“Please do,” I say.
“In case you don’t live to the end of the trial,” he says.
FIFTY-ONE
I MAKE WHAT FEELS like a thousand-mile journey to Mineola, where I am meeting Katherine Welsh.
I haven’t told her I’ve found the murder weapon—only that I have a present for her.
“And it’s not even my birthday,” she says.
“It’s going to feel that way,” I say.
We meet in Katherine Welsh’s office, not far from the courthouse, on Old Country Road in Mineola.
She’s dressed casually on what is supposed to be her day off: cotton pullover and sleeveless vest and black jeans and a pair of well-worn Dr. Martens boots. Even dressed down, she looks annoyingly well put together.
“I could have met you halfway and saved you some driving,” she says.
“I’ve found you can make really good time when you’re taking the high road,” I say.
She frowns.
“That sounds mysterious,” she says.
“Not for long.”
The gun is in my purse. There are two guns in there, actually. One is my Glock 27, since with Rob Jacobson in my life I never go anywhere without it. The other is the bagged Glock 19, 15-round mag, that fired the bullets that killed the family for which Katherine Welsh is now trying my client.
She asks if I’d like water or coffee.
“I’m fine,” I tell her.
“Why do I get the idea you’re not fine?”
I force a smile. “I’m not answering another question without my lawyer present,” I tell her.
She smiles back at me. “I want to say something, before we get to whatever we’re getting to here,” she says. “I have this feeling that the two of us would be friends if we were meeting under different circumstances.”
“I’m a bitch,” I say.
“Same!” she says.
We both laugh at that.
Then there’s a silence between us, as if this is some sort of awkward first lawyer date, until she says, “So whatisall the mystery?”
I’ve dropped my bag next to my chair. I reach down now and remove the plastic bag and place the bagged gun on her desk.
“This is your present,” I say.
She looks down at the gun and then up at me.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes.”
“May I ask how it ended up in your possession?” she asks.
