Dead Hunt Read Online Free PDF

had written a nice proposal to the state. Anyway, it was something for them to do. Clymene O’Riley took the course. She did several of the arrangements you see here. What do you want to know about her?’’
‘‘Your opinion of her,’’ said Diane.
Rev. Rivers finished placing his handouts on the desktops and motioned for Diane to sit down. He turned one of the desks around to face her and sat down with a deep breath, as if laying out all the handouts had tired him. His light brown hair was disheveled and his brown eyes looked red and strained.
‘‘She’s an interesting prisoner. When she asked to work in the chapel she wasn’t like the usual prisoner— she didn’t tell me how she’d found the Lord and wanted to help do his work. We sat over there in those chairs.’’ He pointed to two vinyl-upholstered wood chairs at a table by the wall. ‘‘She told me she was scared and wanted a safe place to work and if I let her work here she would listen to what I had to say with an open mind. I found that refreshing. She told the truth and promised me only what she could give. I’ve had women promise me they would become nuns.’’ He laughed. ‘‘I tell them I’m Protestant, but I’ll pass their desires along to Father Henry.’’
Diane smiled. ‘‘You are also a counselor here? Is that right?’’
He nodded. ‘‘I’m here all day. We have a rabbi and a priest come to minister to the prisoners too.’’
Diane glanced down at the handout on the desk in front of her. It was instructions for filling out a job application. Rivers followed her gaze.
‘‘With some of them, small skills like filling out forms, going for a job interview, and creating a budget help them get by on the outside. Clymeme has been a big help. She already has those skills. Sometimes we do role playing and the women pretend they are at a job interview. Clymene is good at interviewing and showing them how to improve. She’s fluent in Spanish. I’ll tell you, that’s a big help.’’
‘‘And did she listen to you with an open mind?’’ asked Diane.
Rivers nodded. ‘‘She did. She listens and asks a lot of intelligent questions. She’s a smart woman. She actually understands everything I have to say.’’
‘‘Do the other prisoners like her?’’ asked Diane.
He nodded. ‘‘They do. She writes briefs for them. Pretty good at it too. She’s gotten one woman a new trial and another one visitation for her kid. That’s really a good record.’’
It certainly was, thought Diane. Now she knew why the DA was so nervous. Apparently there was no end to Clymene’s skills.
‘‘And the guards?’’ asked Diane.
He shrugged. ‘‘They like her as much as they like any of the prisoners, I suppose. Probably more because she doesn’t cause trouble. There are a couple of guards she is friendly with, I think. Guards are like the rest of us. Cynical. We hear and see a lot.’’
‘‘You don’t seem cynical,’’ said Diane.
‘‘I try not to be. Occasionally we actually get prisoners who are really innocent. It happens more than you think. I try to keep an open mind without becoming gullible. And I try not to take it too hard when they disappoint me. It’s not an easy line to walk.’’
‘‘I can imagine,’’ said Diane, though he seemed to her like a man who felt disappointments deeply.
He shifted in his chair and stared a moment at the handout in front of him. After a moment he looked back up at Diane.
‘‘I’m not familiar with the evidence against Clymene O’Riley. I get the impression from prison talk that it was weak.’’ He gave a faint laugh that barely made it out of his throat. ‘‘Something about creative scrapbooking?’’
Diane grinned at him. ‘‘Those illustrated her duplicity and pointed to an underlying scheme.’’ Diane took a breath and explained in detail about the scrapbooks. Rivers bent forward, resting his arms on the desk, and listened.
‘‘None were true?’’ he asked.
‘‘Not