Read Online A Dead Husband (Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery) by Anna Burke - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Anna Burke
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Maybe it was time to go back to that, Jessica Huntington, pure and simple. Doing so made the whole divorce thing so final, like signing those damned papers. Not to mention she’d have to add a round of tasks to her “to do” list in order to make the name change official at the DMV, her bank, her credit card companies, etc. etc. etc.
“Time to shop!” Jessica thought as she pulled Bernadette’s crumpled grocery list from her jeans pocket and headed into the store. She couldn’t have been shopping for more than twenty minutes when her phone rang.
“Hello,” she said, answering the phone hastily.
“Ms. Huntington or is it Huntington-Harper? This is Paul Worthington.”
“Sorry about that . Technically it’s Jessica Huntington-Harper, but not for long. I’m kind of in transition. But, wow, that was fast. I wasn’t even sure you’d call me back, and on a Saturday, too.” Jessica was totally blown away by the call.
“Of course I’d call you back . I’m a good lawyer and a great colleague and always happy to talk to an alum, especially a smart one,” he replied.
“Well I’m sure that’s true , about you being a good lawyer, I mean. I just wasn’t sure you’d remember me, but I guess you do.” Jessica was stammering, caught off guard by the call and the compliment. She tried to pull herself together so she’d sound more professional.
“Sure I do . You wrote that great piece for Law Review that ended up in the Stanford Environmental Law Journal .”
Now she was really stunned . “How’d you know about that?” she asked, trying not to sound as flabbergasted as she felt.
“I was one of the reviewers . I thought it should have been published in the law review but others thought it was too specialized. I recommended you send it the Environmental Law Journal . I didn’t know who wrote it, of course, when I reviewed it, but I kept an eye out for it. When it showed up in the other journal it had your name on it. Made a lasting impression as you can tell. So, what’s up? Are you still in the Palo Alto area?”
“No, I still have the phone number I picked up there . I was living in Cupertino until recently but that’s another story. I’m in Rancho Mirage now. You know, out near Palm Springs?”
“Sure I know where that is . We’re in the process of opening a satellite office on El Paseo in Palm Desert. A lot of our clients have bought second homes near you as weekend getaways, and where they go, we go, within reason, of course. Our criminal defense work gets a lot of attention in the media but we’re pretty much a one stop shop once someone becomes a client. So we’re always looking for other ways to keep our clients happy. As it happens I’m going to be out there next week.”
“That is great luck because I need help . A friend of mine may be in trouble depending on what happens in the next few days.”
Jessica did her best to fill him in briefly.
“Bottom line is she’s scared. She wants me to represent her because I’m an old friend who also happens to be a lawyer. The thing is I’ve told her it’s really in her best interest to hire someone like you who has more experience in this area, if it comes to that. At this point, though, I don’t know how seriously they’re looking at her as a suspect or if she needs a lawyer at all.”
“Sounds like a real mess ,” he said. “Unfortunately, a spouse is automatically on the short list of suspects. Especially given the circumstances, the victim killed in his own home with no obvious evidence of a break-in or a struggle, and nothing of value taken. The police are probably figuring already that your friend Roger knew his assailant.”
“Well, there are a couple other issues . Apparently, Laura and her husband were stressed out a lot about money in the past few months. The neighbors alerted the police a couple times about noisy fights. There was never any physical
“Time to shop!” Jessica thought as she pulled Bernadette’s crumpled grocery list from her jeans pocket and headed into the store. She couldn’t have been shopping for more than twenty minutes when her phone rang.
“Hello,” she said, answering the phone hastily.
“Ms. Huntington or is it Huntington-Harper? This is Paul Worthington.”
“Sorry about that . Technically it’s Jessica Huntington-Harper, but not for long. I’m kind of in transition. But, wow, that was fast. I wasn’t even sure you’d call me back, and on a Saturday, too.” Jessica was totally blown away by the call.
“Of course I’d call you back . I’m a good lawyer and a great colleague and always happy to talk to an alum, especially a smart one,” he replied.
“Well I’m sure that’s true , about you being a good lawyer, I mean. I just wasn’t sure you’d remember me, but I guess you do.” Jessica was stammering, caught off guard by the call and the compliment. She tried to pull herself together so she’d sound more professional.
“Sure I do . You wrote that great piece for Law Review that ended up in the Stanford Environmental Law Journal .”
Now she was really stunned . “How’d you know about that?” she asked, trying not to sound as flabbergasted as she felt.
“I was one of the reviewers . I thought it should have been published in the law review but others thought it was too specialized. I recommended you send it the Environmental Law Journal . I didn’t know who wrote it, of course, when I reviewed it, but I kept an eye out for it. When it showed up in the other journal it had your name on it. Made a lasting impression as you can tell. So, what’s up? Are you still in the Palo Alto area?”
“No, I still have the phone number I picked up there . I was living in Cupertino until recently but that’s another story. I’m in Rancho Mirage now. You know, out near Palm Springs?”
“Sure I know where that is . We’re in the process of opening a satellite office on El Paseo in Palm Desert. A lot of our clients have bought second homes near you as weekend getaways, and where they go, we go, within reason, of course. Our criminal defense work gets a lot of attention in the media but we’re pretty much a one stop shop once someone becomes a client. So we’re always looking for other ways to keep our clients happy. As it happens I’m going to be out there next week.”
“That is great luck because I need help . A friend of mine may be in trouble depending on what happens in the next few days.”
Jessica did her best to fill him in briefly.
“Bottom line is she’s scared. She wants me to represent her because I’m an old friend who also happens to be a lawyer. The thing is I’ve told her it’s really in her best interest to hire someone like you who has more experience in this area, if it comes to that. At this point, though, I don’t know how seriously they’re looking at her as a suspect or if she needs a lawyer at all.”
“Sounds like a real mess ,” he said. “Unfortunately, a spouse is automatically on the short list of suspects. Especially given the circumstances, the victim killed in his own home with no obvious evidence of a break-in or a struggle, and nothing of value taken. The police are probably figuring already that your friend Roger knew his assailant.”
“Well, there are a couple other issues . Apparently, Laura and her husband were stressed out a lot about money in the past few months. The neighbors alerted the police a couple times about noisy fights. There was never any physical
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