"Coughlin, Patricia - Love In The First Degree" - читать интересную книгу автора (Coughlin Patricia)

carelessness she was far from feeling, "I don't know what the hell
you're doing. Thanks to Gerald Rancourt, though, I do know a little
more about your situation than I did when I first contacted you after
reading about your arrest in the paper back home."

"Good news travels fast," he commented.

"For instance," Claire continued, "I know that several witnesses
overheard you threaten the victim only hours before the shooting
occurred, I know the police found you at the scene. I know the murder
weapon was a .38-cah'her pistol registered to you and that yours were
the only prints on it. Any way you look at it, the DA has a good shot
at motive , means and opportuniw "

"Three strikes, I'm out," he said softly.

"Three strikes? You're giving yourself entirely too much credit. The
way I see it, you haven't even swung the bat. Rancourt told me that
during your meeting with him you neither denied nor confessed to
killing q. Addison: '

"What else did he tell you?"

"That you're a real pain in the ass: '

He ginned. "Did he tell you that before or after you came all the way
down here to see me?"

"Before."

That prompted a glint of inaqeased interest in his smoke gray eyes.
"And you came, anyway," he said thoughtfully. "I wonder why."

"Because I'm a lawyer," she replied, meeting his gaze levelly. Years
of courtroom practioe prevented her tone from qealingany of the
emotional upheaval inside. "A good one. And, like it or not, you need
a good lawyer."

"I've got a lawyer," he said.

"I don't know anything about Gerald Rancourt, other than that, like
every other public defender, he has too many cases and too little time.
He can't defend you properly against these charges, Luke."

"Then he's perfect for the job. There won't be any defense

"Are you saying you shot and killed Nick Addison?"

Claire held her breath as he stared at her in silence, the room
suddenly feeling even smaller and much too warm.