Falls the Shadow Read Online Free PDF Page A

fine together, though I wouldn’t start racking up the billables until the money is in the bank. After the trial I ended up prosecuting his appeals pro bono. By then he had no funds left, as far as I could tell.”
    That was interesting and disheartening both. How did François get the five hundred he had paid me for the meeting, and how was he going to get me my retainer? I hadn’t asked in the prison—he’d said he could pay me, so I just assumed he could—but as always, when it came to money, it was wrong to assume anything.
    At that moment, still thinking about the money, I glanced behind me, to the rear of the stone house. Ivy was climbing the walls, digging into the crumbling mortar for purchase. And framed by a tiny square window was a face, long and pale, with a white nurse’s cap pinned atop its dark hair. The mouth was a thin, straight gash, the eyes were black and staring, staring at me. When I cocked my head out of curiosity, the face disappeared.
    “So, Victor,” said Whit, dragging my attention away from the window, “what grounds are you considering for the new trial?”
    “I don’t know yet. We’re still looking into it. I’ll of course want to talk to the witness.”
    “That might be difficult. He died a few years back.”
    “How?”
    “A tragedy, really. Shot during a drug deal, apparently.”
    “Was he on drugs at the time of the trial?”
    “Not that I knew of, and like I said, we asked for any information the police had on him. He came back clean. Quite the wholesome young man, so we all thought.” He glanced over his shoulder for a moment, as if to that window. “Not much there, I’m afraid.”
    “I suppose then I’ll have to comb through the record for something else to hang our hat on. And my partner, who’s also working on the case, thinks we should, well, you know…”
    “Blame me,” said Whit, nodding with a touch too much enthusiasm. “Of course she’s right, you should. Anything for the client. I’ll help out, too, if you want. Put me on the stand, I’ll have a senior moment for the judge. You can claim me as senile.”
    “Some things, Whit, are too beyond belief for even me to argue.”
    “Oh, Victor, I doubt that.” He laughed. “I doubt that very much.”
    On our way out, we passed again through the faded hallway of his house. The medicinal smell leaked from the side room like a dark secret. With the front door open and the two of us in the entranceway, he put his hand on my shoulder. “Victor, really now, you must take care of that tooth. Let me give you the name of a dentist.”
    “I’m not much for dentists,” I said.
    He took a card and pen from his jacket pocket, scribbled a name and a number. “He’s a miracle worker, trust me.”
    I reached for my tooth with my tongue as I looked over what he had written. A name, Dr. Pfeffer, and a phone number.
    “Give him a call.” He smiled at me and nodded, and just then a scream came from the back room, and the sound of something crashing to the floor. I glanced at Whit. Some strange emotion played itself on his face, something fearful, shameful.
    “My daughter,” he said. “I should go to her.”
    “Of course you should. Thank you, Whit,” I said, shaking his hand. “Thank you for everything.”
    “Keep me informed of Mr. Dubé’s status.”
    “I will.”
    He started away and then stopped, turned toward me, almost lunged as he grabbed my shoulders and leaned into me. I recoiled from him, thinking for a moment he was going to kiss me for some reason, but that’s not what he did. He grabbed my shoulders, leaned close, and whispered in my ear as if cadres of eavesdroppers were close by.
    “Leave him where he is, leave it be. For your own sake. You can’t imagine the price.”
    Then he let me go and lurched off down the hallway and was gone.

5
    You know that stuff they sell in drugstores, the goop you put into your mouth to stop your toothache? Well, it doesn’t work. I know this because I