his nemesis as a chance to exact a small measure of revenge.
After the Sophie Randall–Arthur Gentry fiasco, not even his father’s reputation could save Peter Ragland from being demoted from the team that handled death penalty cases. Then Jasper Ragland died and many of the politicians who owed him favors retired or followed Jasper to the great law firm in the sky, leaving Peter to fend for himself.
Over the twenty-some years since Regina Barrister had made a fool of him, Ragland’s hairline had receded, he’d put on sloppy weight, he’d lost his self-confidence and become a ghost in the district attorney’s office, drifting through it followed by the foul odor of failure. Some people wondered why Peter didn’t leave, but he knew that no decent firm would hire him after his father died, and he had no faith in his ability to make a living if he hung out a shingle.
Vanessa Cole, the Multnomah County district attorney, was a slender, fifty-three-year-old black woman with sharp features and fierce brown eyes. She’d grown up in a wealthy area of Portland’s West Hills and had gone to Stanford for college and law school. Cole was known for her smarts and high ethical standards, and she’d been a shooting star from the moment she joined the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, moving quickly from trying misdemeanors to trying felonies to handling murder cases, then death penalty murder cases. When her predecessor retired for health reasons, Cole had been appointed to the post, and she won the position in the next election when she ran unopposed.
Vanessa was reviewing the office budget when her secretary buzzed to tell her that Peter Ragland wanted to talk to her. Over the years, Vanessa had had very little contact with Ragland. He had a reputation as someone competent to handle run-of-the-mill cases, and there were rumors about some problem with an old case that had kept him from being promoted during her predecessor’s reign. Vanessa had gone from law school to a judicial clerkship to a stint in a law firm before joining the Multnomah District Attorney’s office, so she had not been a DA when Ragland had tried the case that kept him from promotion.
“What’s up, Peter?” Vanessa asked when Ragland was seated across from her.
“I just had a chat with a man named Joseph Samuels. He filed a criminal complaint alleging theft, and I’d like the case.”
Cole frowned. “Does someone else have the case now?”
“It was originally assigned to Lorna Waxman, but she was just promoted to Homicide.”
“What’s so special about this case?”
“The defendant is Robert Chesterfield. He was charged with murder in 1998. The case was solid, but Regina Barrister was his lawyer and she got the key evidence thrown out on a technicality.”
Cole’s brow furrowed. “Is he the magician?”
“Yeah. He pulled a disappearing act a few years ago, when we were ready to go after him on this theft thing.”
“I read a story about him in the paper.”
“Right. Anyway, he’s got a show at the Imperial, and we can arrest him there.”
Vanessa didn’t want to waste any more time on a theft case. “Okay. You’ve got the case,” she said, impatient to get back to the budget.
Peter left before his boss could ask any more questions about Chesterfield. From her reaction, he figured that Cole probably didn’t know much about what had happened in the Randall, Gentry, and Moser cases. But he remembered everything about the cases that had led to his disgrace, and he was eager for a second chance to put Robert Chesterfield behind bars.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“I have good news, Jimmy,” Robin told her client when they were sitting across from each other in a contact visiting room at the jail. “The DA is dropping the charges. You’ll be free by the end of the day.”
“How can they do that when I confessed?”
“Under Oregon law, a person can’t be convicted based only on a confession unless there is evidence to support the story the person tells the police. That’s the law because some people confess to crimes they didn’t commit.”
“But I did try to kill Tim.”
“That’s not what he says. Tim told the police that you made up the story about shooting him. And the police don’t have a gun or those bullets you say bounced off his chest.”
Jimmy thought for a moment. Then he smiled. “This is all God’s doing. God saved Tim by making those bullets bounce off his chest, and now God has saved me by making the gun and