Every Reasonable Doubt Read Online Free PDF

“Max did his best to keep his affairs from me.”
    I decided it might be best to back off, so I turned to Neddy.
    “He was a good provider and a good husband,” Tina continued, as if she regretted painting such a bad picture of her dearly departed. “As long as you didn’t include monogamy in the definition of marriage.”
    I crossed and uncrossed my legs, feeling as uncomfortable as Tina apparently did. I wanted to get this interview over with. “Tina, I hate to ask you this next question, but the police are certainly going to ask it, so it makes sense for us to get it out of the way now. Did you kill your husband?”
    She did not flinch or blink, but turned to face Neddy, not me. “Of course not, I loved my husband more than I loved myself.”
    I wasn’t sure I believed her. There was nothing about her body language that told me she was lying, but my gut just wasn’t willing to commit to her innocence yet.
    “Where were you the night your husband was killed?”
    She briefly closed her eyes. “That’s the problem,” she said, sitting her wine goblet on the coffee table and wringing her hands. “I was attending a Crystal Stairs fundraising dinner at the Ritz-Carlton in Beverly Hills. I was chairperson of the committee that organized the dinner.”
    I leaned forward in my chair. “You were at the same hotel where your husband was murdered?”
    Tina nodded.
    I tried to will the astonishment from my face. “Did you two go to the dinner together?”
    “No.”
    Neddy also sat at attention. I paused to give her time to ask the next question. When she didn’t, I continued.
    “Did your husband know your fundraiser was being held at the Ritz-Carlton?”
    “No,” she said shaking her head. “He’d planned to escort me, but the day before, he told me he had to leave town on business. At least, that’s the lie he gave me. I never got a chance to tell him where the dinner was. The events I organized were usually at the Century Plaza or the Biltmore.”
    Neddy and I looked at each other without meaning to.
    “It gets worse,” Tina said softly. “During the middle of the event, I wasn’t feeling well, so I went back to my room to lie down.”
    “Wait,” Neddy said, “you had a room there that night?”
    “Yes. I’d checked in the prior evening. I had to be there throughout the day to make sure all the proper arrangements were made for the dinner.”
    “Don’t tell me,” I said. “Your husband was killed during the time you went back to your room to lie down?”
    Tina’s eyes finally met mine. “Exactly.”

CHAPTER 6
     
    T he woman in white showed us to the front door and Neddy and I trudged down the long walkway toward the front gate in silence. When I opened the gate, Neddy reached in front of me and slammed it shut.
    “I don’t know how you conduct client interviews in employment cases, but what you just did in there won’t work in a criminal case,” she snapped. She sounded like a high school coach berating a player for fumbling the game-winning play.
    It took me a few seconds to gather my thoughts. First, because I had a habit of momentarily retreating when under attack and second, because I had no idea what Neddy was so mad about. I did know, however, that if we were going to be equals on this case, I needed to start laying the groundwork now.
    “I don’t like the tone of your voice,” I said, my attitude just as ugly as hers. “Since we’ve been assigned to handle this case together, you need to show me the basic courtesy of talking to me like an adult.” My right hand was confidently planted on my hip. My left gripped the handle of my briefcase so tightly a shot of pain went halfway up my arm. “Anyway, I have no idea what you’re upset about.”
    Neddy seemed surprised that her words had not caused me to cower. Most associates at the firm never stood up to her, but Neddy’s seniority and extensive trial experience didn’t intimidate me one bit.
    Her lips twisted into a frigid