Agnes Okafor, the tough assistant district attorney assigned to the bride and groom cases, kick off her ferragamos and curled her leg up on the leather chair behind her desk. She fixed her sharp blue eyes directly on my face.
"Let me get this straight. You think the bride and groom killer is Richard Zaddicos?" She asked.
I'm sure if it, I said.
Agnes was dark, disarmingly attractive. Curly jet-black hair frames a narrow, oval face. She was an achiever, thirty four, a rising star in Bennet Sinclair office.
All you needed to know about Agnes was that as third year prosecutor, it was she who had tried the La Frade case, when the mayor's old law partner was indicted on RICO charge for influence peddling. No one, including the D.A. Himself wanted to submarine his or her career by taking on the powerful fund-raiser. Agnes nailed him, sent him away for twenty years. Got herself promoted to the office next to Big Ben himself
One by one, Gabriel and I laid out Richard Zaddicos's connections to the three double murders: the champagne found at the first scene; his involvement in sparrow Ridge Vineyards; his volatile relationship with the third bride. Hannah Voskuhl.
Shane's threw back her head and laughed, you want to burst this guy for messing up someone's life, be my guest. Hi try the Examiner. Here, I'm afraid, they make us do with facts,"
I said, we have him tied to three double murders, Agnes."
Her lips parted into a skeptical smile that read, sorry some other time. The champagne connection might fly, if you nailed him down. Which you don't. The real Estate partnership's a nonstarter. None of it pins him directly to any of the crimes. A guy like Richard Zaddicos public connected- you don't want to go around making unsubstantial accusations."
With a sigh, she shifted a tower of briefs aside. "You want to take on the big fish guys? Go back, get yourself a stronger rod."
My mouth dropped at her hard-edges reaction to our vase. "This isn't exactly my first Homicide. Agnes."
Her string chin was set.
"And This isn't exactly my first page one case ,then she smiled, softened, "sorry," she said, it's one of Bennett's favorite expressions. I must be spending too much time around the sharks."
We are talking about a multiple killer, Gabriel said, the frustration mounting in his eyes.
Agnes has the implacable, prove it to me resistance. I had worked with her on murder cases twice before, knew how tireless and prepared she was when she got to the court. Once, she had invited me to go spinning with her during trial I was a witness at. I gave up in sweat after thirty grueling minutes l, but Agnes, pumping without pause, went on at mad pace for the full forty-give. Two years out of Stanford law, she had married a rising young partner at one of the city's top venture firms. Leapfrogged a squadron of career prosecutors the the D.A.'s right hand. In a city of high achievers. Agnes was the kind of girl for whom everything clicked.
I passed her the security photo from the Hall Of Fame, then Richard Zaddicos's Photograph.
She studied them, shrugged. "You know what an adversarial expert witness would do with these? It's pupshit. If the cops in Cleveland feel they can convict with this, be my guest."
I do t want to loose him to Cleveland," I said.
"So come back to me with something I can take to Big Ben."
How about a search and seizure, Gabriel suggested, maybe we can match up the champagne bottle from the first crime scene to the lot he purchased."
"I couldn't run it by a judge, Agnes mused. "There must be someone out there on the bench who thinks Zaddicos has done enough to bring down the structure of literary form to the point where they'd go for it. But o think you will be making a mistake
Why?
Some two-time crack whore, her you can bring in on suspicion. You bring in Richard Zaddicos, you better arraign. You alert him that you are unto him, you will spend more time fending off his lawyers and the press than making your case. If he's it, you are gonna have one shot and one shot only dig up what you need to convict. Right now? You need more."
Fatimah has a hair lab from the second killing, the Noahs," I said. We can make Zaddicos give us a sample of his beard•
She shook her head. "With what you have, his compliance would be totally voluntary, not to mention, if you are wrong, what you might loose."
"You mean by narrowing the search?"
"I was talking politically, you know the game rules, Moo."
She riveted those intended blue eye directly at me. I could envision the headlines, turning the case back against us. Like the screwups with O.J. Simpson and Jon Benetton Ramsey. In both cases it seemed the cops were as much on trial as any possible defendants.
Agnes got up, look, if the guy's guilty, I will like to tear him apart as much as you. But all you are bringing me is an unlucky preference in champagne and an eyewitness on her third vodka and tonic. Cleveland's at least got a prior relationship with one of the victims, bringing up a possible motive. But right now none of the jurisdictions have enough to go on.
I have got two biggest headline grabbers in the city looking over my every move," Agnes finally admitted.
You think the district attorney and the mayor want to pass this thing on? Then she fixed unflappably on me.
"What's the litmus year here? You are sure it's him, Moo?"
He was linked to all three cases. The desperate voice of Mrs Simon was clear in my mind. I gave Agnes my most convincing nod. He's the killer."
She got up and made her way around the desk. With a half-smile, she said, "I'm gonna make you pay if this blow my chance of getting my memoirs in print by forty."
Through the sarcasm, I saw a look flare up in Agnes Okafor's eyes, the same resolute look I had seen when she was spinning. It hit me like a spray of mace.
Okay, Moo. Let's make this case.
I didn't know what made Agnes tick. Power? An urge to do right? Some manic drive to outperform? Whatever it was o didn't think it was far from what had always burned through me.
But listening to her cogently mapping out what we needed to indict, a tantalizing thought took hold of me.
I thought about getting her together with Fatimah and Alice.