Page 9 of The Devil's Advocate

Clarence padded over to her, and she bent low and said, ‘I love your new leash. Do you need any more help with the app, Harry?’

Harry said, ‘No thank you, ma’am. You’ve worked enough miracles for one morning. Oh, Eddie, this is Denise. She works here now.’

She turned away from Clarence, stood and approached me. She held out a hand and I shook it.

‘I’m Denise. I love your office.’

‘I’m beginning to like it too,’ I said as I heard Kate coming over.

‘Eddie, I know we said we would discuss candidates for the secretarial post but Denise here—’

‘Let me guess. She fixed Clarence’s leash, mended the copier and arranged all your papers for your case.’

‘And I fixed the coffee machine,’ said Denise, brightly.

I took a moment and looked at the faces present. For the first time since we’d set foot in the new building everyone was calm and happy.

‘Denise,’ I said, ‘you’re not only hired, but you are forbidden from ever leaving this place.’

‘Things will be running smoothly from now on,’ said Kate.

‘Well, I guess this is the time to tell you all I’m thinking of going away for a while. We’ve got a potential case out of state. A capital murder. I might need some help with it too.’

‘I’ve got my big divorce case coming up next week,’ said Kate.

‘Don’t worry, Harry and I can handle this.’

‘What’s the case?’ said Harry.

‘Young kid about to be sent to death row for a murder he didn’t commit. We’d be working pro-bono, but a friend will cover expenses.’

‘Do you know the kid?’ asked Kate.

‘Never met him before.’

‘So you’re going to go out of state to do a capital murder case for free, for a kid you’ve never met?’ asked Bloch, from the kitchen.

‘Yep. This job isn’t about helping people you know. It’s about helping the people youdon’tknow.’

‘Do it, I think we’ve got everything covered here,’ said Kate.

I looked at Denise and said, ‘I think you have now. Look, there’s something else, this kid’s attorney has gone missing. This could be dangerous.’

‘It wouldn’t be your goddamn case if it wasn’t,’ said Harry. ‘There’s just one problem, Eddie. You’re not licensed to practice outside of New York.’

Berlin stepped onto the office floor, whipped a brown envelope from his jacket and said, ‘He will be by three o’clock this afternoon.’

THE FIRST DAY

CHAPTER THREE

KORN

At 9:01 in the a.m., limping slightly, Randal Korn threw open the doors to the Sunville County District Attorney’s Office and made his way, silently, through the rows of desks occupied by secretaries and assistant DAs. No morning greetings were exchanged. There was work to be done. And besides, he didn’t need to say anything.

His presence was felt.

The door to Korn’s private office was half glass and at least seventy years old. The names of the respective district attorneys for Sunville had been painted on the window, removed and then repainted as their tenures came and went. By the time Randal put a hand on the door, he was already being trailed by one of the assistants with a binder of documents in his hand. Sinking into a green leather studded chair behind a wide mahogany desk, Korn gazed up at the assistant DA, a man of thirty in a white, short-sleeved button-down shirt with a blue tie. Tom Wingfield was Korn’s number one ADA. He handed Korn the binder.