Read Attorney-Client Privilege for Free Online

girlfriend, Camille. But I thought it was a burglary? I’m not a suspect, am I?”
    “So you have a girlfriend?”
    “Yeah, but it’s not that serious.”
    Thomas asked for her number and address as he pulled a notepad from his shirt pocket.
    “We heard you had a beef with Judi over alimony,” Mankowski said.
    “And who told you that?” A hot splash of red inched up Irving’s neck. “That gigolo who’s sponging off of her?”
    “As a matter of fact, he was the source.”
    “You need to be interrogating that sleazebag, not me. He didn’t care about Judi. She was just a meal ticket to him.”
    “If she was his meal ticket, why would he want to hurt her?” Detective Thomas asked.
    Irving smirked. “I guess he forgot to tell you about Judi’s insurance policy.”
    “What insurance policy?”
    “The one Judi took my name off of and replaced with his. I couldn’t believe it. She barely knew the guy. She only made him the beneficiary to piss me off. If Judi dies, that punk gets three-hundred grand.”
    That, Mankowski thought, was exactly the kind of motive he was looking for. He smiled over at his partner, then turned back to Irving. “We’ll need you to come down to the station for questioning. We’ll also need a sample of your DNA.”
    “DNA? Why? I didn’t hurt Judi.”
    “We know that,” Mankowski lied. “We just need your DNA to rule you out.”
    “I…I…uh, I hate needles.”
    “What about Q-tips. You scared of those too?”
    “What?”
    “We can get your DNA from your saliva,” Thomas explained. “All they need to do is swipe the inside of your mouth with a Q-tip.”
    That seemed to make Irving breathe easier. “Fine. No problem.”
    “By the way,” Mankowski asked, “how did you find out that Judi had replaced you as her beneficiary?”
    Irving hesitated, “Uh…I, uh…I called our insurance broker.”
    “When?”
    Irving shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I know how this looks. But Judi put me through a lot. Her sister didn’t think she was going to make it. I just wanted to make sure the policy hadn’t lapsed. That’s when I found out that punk was the beneficiary.”
    “So when did you call your insurance broker?” Mankowski asked again.
    “A couple hours ago,” he finally admitted. “But I didn’t hurt Judi.”
    Thomas tossed his partner a triumphant smile, then flipped a page on his notepad. “So how much alimony were you paying her?”
    “Thirty-one hundred dollars a month. Can you believe that? That’s crazy.”
    Robby realized the implication of this revelation five seconds too late.
    “I was upset about it, but I didn’t hurt her.” He turned away and started stuffing drug samples into a leather duffle bag.
    Mankowski peered into the bag. “What kind of drugs you got in there? Got any Tylenol?”
    Irving reached into one of the boxes, snatched a handful of Tylenol packets and handed them to Mankowski.
    “If anybody had a motive for wanting to hurt Judi, it was Phillip Peterman,” Robby insisted. “In fact, he had three-hundred-thousand dollars’ worth of motive.”

CHAPTER 8
     
    F or a lawyer, standing on the courthouse steps following a big victory, fielding questions from reporters is akin to having your moment on the red carpet. You smile humbly and talk eloquently about justice and the importance of the jury system.
    But when you lose, it’s like showing up for a public stoning.
    Lamarr stood off to my right, his eyes steel-like, his lower lip tucked in. He had agreed to keep his mouth shut and let me do the talking.
    “Ms. Henderson, how do you feel about the jury’s verdict?”
    My own doubts about my client’s version of events were threatening to bubble to the surface. But like a highly paid mouthpiece, I did the job I was being paid to do.
    “I’m extremely disappointed in the verdict. The man I’ve come to know did not commit the acts he’s been accused of.” I glanced back at Lamarr for effect.
    The reporters all