“Kowalski might interview her with another detective, a cop, or the on-call A.D.A. Courtney can’t talk to them, not a word. You know that, right?”
“Yes, right.”
“Butyoucan talk to them. I want you to get yourself in that interview room.”
“Okay.” Julia got a grip. “I’ll go in with her, I don’t want her to go alone. She must be scared out of her mind.”
“The issue is it won’t be easy to get in. They don’t have an obligation to admit you because you’re not a lawyer and Courtney’s not a minor.”
“So how do I get in?”
“They’ll let you if they think they can’t get the interview otherwise.”
“Okay, what do I do?”
“Convince them.”
“How?” Julia gritted her teeth, driving at speed.
“Use your common sense. Tell them she needs her best friend. You’re two young women, freaking out because one of you was arrested. You’re upstanding citizens with no criminal records, I assume—”
“Of course!”
“—and we’re going to use that to our advantage. They’ll underestimate you. They’ll think they have the upper hand, but they don’t, right?”
“They don’t?”
“No. She has you and me. We’re going to fight for her, starting now.”
Whoa.Julia rallied, racing after the cops. “Okay, so you want me to get into the interview. Why?”
“First, make sure that she doesn’t say anything. If she does, tell her to shut up and—”
“I would never talk to her like that.”
“Okay, tell her that her lawyer said shut up.”
Julia let it go. “Okay, but again, why am I doing this?”
“Your job is to find out what they have that supports the murder charge. Any facts at all. Ask them any question you can think of.”
“Why can’t this wait until you get here? You’re the expert.”
“I know, and that’s whyyou’rethe one to do this. We have a unique opportunity here. The cops will want to interview Courtney and hear everything she’s going to say. They would love to do it without her lawyer. That’s where you come in. They’ll tell you more about their case than they’d tell me. The more we know, the better for Courtney. Understand?”
“Yes,” Julia said, swallowing hard.
“If you’re not up to it, say so. Do you want to do it or not?”
27
Julia parked in front of the Weaverton police station, which was a long rectangle of well-maintained brick with windowed wings on both sides and a flat roof. The cruisers bearing Courtney passed through a cyclone gate in a fenced-in yard to the right, topped with concertina wire. A sign read Official Vehicles Only.
Julia grabbed her purse and jumped out of the car, trying to ignore the residual ache in her chest. She had no idea when it would go away, but she couldn’t worry about it now. She hurried to the entrance past uniformed cops flowing in and out, newly aware of their handcuffs, nightsticks, and holstered guns. She’d looked to the police after Mike’s murder, praying they’d find his killer. Now she feared their power and its trappings. They could lock up an innocent woman, and no one could stop them.
Julia entered the station and found herself in a waiting room that was more modern and institutional than the one at Buckley. It was a square of dingy white drywall lined with bucket seats of blue plastic,all of which were empty. Official plaques, portraits, and notices hung next to a bulletin board covered with laminated memos and bulletins. An American flag and the blue Pennsylvania flag flanked a grayed-out window of scratchy bulletproof glass, behind which sat a uniformed cop.
Julia crossed to the window and introduced herself. “My friend Courtney Horan was just arrested. I need to talk to the detective on the case. His name is Kowalski.”
