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“You’re his wife.”
“She was his mistress, even if she never got around to admitting that in open court.”
“Alleged mistress. To be fair.”
“Screw you. Like my husband was screwing sweet little Brigid and everybody else.”
“Claire, in about fifteen minutes you’re going to be in that chair, whether you like it or not.”
“My lawyer is of the opinion that I can ignore the subpoena, citing spousal privilege.”
“Your lawyer is about to walk you right into a jail cell.”
I know it will never come to that, even if Prentice cites her for contempt. But she doesn’t know that, especially without her lawyer here to hold her hand.
For now it’s just us girls.
“I don’t see how I can possibly help his case,” she says, “especially since the longer this trial goes, the more I am convinced that he did it. How would you like it if I shared that heartwarming sentiment from the stand?”
“Not so much. And we both know you’re not going to do that.”
She smiles.
Her own killer smile.
Maybe she and her husband used to practice it on each other.
“And why, pray tell, is that?”
“Because you don’t really want to be known as the wife of a murderer,” I say. “It will get you uninvited from all the best parties.”
“Ex. Ex-wife. First chance I get. And then I will end up somewhere where even you and your friend Mr. Cunniff can’t find me.”
“You can go on one of those space missions with some of your rich friends for all I care. But before you do, you and I are going to talk to each other upstairs.”
Her eyes turn to slits now. They remind me in the moment of cat eyes. I remember a friend, a cat person, telling me once that the only reason that cats scratch your wrist is because they’re not big enough to rip your throat out.
“What do you want from me?”she says, the words coming out hot.
I tell her.
“Not a chance in hell,” she says.
Seventy-Seven
Jimmy
JIMMY CUNNIFF SITS ATMickey Dunne’s desk and stares at the girl he is sure Lily Carson used to be, then back at the images he has on his phone of the woman she became.
And now it’s like every other time he came up with a clue in a case he and Mickey were working, all the way back, even when they were rookies together.
He wants to talk it throughwithMickey.
So he does.
“Where’d you find this, partner?”
Knowing that’s not even the question he really wants to ask him.
