Chasing Suspect Three Read Online Free Page B

that.”
    “That’s what I’m telling you. The cops came
to my place. They’d been there the day before and were nice, so I
let them in again. This time they say I’ve done something wrong.
All of a sudden they say they’ve got a right to push me around,
they’ve got a right to put handcuffs on me, and I’ve got a right to
eat shit.”
    “It’s terrible what you’ve been through.”
Sandy couldn’t hold back a long sigh. She would earn her money on
this case assuming the woman wanted to engage her. “Look, all I
know is you’ve been arrested for first degree homicide. Tell me
your story from the start.”
    The woman was beginning to settle down. “What
is this, Friday? Well, the police found John murdered two days ago.
That is, I found him, but I got the hell out of there when I heard
the sirens.”
    “Why did you leave?”
    She gave Sandy a strange look. “You’re
joking, right?”
    Sandy said, “I read the newspaper story. So
that was your husband. I’m sorry for your loss.” She was afraid to
ask if the woman had killed him. “You sent for me, because you want
me to defend you, right?”
    “Whatever to get me the hell out of
here.”
    Someone had violently murdered her husband,
and this was all about her. “You’ve been arrested for first-degree
homicide. You can’t bond out on that, not in Florida. You might be
here for many months.”
    For an instant, Sandy wondered if this was in
fact happening. This would be her first murder defense case—not
counting the client who took out his neighbor’s dog with an assault
rifle. She hoped Margo was innocent; regardless she’d gladly take
her as a client and defend her.
    She was afraid to ask point blank if she was
hired. She hoped the woman couldn’t detect the slight tremor in her
hand as she started writing down details such as name and address.
She’d keep writing and acting as though it was a done deal. Maybe
the woman would go along with it. “How long were you married?”
    “We are separated...divorcing.”
    Sandy didn’t hear the answer. She was
picturing herself in the courtroom standing in front of the judge. Your Honor, although this is my first case, I move that the
charges against my client be dismissed on the grounds my
sensational defense is going to totally devastate the state
attorney regardless of the evidence he comes up with. She made
a hard blink and said, “I’m sorry Mrs. Larena, what did you just
say?”
    “Call me Margo. We are
separated...divorcing.”
    “Of course, was the separation amicable or
hostile?”
    “He wanted me dead.”
    Sandy fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I’ll
put down ‘hostile’ for now. Why were you divorcing?”
    “Three reasons from column A, two from column
B—.”
    “So the address you just gave me is yours not
his.” She kept making notes on her yellow pad. “How long married
and how long separated?”
    “Married three years, been separated about
three months. Had to move out. He owned the condo before we were
married—the Coral Palms on Eighth Street.
    “And that’s where he was shot?”
    “I know nothing about the shooting. So don’t
even ask me. I walked in, and there he was out dead in the shower
stall. The water running certainly made a mess.”
    “What’d you do then?”
    She hesitated. “I heard the sirens and got
the hell out of there fast. The next day cops were knocking on my
door scaring the holy hell out of me. They told me they were very
sorry, but my husband had been killed. I said I knew he had been
shot. They asked how I knew it was a shooting. I didn’t know how to
answer, so I started crying. The cop said he was sorry, but they
had to talk with me. He asked if he could come in and look around.
I said no, because...hello? They might find stuff. He gave me this
card—some Polack...Jamiski, or something.” She reached in her
coverall pocket and handed over the card. “I thought everything was
going to be cool, but they came back and arrested me.”
    It