Read The Flower Net for Free Online Page A

Criminal Division, cleared his throat. “Here’s David. Back from his adventure at sea.” The other attorneys laughed, but David sensed their discomfort. Still, he was grateful to Rob for just putting his story
out there
. It was as though Rob were saying, “We’re not going to have gossip. We’re not going to show jealousy. We’re going to treat this case like any other.” Madeleine echoed these sentiments by immediately launching into the meeting and asking for an update on current narcotics cases.
    As David grabbed a chair and looked around the room, he saw that Rob and Madeleine’s desire to keep his case out of the realm of the extraordinary might be hard to accomplish. Most of the other assistants in this room had been around long enough to get big cases, but none of them had ever been almost lost at sea or come in contact with a dead body.
    One of the reasons David had left Phillips, MacKenzie & Stout was the comparatively collegial atmosphere the U.S. Attorney’s Office offered. The attorneys—to a man, to a woman—had deliberately chosen to pass on the major firms’ big salaries to work for government wages and go to court every day. The only true payoffs—aside from the sense of having done right—were good press and a possible judgeship. Clearly the former led to the latter. Yet there was a line that his colleagues didn’t like to cross. They all—David included—made fun of attorneys who sought the limelight. At the same time, they admired those who could handle the press effectively. And so, today, as David listened to Madeleine and Rob query the other attorneys on their cases, he was fully aware of the weird combination of awe, jealousy, and distrust that floated around him.
    Madeleine Prentice ran a manicured finger down her list. “What else have we got going to trial this week? Laurie?”
    Laurie Martin, seven months pregnant, opened her file and began her summary. “On September fifteenth, Customs officials became suspicious when a woman, Lourdes Ongpin, stepped off her United flight from Manila wearing a raincoat. Although it isn’t unusual for people to wear coats or sweaters while traveling, Customs thought that in this particular instance it was strange, since the temperature at LAX was about a hundred and five degrees.”
    According to Laurie, Customs began questioning the woman. Where was she planning on staying? Was she here for business or pleasure? As they were doing this, the inspectors noticed two things. First, the woman had a peculiar odor about her. Second, her raincoat seemed to have a life of its own. The woman was taken into an interrogation room, where inspectors found fifteen giant snails, weighing a pound or more apiece, sewn into the lining of her coat.
    The other assistants fidgeted during Laurie’s recital. They knew the way to make a name was by landing a conviction against a corrupt senator or a notorious drug dealer, not by going after penny-ante wildlife smugglers. Even though they were protected by international treaty, giant snails would never make page one of the
Times
.
    Madeleine, with her sense of the dramatic, saved David’s case for last. After his synopsis, Madeleine asked, “Do you think the murder is related to the Rising Phoenix gang, or did someone on the boat simply kill the man?”
    “The triads have never shied away from murder. Can I tie them to this case? I don’t know.”
    “It could be the break you’ve been looking for.”
    “That’s right. If I can’t get them on racketeering or immigration violations, maybe I’ll get them on murder.”
    “I’d like to get the Justice Department, maybe even the State Department, in on this,” Madeleine said. “Let’s see what assistance they can give us. To my knowledge, we don’t work with China, but maybe there’s a way we can get unofficial help.”
    “I’ll take whatever help I can get, so long as this stays my case.”
    “It’s yours as far as I’m concerned.” Madeleine gave a