was a chance that her new-found sister didn’t belong in prison, Alex had to know. She had a right to know. Maybe, for no other reason than that, she cared enough to ask.
You should probably stay out of it, Alex told herself. But she didn’t budge. She sat and waited. Half an hour passed, and several people came and went through the front door of the prison. As she looked at the dashboard clock for the fiftieth time, Alex was struck by an unpleasant thought. What if there was another entrance? Marisol was only a law student. Maybe she didn’t have a car. Perhaps she came by bus, and entered the prison through another entrance. Alex was just about to convince herself that she must, indeed, have missed the law student’s departure, when the prison door opened and Marisol Torres hurried out, pulling on her jacket. Alex hopped out of her car and met Marisol at the entrance to the visitors’ lot.
‘Excuse me,’ she said. ‘Ms Torres.’
Marisol, lost in thought, jumped at the sound of her name, and then smiled cautiously. ‘Hi, Alex.’
‘I wondered if I could talk to you for a minute.’ Alex could see her own breath in the cold.
‘About Dory?’ Marisol said.
Alex nodded. ‘I don’t know if she told you anything about me . . .’
‘She told me that you two had the same mother.’
‘That’s right. And, despite the fact that I never even met her before, I find myself feeling a little bit . . . concerned about her.’
‘Well, that’s good,’ the law student said. ‘She could use the support.’
‘I wondered . . . What exactly is going on? I mean, about her case? What is there to look into? I understood that she pleaded guilty to her sister’s murder.’
‘She did,’ Marisol said. ‘But last year the public defender who represented her came under investigation for breach of ethics. He has since been disbarred.’
‘For what?’
‘He made no effort to provide an effective defense for his clients. As you know, the Sixth Amendment guarantees that right.’
Alex didn’t actually know which amendment was which, but she nodded.
‘The cases of all his clients had to be reviewed. A huge job, as you can imagine. The Justice Initiative agreed to help. I was assigned to several cases. One of them was Dory’s. I saw pretty quickly that she was badly served by this PD. I’ve been preparing a brief on her behalf for about six months now.’
‘Wait a minute. Dory had a public defender? Isn’t that what you get when you can’t afford to hire an attorney?’
‘That’s right. They mostly serve the indigent.’
‘Dory’s family wasn’t indigent, was it?’
‘Dory was of legal age. Technically, no one else was responsible for paying for her defense,’ Marisol said.
‘I suppose not,’ said Alex.
‘Anyway, the primary job of a public defender is to arrange plea bargains, to clear the court’s calendar. Which is fine, unless the attorney is deliberately misrepresenting the advantages and conditions of a plea to his client.’
‘And you think that’s what happened to Dory?’
Marisol grimaced apologetically. ‘I can’t really talk specifics about her case without Dory’s permission. Attorney-client privilege.’
‘Oh, I see,’ said Alex.
‘And I need to get going. My mother is taking care of my daughter and I want to have some time with her.’
‘I understand,’ said Alex. ‘It’s just that I feel like I need to know . . .’
Marisol pulled her car keys out of her briefcase. She walked over to a dented maroon Ford Taurus and unlocked the door. Alex followed her. Marisol set her briefcase down on the front seat. ‘I’ll be glad to talk to you,’ she said, ‘as long as Dory gives her permission. You’ll have to ask her to contact me directly if it’s OK.’
‘I’m not sure how she would react to that,’ Alex admitted. ‘She seems a little bit suspicious as to why I wanted to meet her in the first place.’
Marisol chuckled. ‘That sounds like Dory. Well, I speak to her almost every day. I’ll ask her for you. Where can I reach you?’
‘Would you? That would be great.’ Alex fumbled in her purse for her business card and handed it to her, while Marisol fished in the pocket of her jacket and offered her own in return.
Marisol glanced at Alex’s card. ‘You live in Chichester? I grew up in Waltham. That’s where I’m headed right now. My mom still lives there. Look, I’ll speak to Dory and I’ll be in touch.’
‘Thanks,’ said Alex. ‘And thanks for helping her.’
‘I do what I can.’