State vs Lassiter by Paul Levine

Author:Paul Levine [Levine, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nittany Valley Productions, Inc.
Published: 2014-04-03T22:00:00+00:00

I skimmed the document. I’d seen it before but Willow had kept adding to it. Whenever a new piece of evidence was locked down – by either the state or the defense – Willow amended the timeline to approximate the order of proof.

A quick look and everything seemed fine. Except two things were new. “What’s this 10-second call from the lobby just after midnight?”

“Do you remember it?”

I searched my memory. “Yeah, I answered the phone. Pam was screaming so loud, I couldn’t hear anyone on the other end. After I shouted ‘hello’ a couple times, they hung up. That’s gotta be the 10 second call.”

Willow shrugged. It could mean something or nothing. Someone could have wanted to know if we were in the room. Or it could have been a wrong number.

“What the hell is this at 2:27 a.m.?” I asked. “I wasn’t using my laptop. I was conked out on the beach.”

“We just got your laptop back from the state. Their expert determined that someone was looking at Samchick’s emails to you from earlier that evening. I had my people check it out, and they confirm it.”

“Well, isn’t it obvious? My laptop was in the suite. Pam was in the suite. I was on the beach. I’d told her what Samchick told me on the phone and said he was emailing the details later. She wanted to see what he had found, try to assess what Samchick could pin on her.”

“So Pam accessed your laptop?”

“Like I said, it’s obvious.”

“Your laptop is not password protected?”

“Of course it is. I have tons of attorney-client material on there.”

“Then you must have given the password to Pamela.”

The wood stork had found a half-full bag of Fritos on the pavement and was enjoying a snack. I was not enjoying anything.

I shook my head. “Pam didn’t have the password. No one did but me.”

“So you can see what the state will argue.”

“That I came back to the hotel after a short breath of air on the beach. That I read the emails from Samchick and realized Pam could put me away for misappropriating client funds. That I calmly and rationally decided – hence premeditation and first degree – to strangle Pamela to shut her up. Then I left again, trying to establish an alibi by sleeping on the beach.”

“That’s pretty much it.”

“So where’s the video of my coming back into the hotel to commit murder. Then going back out again? Last time I was seen, I was staggering out at 1:57 a.m. to take my constitutional on the beach.”

“The state will say you wandered around the side of the hotel to the 24-hour loading dock. They had several fish and bakery deliveries that night with doors opening and closing. Plus, no video cameras. The unions won’t permit it.”

“Pretty damn smart for a drunken half-assed lawyer.”

“Or just lucky. No key card was used to enter the room after you left. The state will say you knocked on the door…”

“Or rang the bell. The suite has a doorbell.

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