Read Online Cold Justice: A Judge Willa Carson Mystery (The Hunt for Justice) by Diane Capri - Free Book Online
Authors: Diane Capri
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population, year-round, is low five digits but that’s misleading. We get tourists now, winter and summer, sufficient to swell the number of folks to at least ten thousand every weekend.”
He raised his water glass and took a sip, then settled more comfortably in his chair. I thought he might actually put his feet on the desk like he regularly did when we were associates, but he didn’t.
“What’s your point?” I said.
He glared a bit. I was getting under his skin. Good. He might make a mistake I could exploit if he wasn’t too comfortable. “Now we have all the problems any other big city has. I get the New York Times delivered to my house every day. My wife wears couture clothes and carries expensive handbags when we go to dinner. And we’ve got so much crime these days that we’re building a big new jail and courthouse complex to deal with it all.”
I shrugged. Whatever he thought would impress me in that speech had missed the mark. “My jurisdiction covers several big cities, Randy. But even in Tampa we don’t let snipers get away with murder and go on their merry way until the next unlucky motorist happens past.”
This time my tone had been more than snide. I was insulting and I didn’t really care. He’d hijacked me, not the other way around. He owed me answers, at the very least. I owed him nothing.
Trevor jerked his head back sharply. He was a big man about town here, probably not used to disrespect of any kind. But to me he was just another guy with a government job. Meaning he worked for us, not the other way around. And he was not half as important as he seemed to think. Not to me, anyway.
I rose from my chair. “I’ve got things to do.”
He waived me back. “Okay. Okay.”
I gave him my best get-to-the-point stare. The one that works on recalcitrant defendants in my courtroom a lot better than his methods were working on me.
I sat on the edge of the seat this time, letting him see I wasn’t making myself too comfortable, the better to get up and go if he didn’t stop jerking me around.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
He swiped his hair with his open left-hand and a weary sigh escaped his mouth. “It’s been hard for David Mason these last few years. He was just getting on his feet again.”
So Kemp had lied to me. Trevor did know about the ballistics report after all. He knew David Mason’s stolen gun was used to murder Leo Richards. He thought David had done the deed.
“David’s family was just coming out of a really bad patch after his business partner gambled away all their assets and disappeared.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was a little too tired of the excuses. “And then what?” I prodded.
Trevor sighed again. He stood and began to pace the room, slowly, as if he was creating his story as he went. “I’m not sure exactly. I know that people didn’t trust him. He’d had trouble paying his employees. David went to work over at the cafe, which pays enough to keep the wolf from the door, I guess.”
“What does any of this have to do with Leo Richards’ murder? Or with me, for that matter?”
Trevor bowed his head again briefly before he looked up to give me a steady gaze. “Leo Richards was David’s business partner. He’s the one who destroyed David and his family. And then he just vanished months ago and left David to handle the mess.”
“And David couldn’t handle it,” I said. “So you’re saying David Mason had a good reason to kill Richards, then. Your case is solved. You should be telling Kemp this story instead of me.”
Trevor stopped and stared at me with a stunned expression I took to be surprise. “You don’t know?” Then, he caught himself and resumed a weary tone. “Not that it matters. Everyone knows.”
I waited. He’d spit it out or he wouldn’t. I didn’t care one way or the other and I didn’t see why he’d think I might care.
“David Mason is my brother-in-law. His wife and my wife are sisters,” Trevor said.
The weary countenance
He raised his water glass and took a sip, then settled more comfortably in his chair. I thought he might actually put his feet on the desk like he regularly did when we were associates, but he didn’t.
“What’s your point?” I said.
He glared a bit. I was getting under his skin. Good. He might make a mistake I could exploit if he wasn’t too comfortable. “Now we have all the problems any other big city has. I get the New York Times delivered to my house every day. My wife wears couture clothes and carries expensive handbags when we go to dinner. And we’ve got so much crime these days that we’re building a big new jail and courthouse complex to deal with it all.”
I shrugged. Whatever he thought would impress me in that speech had missed the mark. “My jurisdiction covers several big cities, Randy. But even in Tampa we don’t let snipers get away with murder and go on their merry way until the next unlucky motorist happens past.”
This time my tone had been more than snide. I was insulting and I didn’t really care. He’d hijacked me, not the other way around. He owed me answers, at the very least. I owed him nothing.
Trevor jerked his head back sharply. He was a big man about town here, probably not used to disrespect of any kind. But to me he was just another guy with a government job. Meaning he worked for us, not the other way around. And he was not half as important as he seemed to think. Not to me, anyway.
I rose from my chair. “I’ve got things to do.”
He waived me back. “Okay. Okay.”
I gave him my best get-to-the-point stare. The one that works on recalcitrant defendants in my courtroom a lot better than his methods were working on me.
I sat on the edge of the seat this time, letting him see I wasn’t making myself too comfortable, the better to get up and go if he didn’t stop jerking me around.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
He swiped his hair with his open left-hand and a weary sigh escaped his mouth. “It’s been hard for David Mason these last few years. He was just getting on his feet again.”
So Kemp had lied to me. Trevor did know about the ballistics report after all. He knew David Mason’s stolen gun was used to murder Leo Richards. He thought David had done the deed.
“David’s family was just coming out of a really bad patch after his business partner gambled away all their assets and disappeared.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was a little too tired of the excuses. “And then what?” I prodded.
Trevor sighed again. He stood and began to pace the room, slowly, as if he was creating his story as he went. “I’m not sure exactly. I know that people didn’t trust him. He’d had trouble paying his employees. David went to work over at the cafe, which pays enough to keep the wolf from the door, I guess.”
“What does any of this have to do with Leo Richards’ murder? Or with me, for that matter?”
Trevor bowed his head again briefly before he looked up to give me a steady gaze. “Leo Richards was David’s business partner. He’s the one who destroyed David and his family. And then he just vanished months ago and left David to handle the mess.”
“And David couldn’t handle it,” I said. “So you’re saying David Mason had a good reason to kill Richards, then. Your case is solved. You should be telling Kemp this story instead of me.”
Trevor stopped and stared at me with a stunned expression I took to be surprise. “You don’t know?” Then, he caught himself and resumed a weary tone. “Not that it matters. Everyone knows.”
I waited. He’d spit it out or he wouldn’t. I didn’t care one way or the other and I didn’t see why he’d think I might care.
“David Mason is my brother-in-law. His wife and my wife are sisters,” Trevor said.
The weary countenance
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