Playing Dead_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [144]
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Shut up,” Collier’s attorney said.
“It’s nonsense. You don’t know anything.”
“We have a statement from Randolph Sizemore with the Western Innocence Project that you lied to him about your employment history when taking pro bono work.”
“A slap on the wrist by the Bar.”
Mitch slapped the statement Meg had handed him on the table in front of Collier. “Reny Willis, forensic pathologist, states that you instructed him on how to testify on the stand at O’Brien’s trial.” He flashed the other documents. “And helped him falsify the coroner’s reports.”
“He’s lying,” Collier said weakly.
Mitch was losing it. Collier didn’t care that Claire’s life was in danger. “A woman’s life is at stake!” he exclaimed. “And if anything happens to her, you’ll be just as guilty as Phil Palmer!”
Collier’s face drained.
“You know him, don’t you?” Mitch said. “You know who Palmer is. Tell us exactly how he plays into this and why he took Claire.”
“I don’t know,” Collier said weakly, looking down at the table.
Richardson said, “The U.S. Attorney is ready to make a deal. We have D.A. Elliott here ready to sign away jurisdiction. With Reny Willis’s statement, we can get subpoenas for anything we want—your house, your office. With Drake and Mancini dead, we have our best people working through their records. We already learned that Judge Drake arraigned Frank Lowe, and was likely the only one privy to Chase Taverton’s plea arrangement with Lowe. They are all dead.”
Matt said, “There is a manhunt on right now for Phil Palmer. If we find him before you get off your high horse, there is no deal. If we find him and Claire O’Brien is dead, we’ll have you in for murder two.”
“Bullshit,” Collier’s attorney said.
“Try me,” Matt said.
Silence.
With every second that passed, Claire was at greater risk. Mitch forced himself to stay calm.
“You were doing a favor for a friend,” Hans Vigo said, giving Collier an out. “Didn’t think it was that big of a deal, a favor for a sitting judge, a judge who used to work for your old law firm. But after one thing, they asked another. And another.”
Mitch picked up on the thread. “You got in so deep you didn’t know how to get out. Oliver Maddox took up O’Brien’s cause because he saw something in the files that didn’t jibe. You panicked. But you didn’t kill him, did you?”
“Don’t answer,” Collier’s attorney said.
“But you know who did, you kept them informed of Maddox’s investigation. You set the poor kid up. You listened to everything he learned, and when he got too close you sent him to his death.”
“No,” Collier whispered.
“Shut up,” the attorney said.
Now Mitch wanted to smack the attorney more than Collier. “This is the only chance you’re going to get to make a deal, and clear your conscience in the process.” Mitch doubted Collier had a conscience, but he kept it to himself. Collier was weighing the pros and cons, Mitch saw it in his eyes.
Richardson said, “You have five minutes, then the deal’s off the table. You’ll be required to give up your license to practice law. You’ll be required to answer truthfully all our questions, and assist us with information we uncover in the process of this investigation. In exchange, we will grant you immunity from prosecution. The U.S. Attorney is writing it up in my office as I speak. It’s now or never. And I don’t bluff.”
“Leave me alone with my client,” the attorney said.
The four men left the room. “He’ll take it,” Hans said.
“I hate letting him off,” Matt said.
“Me too, but he may be the only one who can save Claire’s life. And if he doesn’t know where Palmer took Claire, she’s going to die. I know it.” Mitch was grim.
“If it’s unconnected to this case, we just gave him immunity for nothing,” Richardson said.
“Rest assured, we didn’t,” Hans said. “Collier knows who killed Drake and Mancini, and he knows who framed O’Brien and why. There’s a lot at stake here, but Claire O’Brien needs to stay our number one priority right now. And while