An Imperfect Process by Mary Jo Putney

Author:Mary Jo Putney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2013-01-11T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Cal Murphy's office was a riot of papers gone mad. Val wasn't surprised. Public defenders were notoriously overworked. She knocked on the open door to let the office's inhabitant know she was there. "Cal? I'm Val Covington."

The man at the computer looked up, blinking behind thick glasses. Val said helpfully, "You said I could come by and talk to you about Daniel Monroe."

"Oh, right, right." He stood and offered his hand. Tall and angular, he had thinning hair and an engaging smile. "I'd apologize for the mess, but it's chronic so there's no point."

"Not a problem. You PDs average what, forty cases or so at once?"

He grimaced. "That's when things are going well. At the moment, I have almost a hundred. Pray for more city funding before the OPD goes under for the third time."

"I brought you some fuel." Val had checked with Murphy's secretary beforehand, so she opened a paper bag and produced two steaming containers of coffee. Handing over the larger one she said, "Your preference is for the largest white chocolate mocha latte in the Western Hemisphere, right?"

"My God, woman," he said reverently as he accepted the latte. "Are you married? Do you want to be?"

For a fleeting moment she thought of Rob's near proposal, and her bizarre reaction. He had not raised the subject since, and she had been embarrassingly grateful for that. "Sorry, I'm just opening my own office. No time for a husband."

"Just as well." He took a deep swallow of the latte, delicately licking whipped cream from his lips. "Not only would Val and Cal be ridiculous, but my wife would probably have something to say on the subject."

"A lot to say, if she's another lawyer. We never lack for words."

"Ginny is an ER doctor. I met her when one of my clients got himself shot in the gut by an angry drug dealer."

Val winced. "Did he survive?"

"Of course. Why do you think I married his doctor?" He grinned for a moment before turning serious. "All right, Val, what do you want to know?"

"Anything you can tell me about defending Daniel Monroe that doesn't show up on the official records."

He sighed and took another swig of coffee. "That was my first capital case where I sat first chair. Will you try to get Daniel a stay of execution based on my failings?"

"The appeals court has already looked into that without finding any problems with Daniel's trial." She sipped her own modest cappuccino. "I'm no criminal lawyer, but it looked to me as if he got a pretty good defense."

"Thanks for that," he said dryly. "It's easy to blame any failures on the public defender, since everyone knows we're all drunken morons who can't hold a real job."

"And corporate litigators like me are greedy beasts with long fangs and no conscience." They shared a smile of lawyerly commiseration before Val continued, "If you had Daniel's case to try over again, would you do anything differently?"

He slouched back in his chair and thought about it.

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