Page 105 of The Devil's Advocate

‘Are you a relative of the deceased?’

‘As far as I know in this county you don’t have to be a relative to view a death certificate. The only information that is required is the date of birth and the name of the deceased.’

The woman’s bright red lips pinched into a small red ball, sucking in her cheeks. She pushed a form through the slot in the window and said, ‘It’s twelve ninety-five for a copy.’

Bloch put thirteen bucks on the counter, slid it through with the form completed.

The woman read the completed form, said, ‘Is that your real name?’

‘Far as I know you’re not entitled to ask me for ID.’

She sucked on her lips some more then disappeared in back. A few minutes later she reappeared, with change and a document in her hand. She slid the document through the window slot with the change on top.

‘Will that be all, MissMouse?’

‘No, just a second,’ said Bloch. She read the death certificate. Cause of death was recorded as self-inflicted gunshot. Death by suicide. Bloch checked the column on spouses, and it readLucy Anne Lomax (Deceased),but no date of birth.

‘I’d like the marriage license for Colt and Lucy Anne Lomax. And, please, call me Minnie,’ said Bloch.

The lady almost sucked the rouge right off her lips as she bent over, retrieved another form and slid it to Bloch.

‘That’ll be another twelve ninety-five.’

Bloch filled in the form, handed over the cash. The lady disappeared, came back five minutes later with a copy of the marriage license. Scanning it, Bloch found Lucy Lomax’s date of birth. Bloch asked for a death certificate form for Lucy Anne Lomax, filled out the form, paid the fee, watched the lady behind the counter roll her eyes, suck her cheeks and go get the certificate.

When she came back, she said, ‘Willthatbe all?’

Bloch read the death certificate, smiled and said, ‘Yes, this is all I need.’

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

KORN

Breakfast at the Blue Turtle Tavern at the invitation of Acting Sheriff Shipley was not to be dismissed lightly, even if Korn was in the middle of a murder trial. He was to meet him at seven-thirty, but didn’t arrive until almost eight. That way he could grab a quick coffee, and then get to court with an hour to spare before the trial recommenced.

As the maître d’ showed him to the table he saw that this would not be a quiet meal. The table was circular, and almost full. Seated beside Shipley was Governor Patchett. Next to him was Deputy Leonard, and then Ryan Hogg and Korn’s assistant DA Tom Wingfield. Korn took a seat with Wingfield on his right, and Shipley on his left. All of them were enjoying bacon and eggs with the Blue Turtle’s famous grits on the side. A plate of biscuits, with only a few left, sat in the center of the table. The men said their good mornings to Korn.

He sat down slowly, taking his time to stretch out his right leg. He needed the pain that day and had tightened the garter by a notch. The leg had bled badly that morning, and he wrapped it in additional bandages and gauze to stem the bleeding. Even so, just on the drive over he spotted a stain on the leg of his dark gray pants. Most wouldn’t notice it, and he didn’t have time to go home and change.

Those around the table certainly didn’t notice. They had already resumed their conversation, apart from Shipley and Patchett.

‘Nice to see you, Governor, but I thought you would’ve gone straight back to Montgomery after the meeting at the chemical plant,’ said Korn.

‘I was, then I got a call from our new sheriff here. He’s quite the officer,’ said Patchett.

Shipley cleared his throat, turned to Korn and said, ‘We got word of a viable threat. An extremist group has apparently been planning a full-scale assault on the governor’s mansion. The aim is to take the governor hostage and kill everyone else in the building.’

‘How reliable is your information?’ asked Korn.

‘It’s one hundred percent accurate,’ said Shipley.

‘He’s right,’ said Patchett. ‘Four hours after Shipley called me, my security advisor got a call from the FBI to say they’d heard about it through their channels. It’s real, alright.’

Korn wondered, just for a second, how an acting sheriff might hear about a planned terror attack on a high-profile public figure before the Federal Bureau of Investigations. ‘My God, and do you know who is behind it?’

Shipley was about to speak, but the governor cut him off, said, ‘Of course, it’s the radical left. It’s probably some kind of paramilitary cell within Antifa. This country is under threat, you know. We have to be willing to meet this enemy.’

‘Rest assured, Governor, that’s exactly what we’ll do,’ said Shipley.