‘Miss Dark, correct?’
‘Correct.’
‘Says here this visit has been authorized by Raymond Vernon of the FBI.’
‘Also correct.’
‘Just checking.’He buzzed her through to a waiting area.‘Someone will be with you shortly.’
‘Thank you.’
Shortly turned into twelve minutes.Ella sat in a plastic chair and stared at a poster about contraband prevention and tried not to think about what she was going to say to Doyle when she got in there.She’d rehearsed it in the car.She’d rehearsed it in the shower this morning.She’d rehearsed it lying next to Luca at three in the morning.None of the rehearsals had produced anything that felt right, so she’d decided to improvise when the time came.
The door to her left opened.
A corrections officer stepped through first.He was mid-fifties and heavyset, and behind him came two people Ella hadn’t expected — a man and a woman, both in charcoal suits that were comically matching.
Lawyers.She could smell them a mile off.
‘Agent Dark?’the corrections officer said.
‘That’s me.’
‘I’m afraid we’ve got a situation.’
The male lawyer stepped forward.He was tall, clean-shaven, and had the kind of tan that came from a lamp rather than the sun.He extended his hand and Ella took it reluctantly.
‘Agent Dark, my name is Phillip Stockley.This is my colleague, Sandra Vaughn.We represent the defendant currently being held in this facility.’
‘Lindsey Doyle.’
Stockley nodded.‘That’s actually what we need to discuss.I’m afraid our client is off-limits for the time being.’
The words hit a wall inside Ella’s skull and bounced back.‘Off-limits.’
‘Yes.’
‘Based on what?’
‘Based on the fact that our client has a right to counsel before being subjected to any interrogation by law enforcement, and that right has not yet been adequately exercised.We were only assigned two days ago.We haven’t had sufficient time to process everything.’
Assigned, not retained.So they were court-appointed.That tracked.Doyle clearly hadn’t called anyone, and if she’d had a private attorney on speed dial, she’d have lawyered up within hours of being arrested.‘This isn’t an interrogation.We already know she’s guilty.I’m just here to talk to her.’
‘With respect, Agent Dark, when an FBI agent sits down with a suspect, the distinction between talking and interrogating tends to blur.I’m sure you understand.’
Ella looked at the female lawyer.She hadn’t spoken yet.
‘I’ve waited a week,’ Ella said.‘At the request of my own director.The Bureau has cleared me to be here.’
‘And we appreciate your patience.But there’s a more fundamental issue.’Stockley paused.He spoke with a New York twang, and he had the cadence of someone who enjoyed the sound of his own sentences.‘And I’m not at liberty to divulge exactly what.’
‘Come again?There’s a problem, but you won’t tell me what?’
The woman lawyer finally spoke up.‘No, and we don’t believe the matter concerns you regardless.’
‘Listen, lady, that woman in that cell killed three people close to me.She tried to kill my partner in the field, and she tried to kill my boyfriend last week.If it wasn’t for my boyfriend disarming her, she’d still be out there with another body to her list.She’s been stalking me for months all because I put a serial killer to death, and you’re saying it doesn’t concern me?’
The female lawyer glanced at her partner, who was chewing his bottom lip.The male lawyer sighed through his nose.They exchanged a lawyer-to-lawyer glance.Ella didn’t speak legalese, but she recognized hesitation when she saw it.
