Sticks & Stones (A Hollis Morgan Mystery) Read Online Free PDF

took a quick look. There’s not much. But go through everything and sort it out by strength of lead.”
    “I’m on it.”
    Hollis reached in her tote and pulled out two slim folders. She’d compiled notes of her own.
    Mark pointed to the initials on one of the folders. “You got that from Cathy, too?”
    “The notes I’ve already made are in this folder.” She pushed it over to him. “And these are Cathy’s, from the file she left behind.” Hollis slid it across the table.
    Mark put his pen down and flipped through the papers. “Hollis, tell me these are copies. You gave the originals to the police, right?”
    When she shrugged, he groaned.
    “Oh hell , no! Let’s not start out on the wrong foot.” He pointed a finger. “I’m an attorney and you plan to be one. We can both be disbarred.”
    “Okay, okay I’ll make copies and give the originals to Cavanaugh. I had a momentary blackout. It’s just with copies you couldn’t read clearly what she wrote in the margins. I tried scanning everything , but her scribbles didn’t show through.” She saw the look of rebuke on his face. “Fine, I’ll rewrite her scribbles and take the originals to the police first thing tomorrow.”
    Mark picked up the file and glanced at the top pages. He frowned. “Fields had her served at home. Here’s a letter to Cathy from Personnel. When her bosses at Transformation got served, they back-stepped from her so fast they even cancelled her subscription.”
    “But surely the Transformation attorneys vetted her copy. They must be vulnerable to lawsuits on a daily basis.” Hollis said.
    “Usually, yes, but Cathy was a freelance writer and she could sell her story to anyone she wanted. We need to get a copy of her contract, although there must be a legal disclaimer in every Transformation issue. We need to go through it in detail, particularly the limited liability language.”
    Hollis tilted her head toward Mark. “Take a look inside the folder cover.”
    Mark reached over and flipped the cover. His frown deepened. “It’s facial pencil sketches, dozens of faces.” He looked up at Hollis, “Did she mention who they are?”
    Hollis shook her head. “I didn’t give her a chance to tell me. I didn’t notice this until I looked at it before I went to work. And yes, I’ll give the original to the police.”
    “There’s no text, no names—nothing.” Mark handed it back to Hollis. “You think there’s an index somewhere?”
    Hollis stared down at the file and notebook. “She wanted to pique my curiosity so I would help her. Cathy used to draw caricatures of people when we were in meetings. She was actually quite talented. When I worked on her cases she had drawings of clients along the margins of her notes.”
    “So what are you saying? You think these are sketches of people who could prove her case?”
    Hollis nodded. “Yes. Or, maybe they’re sketches of the bad guys. Had she lived, she knew this would tempt me. This type of thing makes me crazy with curiosity. Still, she must have thought it could help me help her.”
    “Or like you said , she just wanted to get you curious. She thought she would be around long enough to explain it to you.”
    Hollis took a page out of the folder and held it over the light from the small lamp between them. “Nothing.”
    Mark shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Did you think you would find handwriting impressions? You’ve been watching too much television.”
    “I haven’t had time to watch television, mystery or otherwise. I was a law student.”
    Mark riffled through the pages. “I know Cathy. She would fight to keep her reputation from being tarnished by a crook like Fields.” He began placing files back in his briefcase. “I’m going to follow through with Transformation . And I’m going to the police and tell them the same thing you did—she’d never have committed suicide.” Mark paid the check and they both rose from the table.
    Hollis squared