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She chuckled. “You mean like another woman? I doubt it. William wasn’t that interested in committing to a relationship. I’m sure he had hisfillies”—her upper lip curled as she said that—“but I doubt he had any lasting connections.”
“What about friends?” Michael asked. “Or colleagues? Any sign of a falling out between them?”
Christopher answered that question. “Dad didn’t have a lot of friends,” he said. “Just a few law school buddies who lived out of state. He would talk to them on the internet every now and then, but that’s about it. He would just work and go home.”
“Well, he wouldn’tjustgo home,” Caroline interjected.
Christopher flashed an irritated look in her direction, but Faith followed up. “Where would he go?”
“Well,” she said, lifting her glass, “William liked to drink.”
She sipped her water and Michael asked, “Where would he drink?”
“Oh, I’m sure I don’t know,” she said. “Wherever they sell alcohol, I suppose. He wouldn’t drive anymore, but he would still put it away. I thought for sure after his accident he would quit. When I caught him drunk the week after he was pardoned for manslaughter, I filed the divorce papers the next day.”
“Can you tell me about the accident?” Faith asked.
“It doesn’t matter!” Christopher interrupted with surprising vehemence. “It was ten years ago.”
“We’d like to know,” Michael said with just enough authority that Christopher clammed up moodily.
“Well,” Caroline said, clearly pleased at being the center of attention again, “I received a call from jail ten years ago, on March nineteenth. I thought to myself, why on earth would the Houston jail be calling me at such a—”
“Just the details, please,” Michael interrupted.
She glared at him momentarily, then said, “Well, he hit a woman walking on the sidewalk. She died at the hospital later.”
Faith leaned forward. “Did he ever receive any threats from the family? Any communication of any kind?”
She shook her head. “No, not that I’m aware of. I’m not even sure what family she had, if she was married or not. No one ever told me anything about that.”
“What was the victim’s name?”
“I don’t remember,” she said. “It was so long ago. I only remember that she was killed, and he had to call in several favors to get off without the manslaughter charge. We were worried, of course, about retaliation, but there was no word from anyone claiming to be her family or friend. After ten years, I can’t imagine that anyone would decide to take action now.”
Faith didn’t think so either, but she made a mental note to follow up on the case if they didn’t find anything more promising. In the meantime, she moved on to the more important questions. “Do you two know if William was ever in contact with a Marvin Prescott or a Dr. Barbara Ames?”
Christopher frowned and shook his head. Caroline cocked her head as though recalling something, but in the end, she too said, “No, I don’t recall hearing about a Marvin or a Dr. Barbara. Perhaps that was one of the doctors he represented.”
Faith lifted an eyebrow. “He represented doctors?”
Caroline nodded. “He typically worked as an injury attorney, but he would represent doctors in malpractice cases as well. He liked to play both sides.”
Faith and Michael shared a glance. They stood and Michael handed the two of them each a card. “If you think of anything else, please give us a call.”
They managed to withhold their excitement until they got into the car. Once inside, Michael didn’t need to ask where to go next. He punched in the address to William’s office and started driving.
“So,” he said as he pulled out of the driveway. “We’re thinking maybe Mr. Hucksley represents Dr. Ames in a malpractice case. Maybe Marvin Prescott is a witness for the respondent. Maybe Mr. Hucksley isn’t just a dime store injury attorney after all. Maybe that’s his day in the sun and he takes advantage of it and pulls out a judgment in his client’s favor. Maybe the guy on the other side doesn’t like it so much and maybe he decides to express his displeasure by burying our victims alive one at a time.”
“Up until ten minutes ago,” Faith said, “I would have found that idea farfetched.”
“And now?”
“Ask me in twenty minutes.”
Michael chuckled. “Fair enough.”
***
