Open and Shut - By David Rosenfelt Page 0,42
tell me something. That's if they agree to talk to the scumbag representing their daughter's killer.
“I think her father lived in South Jersey somewhere; I should be able to get you the address from personnel. I don't think she ever mentioned her mother.”
“Is her father still alive?”
“I don't know, but …” He seems to drift off, lost in thought.
“But what?”
He says, “Maybe it's a coincidence, but I remember Denise asking me a bunch of questions about Mike Anthony. At the time I figured he had offered her a better job, and she was checking him out, deciding whether to take it.”
“Was it around the time that she died?”
He nods. “I think so.”
I pump him for a while, trying to get more information, but he doesn't have any more memory to jog. I feel like he's given me a major piece of the puzzle, though I'm still not sure how it fits in. But one thing I'll bet on: Denise sure as hell was checking out Mike Anthony. It is the first factual link between the Willie Miller trial and the photograph. It confirms my instincts, which doesn't make me feel that great, since I still have no idea what the hell is going on. But the more I learn, the stronger my hunch gets that the people in the photograph are somehow related to Denise's death.
Before I leave, Vince gets me the address where Denise's father lived when she worked there, as well as copies of every story she wrote in the year before her death.
“Thanks,” I say. “I owe you.”
Vince tells me that if I can get the coed twins to sing the naked version of the Doublemint jingle, then we're even. He also says that he's got a feeling I'm on the right track, and he'll help in any way he can. I thank him without mentioning that I'm nowhere near the right track.
As I leave, I run into Laurie in the parking lot. My keen lawyerly mind has a feeling that this is not a coincidence.
She confirms it. “I'm glad I caught you.”
“What's up?”
“I've been tracking down Hinton … Willie's lawyer.”
“You find him?”
“In a manner of speaking,” she says.
“Are we in a cryptic mood today?”
“The bar association doesn't have any record of him, he's never tried a case anywhere except for Willie Miller's, and he never graduated from a law school, at least not in this country.”
“Are you telling me that Willie's lawyer never existed?”
“I'm telling you Willie's lawyer wasn't a lawyer.”
This is stunning news, and in a way it's embarrassing. A revelation like this would obviously have been a slam dunk for getting a new trial, yet Willie's crack new lawyer, Andy Carpenter, never tracked this down until now. Had Willie not gotten the okay from the Court of Appeals on the juror misconduct, it would never have come out at all and he would have been put to death.
The next, more important question that comes to mind is: How did Willie wind up with Hinton? That and answers to other questions can only come from Willie.
“Come on, let's go see Willie.”
“I can't,” Laurie says. “I've got a lunch date.”
I do a double take as I'm already starting toward my car. I turn and for the first time notice that there is somebody in Laurie's car. Somebody that's male and good-looking, if you like the tall, well-built, and handsome type. Personally, I don't.
“With him?”
She nods. “With him.”
“He looks familiar.”
“His name is Bobby Radburn. You may have seen him on television. He pitches for the Yankees.”
I would have much preferred she hit me on the head with a two-by-four, and for that matter so would she.
“I know who he pitches for. He's not even in the starting rotation.” That'll teach her.
“It's only a matter of time,” she says. “He's incredibly athletic. You want to meet him? I can get you his autograph.” She's loving this.
“No thanks.”
She nods. “Then I'll see you back at the office later.”
I take one more stab. “You'd rather have lunch with a guy who has a pitiful strikeout-to-walk ratio than visit a maximum security prison?”
“That's a tough call,” she says. “I'll think about it over lunch.”
BEFORE I DRIVEOUT TO THE PRISON, I CALL Richard Wallace to arrange a meeting. He tells me he's got a few minutes and that I should come right over, that he had been planning to call me as well. It's nice to be wanted.
When I arrive I get right to the point. I tell him about Hinton not