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I step in closer to him as a way of cutting him off.
“Long enough for what?”
“Objection,” Ahearn says and Prentice sustains it.
“Withdrawn. Just one more question, Officer Murphy. From the time you did show up at the house that night along with other responding officers and right up until this moment, haven’t there been enough Southampton policemen with access to the body of Laurel Gates to form a conga line?”
Ahearn bellows an objection. I withdraw one last question. But this time I’ve gotten the last word in right before five o’clock, sharp.
When I sit back down, Jimmy Cunniff is where he’s been all day, in the first row.
I motion him to lean forward.
“You know what we weren’t talking about there at the end?” I whisper to him. “Women’s underwear.”
Jimmy grins and whispers back.
“Like Ahearn losthispanties just now.”
Nineteen
Jimmy
THE GUY JACOBSON ISa complete mutt.
Doesn’t mean that he did it. Jimmy hopes he didn’t, because he knows how much it will kill Jane if he did. She can always give you all the predictable lawyer BS about everybody deserving the best possible defense—usually meaning her—whether they committed the crime in question or not.
But with all her heart, and this girl has some heart, she doesn’t want Jacobson to have done it.
Neither one of them do, because who wants to throw down with somebody who could have done something like this? But Jane takes these things more personal. Jane’s the best there is, but she always wants to believe that she’sbetterthan someone who could get off a mutt that actually did it.
Whateverithappens to be.
Especially this Jacobson.
Like after the old tight-ass judge called it a day, before Jacobson would go back to his cell, Jimmy and Jane alone with him in the hallway, Jacobson trying to explain away not telling her about the stolen car, not thinking it mattered in the whole grand scheme of things, even if it was stolen right around the time of the murder.
More crap coincidence,Jimmy was thinking as he listened to the guy go on and on.
And on.
“It’s just more of the setup,” Jacobson finally said to Jane, as if Jimmy were not even there.
Jimmy couldn’t listen any longer or sit this out.
“Gotta say, somebody must hate you a whole hell of a lot to go to this much trouble on a frame this elaborate.”
Jacobson cocked his head to the side, a curious look on his face, as if surprised that Jimmy were even there.
“People hate me for who I am and what I have,” Jacobson said. Giving Jimmy one of his big-guy smiles. Lots of teeth Jimmy once again wanted to knock down his throat. “I mean, even you hate me, don’t you, Jimmy?”
“All due respect?” It always makes him want to laugh even when he’s the one saying those words, knowing nothing good ever comes after them. “You’re not important enoughtome to hate.”
“But you absolutely love the money I’m paying you and Jane, don’t you?”
“With or without your pants on?” Jimmy said, and left the two of them there.
For the time being, Jimmy has done as much as he can do for Jane on the Jacobson case. Maybe tomorrow she’ll want him to try to find out how the BMW got to the chop shop, even knowing that there is about as much bookkeeping at places like that as there is with drug deals.
