there. Sean developed a contact at the courthouse, who claimed that it was spontaneous. His lawyer quit right then and there—told the court that they didn’t have the time to take on a capital case and his client didn’t inform him of the change. Judges don’t like it when there’s a change of attorney, it can delay everything. He suggested that Grant and his lawyer work it out, but Grant said he didn’t trust his lawyer to have his best interests at heart. In the end, Grant agreed to a public defender and tomorrow they’ll be back in court for a procedural issue. I’m meeting the lawyer tonight.”

“This late?”

“I can be persuasive.”

True, Lucy thought. “How did you become interested in this case? It’s not your usual kind of investigation.” Max specialized in cold cases—cases that the police didn’t have the time or resources to pursue. “Sean said the victim was a family friend.”

“Loosely. I know Victoria’s family, only met Victoria once when I represented my family at her wedding. But her father and my grandfather were friends, and Grover and his wife came out to California several times over the years, including to my grandfather’s funeral.

“Victoria’s marriage lasted nine years or so,” Max continued, “but apparently she and her ex were still friends and continued to work together. I reached out to the family after the murder to offer my condolences, and from the beginning Grover has been skeptical about the investigation, which is why I hired Sean to keep me up-to-date. Sean met with Grover, they hit it off.”

Max finished her wine, put the glass down on a coaster. “There are some inconsistencies in the investigation—for example, motive. Sean uncovered information that Grant didn’t move the money until days after her murder. In fact, the money disappeared from the account the day before he confessed to the police. He wasn’t even on their short list of suspects. After his confession, everything seemed to fit … but they had two suspects they may have not cleared. When I heard about the plea change, I became suspicious. I don’t like it when the police try to fit square pegs into round holes, and this case has many holes. That’s where I do my best work.”

“The detective in charge will have time to build the case for the DA,” Lucy said. “They don’t just walk away when there’s a plea, they still wrap up the case—false confessions are unfortunately common.” Though to Lucy, this didn’t sound like a false confession. It sounded like “buyer’s remorse,” only this time the buyer was a confessed killer who realized too late that his guilt wasn’t greater than his desire for freedom.

“The first thing the new lawyer will do, if they’re halfway competent, is have the confession tossed,” Max said. “Without the confession, they have nothing. No murder weapon, no clear motive, no physical evidence. The confession is problematic because he clearly lied about the embezzlement—or it was so well hidden that even your husband couldn’t find evidence of it.”

Lucy didn’t doubt Sean’s skills, but at the same time, some information would be impossible for him to legally obtain.

“If he voluntarily confessed to police, without coercion, I don’t see why a judge would toss it,” Lucy said. “He could claim that it was a false confession—and be convicted of making a false report to the police. That’s far less jail time than murder.”

“There’s no physical evidence tying him to Victoria’s murder and no murder weapon. I want to talk to him. Sean tried to talk to him