Let Me Call You Sweetheart Read Online Free PDF

that made you decide on this?"
"Yes and no. I have someone coming in right now. I'll tell you about it when I see you next."
"I'll get back to you with a name this afternoon."
"Thanks, Jonathan."
"You're welcome, Your Honor."
"Jonathan, don't say that. You'll jinx me."
As the phone clicked, she heard him chuckle.
Her first appointment that morning was with Corinne Banks, the assistant to whom, as trial chief, she had assigned a vehicular homicide case. It was on the court calendar for next Monday, and Corinne wanted to review some aspects of the prosecution she intended to present.
Corinne, a young black woman of twenty-seven, had the makings of a top-drawer trial lawyer, Kerry thought. A tap at the door, and Corinne came in, a large file under her arm. She was wreathed in smiles. "Guess what Joe dug up," she said happily.
Joe Palumbo was one of their best investigators.
Kerry grinned. "I can hardly wait."
"Our oh-so-innocent defendant who claimed he never was involved in another accident has a real problem. Under a phony driver's license, he has a string of serious traffic violations, including another death by auto fifteen years ago. I can't wait to nail that guy, and now I'm confident that we can." She laid down the file and opened it. "Anyhow, this is what I wanted to talk about..."
Twenty minutes later, after Corinne left, Kerry reached for the phone. Corinne's mention of the investigator had given her an idea.
When Joe Palumbo answered with his usual "Yup," Kerry asked, "Joe, have you got lunch plans?"
"Not a one, Kerry. Want to take me to Solari's for lunch?"
Kerry laughed. "I'd love to, but I have something else in mind. How long have you been here?"
"Twenty years."
"Were you involved with the Reardon homicide about ten years ago, the one the media called the Sweetheart Murder?"
"That was a biggie. No, I wasn't on it, but as I remember it was pretty open and shut. Our Leader made his name on that one."
Kerry knew that Palumbo was not enamored of Frank Green. "Weren't there several appeals?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah. They kept coming up with new theories. It seemed like it went on forever," Palumbo replied.
"I think the last appeal was turned down just a couple of years ago," Kerry said, "but something has come up that has me curious about that case. Anyhow, the point is, I want you to go to the files at The Record and dig out everything they printed on the case."
She could picture Joe good-naturedly rolling his eyes.
"For you, Kerry, sure. Anything. But why? That case is long gone."
"Ask me later."
Kerry's lunch was a sandwich and coffee at her desk. At one- thirty Palumbo came in, carrying a bulging envelope. "As requested."
Kerry looked at him affectionately. Short, graying, twenty pounds overweight and with a ready smile, Joe had a disarmingly benevolent appearance that did not reflect his ability to instinctively home in on seemingly unimportant details. She had worked with him on some of her most important cases. "I owe you one," she said.
"Forget it, but I do admit I'm curious. What's your interest in the Reardon case, Kerry?"
She hesitated. Somehow at this point it didn't seem right to talk about what Dr. Smith was doing.
Palumbo saw her reluctance to answer. "Never mind. You'll tell me when you can. See you later."
Kerry was planning to take the file home and begin to read it after dinner. But she could not resist pulling out the top clipping. I'm right, she thought. It was only a couple of years ago.
It was a small item from page 32 of The Record, noting that Skip Reardon's fifth appeal for a new trial had been turned down by the New Jersey Supreme Court, and that his attorney, Geoffrey Dorso, had vowed to find grounds for another appeal.
Dorso's quote was, "HI keep trying until Skip Reardon walks out of that prison exonerated. He's an innocent man."
Of course, she thought, all lawyers say that.
For the second night in a row, Bob Kinellen dined with his client Jimmy Weeks. It had not been a good day in court. Jury