The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly [35]
“Maybe,” I said. “It might mean any number of things. But it might be a crack. Let’s move on. Raul, is there any mention anywhere about this guy who Louis saw her with?”
“No, none. He’s not in the file.”
“And what did crime scene find?”
“I don’t have the report but I am told that no evidence of any significant nature was located during the crime scene evaluation of the apartment.”
“That’s good. No surprises. What about the knife?”
“Blood and prints on the knife. But nothing back on that yet. Tracing ownership will be unlikely. You can buy those folding knives in any fishing or camping store around.”
“I’m telling you, that is not my knife,” Roulet interjected.
“We have to assume the fingerprints will be from the man who turned it in,” I said.
“Atkins,” Levin responded.
“Right, Atkins,” I said, turning to Louis. “But it would not surprise me to find prints from you on it as well. There is no telling what occurred while you were unconscious. If she put blood on your hand, then she probably put your prints on the knife.”
Roulet nodded his agreement and was about to say something, but I didn’t wait for him.
“Is there any statement from her about being at Morgan’s earlier in the evening?” I asked Levin.
He shook his head.
“No, the interview with the victim was in the ER and not formal. It was basic and they didn’t go back with her to the early part of the evening. She didn’t mention the guy and she didn’t mention Morgan’s. She just said she had been home since eight-thirty. They asked about what happened at ten. They didn’t really get into what she had been doing before. I’m sure that will all be covered in the follow-up investigation.”
“Okay, if and when they go back to her for a formal, I want that transcript.”
“I’m on it. It will be a sit-down on video when they do it.”
“And if crime scene does a video, I want that, too. I want to see her place.”
Levin nodded. He knew I was putting on a show for the client and Dobbs, giving them a sense of my command of the case and all the irons that were going into the fire. The reality was I didn’t need to tell Raul Levin any of this. He already knew what to do and what to get for me.
“Okay, what else?” I asked. “Do you have any questions, Cecil?”
Dobbs seemed surprised by the focus suddenly shifting to him. He quickly shook his head.
“No, no, I’m fine. This is all good. We’re making good progress.”
I had no idea what he meant by “progress,” but I let it go by without question.
“So what do you think?” Roulet asked.
I looked at him and waited a long moment before answering.
“I think the state has got a strong case against you. They have you in her home, they have a knife and they have her injuries. They also have what I am assuming is her blood on your hands. Added to that, the photos are powerful. And, of course, they will have her testimony. Having never seen or spoken to the woman, I don’t know how impressive she will be.”
I stopped again and milked the silence even longer before continuing.
“But there is a lot they don’t have—evidence of break-in, DNA from the suspect, a motive or even a suspect with a past record of this or any sort of crime. There are a lot of reasons—legitimate reasons—for you to have been in that apartment. Plus…”
I looked past Roulet and Dobbs and out the window. The sun was dropping behind Anacapa and turning the sky pink and purple. It beat anything I ever saw from the windows of my office.
“Plus what?” Roulet asked, too anxious to wait on me.
“Plus you have me. I got Maggie McFierce off the case. The new prosecutor is good but he’s green and he’ll have never come up against someone like me before.”
“So what’s our next step?” Roulet asked.
“The next step is for Raul to keep doing his thing, finding out what he can about this alleged victim and why she lied about being alone. We need to find out who she is and who her mystery man is and to see how that plays into our case.”
“And what will you do?”
“I’ll be dealing with the prosecutor. I’ll set something up with him, try to see where he’s going and