Mickey Haller 4 - The Fifth Witness Read Online Free PDF Page A

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    The case and its hidden device were almost ten years old and as far as I knew, the original owner was still in federal prison. I’d taken it in trade at least seven years ago, back when drug cases were my bread and butter. I knew law enforcement was always trying to build a better mousetrap, and in ten years the electronic eavesdropping business must have undergone at least two revolutions. So I was not completely put at ease. I would still need to exercise caution in what I said and hoped my client would as well.
    “Lisa, we’re not going to talk a whole lot here because we don’t know who may be listening. You understand?”
    “I think so. But what is happening here? I don’t understand what’s happening!”
    Her voice had risen progressively through the sentence until she was screaming the last word. This was an emotional speaking pattern she had used several times on the phone with me when I was handling only her foreclosure. Now the stakes were higher and I had to draw the line.
    “None of that, Lisa,” I said firmly. “You do not scream at me. You understand? If I’m going to represent you on this you do not scream at me.”
    “Okay, sorry, but they’re saying I did something I didn’t do.”
    “I know and we’re going to fight it. But no screaming.”
    Because they had pulled her back before the booking process had begun, Lisa was still in her own clothes. She was wearing a white T-shirt with a flower pattern on the front. I saw no blood on it or anywhere else. Her face was streaked with tears and her brown curly hair was unkempt. She was a small woman and seemed even more so in the harsh light of the room.
    “I need to ask you some questions,” I said. “Where were you when the police found you?”
    “I was home. Why are they doing this to me?”
    “Lisa, listen to me. You have to calm down and let me ask the questions. This is very important.”
    “But what’s going on? No one tells me anything. They said I was under arrest for murdering Mitchell Bondurant. When? How? I didn’t go near that man. I didn’t break the TRO.”
    I realized that it would have been better if I had viewed Kurlen’s DVD before speaking with her. But it was par for the course to come into a case at a disadvantage.
    “Lisa, you are indeed under arrest for the murder of Mitchell Bondurant. Detective Kurlen—he’s the older one—told me that you made admissions to them in re—”
    She shrieked and brought her hands to her face. I saw that she was cuffed at the wrists. A new round of tears started.
    “I didn’t admit anything! I didn’t do anything!”
    “Calm down, Lisa. That’s why I’m here. To defend you. But we don’t have a lot of time right now. They’re giving me ten minutes and then they’re going to book you. I need to—”
    “I’m going to jail?”
    I nodded reluctantly.
    “Well, what about bail?”
    “It is very hard to get bail on a murder charge. And even if I could get something set, you don’t have the—”
    Another piercing wail filled the tiny room. I lost my patience.
    “Lisa! Stop doing that! Now listen, your life is at stake here, okay? You have to calm down and listen to me. I am your attorney and I will do my best to get you out of here but it’s going to take some time. Now listen to my questions and answer them without all the—”
    “What about my son? What about Tyler?”
    “Someone from my office is making contact with your sister and we will arrange for him to be with her until we can get you out.”
    I was very careful not to introduce a hard time line for her release. Until we can get you out. As far as I was concerned, that might be days, weeks or even years. It might never happen. But I did not need to get specific.
    Lisa nodded as if there was some relief in knowing her son would be with her sister.
    “What about your husband? You have a contact number for him?”
    “No, I don’t know where he is and I don’t want you contacting him anyway.”
    “Not