Read Online New Tricks by David Rosenfelt - Free Book Online Page A

arraignment when I arrive at the courthouse, and I have to wait about half an hour outside his chambers.
     When he finally arrives, he forgets to apologize for the slight, and keeps me waiting another five minutes before calling
     me in.
    Once I come in, he says, “Have you resolved the issue?”
    “About the dog?”
    “What other issue is there?” he asks.
    “Well, Your Honor, as you are well aware, I’m now representing the defendant in the case. It seems like a clear conflict.”
    “Then resolve it, and the conflict will go away.”
    “Well, Your Honor, there has been something of a change in circumstances regarding the two people seeking custody of the dog.
     One is dead, and the other is in prison.”
    “Well, then I have a new contender for you to consider.” He searches through some notes on his desk. “Judge Parker’s office
     forwarded this. A man named”—he squints to read the name— “Charles Robinson has contacted the court seeking custody of the
     dog. He represents himself as a close friend of Walter Timmerman, and a partner of his in the showing of dogs.”
    Charles Robinson is someone I’m vaguely familiar with, and I know him to be a multimillionaire who has made his money in oil
     and real estate. There have always been vague accusations that his dealings are shady, but as far as I know he has never faced
     any criminal charges. “Thank you, Your Honor, I’ll certainly consider Mr. Robinson. But I do need to make sure the dog is
     placed in a loving—”
    Hatchet interrupts. “Have I given you the impression that I care what happens to this dog?”
    “Well—”
    “Resolve the matter. Either give him to Robinson or find another solution.”
    “Yes, Your Honor. Right away.”
    The phone on Hatchet’s desk rings, and he looks at it as if it were from another planet. He picks it up. “Clara, I told you
     that I was not to be disturbed. Now…” He stops, an expression on his face that I haven’t seen before. “I see… put him on.”
     Another pause, and then: “Just a moment.”
    He hands the phone to me, the last thing I would have expected. “It’s for you,” he says.
    I am gripped by tension. For Hatchet to allow himself to be interrupted by a phone call for me staggers, and scares the shit
     out of, the imagination.
    “Hello?”
    I hear Pete Stanton’s strained and nervous voice. “Andy, it’s Pete.”
    “What is it? What’s going on?”
    “Andy, I’m at the hospital. Laurie’s been shot.”
    I can feel my knees start to buckle, and I half fall toward Hatchet’s desk. “Is she all right? Pete, is she all right?”
    “Andy, I don’t know… I just don’t know.”
    “Pete, tell me the truth. TELL ME THE GODDAMN TRUTH!”
    “Andy, they don’t know if she’s going to make it.”

I THINK H ATCHET SAYS SOMETHING , some expression of sympathy or concern, but I’m not sure.
    Everything seems a blur, and I literally stagger out of his office, heading for the elevator to take me downstairs. I think
     Pete said there was someone or something waiting for me down there, but I could be wrong.
    When I reach the street level, two uniformed policemen seem to be waiting for me. “Mr. Carpenter?”
    I nod.
    “We’ll be taking you to the hospital.”
    I nod again and follow them to their car. It could be the next-to-last car ride I will ever take, because if Laurie does not
     pull through, I am going to get in my own car and drive it off a cliff.
    I don’t ask the officers what they know, because they probably don’t know anything, and wouldn’t be authorized to tell me
     if they did. The horrible fear that keeps popping up, easily overwhelming my well-developed sense of denial, is that Laurie
     might already be gone. If she was, Pete wouldn’t have told me over the phone. He would have done just what he did, which was
     cushion me for the blow by telling me how badly she was hurt.
    The Barnert Hospital is on Broadway in Paterson, about fifteen minutes from the