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traded jokes about two sticks on a stage.
    â€œSo now you’re supposed to take over for him?”
    I nodded. “Apparently our CEO loved the idea when he was contacted personally by O’Malley. More publicity for the hospital and a chance to show how civic-minded we are—helping local officials out of a tight bind. Jonathan also mentioned a concern that I was becoming too one-sided about the cases I was taking on. He thinks I should be doing more to put lowlifes away.”
    â€œIs that what’s got you so down—besides Brad, I mean?”
    â€œWorking for the prosecution? Maybe. Not to mention the timing. The trial starts in the middle of January. That’s only a month off.”
    â€œBut you’ll have all of Brad’s work to rely on. He wasn’t a guy you could fault for lack of thoroughness.”
    â€œThat’s what Jonathan said when I raised the point. Apparently, there’s no interest in having me reinvent the wheel. And under the rules, I’m entitled to simply explain Brad’s findings and indicate whether I agree with them. I don’t even have to talk to Lazarus unless I want to.”
    â€œDo you have any idea what Brad was going to say? It’s amazing his report hasn’t leaked before now, with all of the reporters working overtime to get the inside track.”
    â€œO’Malley’s doing, again. She’s been worried about a defense motion for a change of venue and has been trying to keep the publicity pot from boiling over, though having the case sent elsewhere would certainly solve her public-relations problem. That’s the one ray of sunshine in this whole thing. From everything I’ve read, she’s a straight shooter, unlike some of the sharks in that office.”
    I was thinking of Tony Di Marco, an Assistant State’s Attorney I’d crossed horns with before, and whom I trusted even less than I trusted Jonathan.
    â€œSo that’s who you’ll be working for, Mama Cass herself?” Josh said, making reference to O’Malley’s nickname in the gossip columns. He stopped and added ruefully, “As though I should be making cracks about someone’s size.” Josh had finally given in to temptation and was now making short work of the food left on my plate.
    â€œUh-huh. I’m supposed to be over there getting my marching orders at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”
    Josh clapped me on the shoulder. “Like I said when we started this discussion. You’re in the big leagues now.”

FOUR
    It was a fitting coda to the day that when I reached home that evening, I found myself locked out.
    I didn’t understand what was happening at first.
    Still, I ought to have figured out right away why my key wouldn’t move when I tried to open the courtyard gate. My first assumption was that I’d pulled out the wrong one. But on removing the key and checking the shape, as well as flipping through all the others on my ring, I knew that wasn’t the problem. I reinserted the key into the lock and tried again, but it stubbornly refused to budge. I tried once more, taking care not to exert too much force. The last thing I needed was to snap the head from the shaft. Once again, I couldn’t get the thing to move as much as a centimeter in either direction.
    I stood there in the cold, unsure of what to do. At half past six, it was already pitch black outside, and the wind was causing the temperature to drop seemingly by the minute. There was an intercom, but I couldn’t tell whether any of my neighbors was home. And even if a human being was behind one of the doors, who would risk venturing outside to answer my summons? No one in the complex yet knew my name. The whole purpose of a gated community was to keep out strangers and other undesirables. I could call a locksmith, but I was loath to appear both blind and incompetent. Besides, I realized with mounting concern, I had nothing on me