ILL-TIMED ENTANGLEMENTS (The Kate Huntington mystery series #2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

mind that anyone might question her word.
    Kate jumped in. “Detective, these were all things that would have been discussed tomorrow with the publisher’s lawyers. I’m quite sure all these legal ins and outs hadn’t even occurred to Mrs. Franklin yet. And I think we need to stop at this point, until legal counsel is present.”
    As if on cue, Kate’s cell phone started playing Brahms’ lullaby. She looked at the caller ID window and saw that it was Rob. Trying not to let her relief show, she answered it. “Hi, can you hold on a minute?… Detective, if you would excuse us, we need to consult with Mrs. Franklin’s attorney now.”
    The detective nodded and stood up. “I’ll check on the crime scene folks. Don’t go anywhere.” Kate noticed that, as he left the room, he nodded to a uniformed officer who moved into position just outside the door.
    Kate quickly gave Rob a rundown of what had happened, the questions the detective had asked, and the answers given. Betty followed Kate’s end of the conversation with curiosity and only an occasional flicker of anxiety on her face.
    When Kate had finished filling him in, Rob asked, “Has this detective indicated he’s going to arrest her?”
    “No, but I think it might be under consideration.”
    “You think he’s going to?”
    “Not sure,” Kate said.
    “Is she holding up okay?”
    “Yes, remarkably so.”
    “Hmm, they have motive and opportunity…”
    “Shouldn’t be enough,” Kate interjected.
    “But in some jurisdictions, it’s considered enough for arrest while they dig for more concrete evidence.”
    Kate struggled to keep the dismay off of her face. “Are you licensed to practice in Pennsylvania?”
    “No, but if she’s arrested, I’ll hire a local firm. And if it goes to court, I would probably second chair.” Rob paused for a beat. “Look, I really need to be here for this damn case. Do you think you can hold the fort up there until tomorrow evening?”
    “Yeah,” Kate said. She got up, trying to look nonchalant as she wandered over to the big window overlooking the parking lot.
    Rob heard the hesitation in her voice. “Are you okay?” he asked, regretting the burden he was putting on her shoulders.
    “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m feeling… just a little inadequate, I guess,” she whispered into the phone, turning further away from Betty. “I think I can deflect the detective for the rest of today maybe, but I don’t know about tomorrow.”
    “Do the best you can and I’ll be on the road the minute I get out of court tomorrow. I’ll leave my phone on vibrate in my pocket. If they arrest her, call me right away. If I don’t answer, I’m in court and I’ll get a recess as soon as I can and call you back. The police are going to want to search her apartment. Let them. They’ll be able to get a warrant anyway, and refusing to allow a search will just look suspicious.”
    “Okay.” Responding to Betty’s gestures, Kate added, “Here, Betty wants to talk to you.”
    Betty took the phone but didn’t get a chance to say more than “Hello.” She listened and said “okay” several times, and then handed the phone back to Kate.
    Kate saw that Rob had disconnected the call from his end.
    “I thought that boy had better manners than that,” Betty said, peeved at her favorite nephew. “He wouldn’t even let me talk.”
    “He’s in what I call
court mode
, Betty. You’ve probably never seen him that way. When he’s in court, he has to be very direct and to the point, and sometimes downright aggressive. He’s a bit brusque right after he gets out of court, until his normal personality reasserts itself.”
    “Well, he did say he had to get back to the courtroom, that they only had a few minutes recess,” Betty said, somewhat mollified. “Hmm, maybe in my next book, I’ll have the heroine get into some kind of legal trouble and have a courtroom scene, and then she falls in love with her lawyer.” Betty tapped her index