Mercy

‘And what are we supposed to be looking for?’

‘I said I think he killed her. But I’m not sure. What if I’m wrong? What if we’re all wrong?’

While Nat was thinking of an answer to this conundrum, Alex put in a call on his iPhone to the office. Juanita answered.

‘Hi, Alex,’ she said, as his number popped up on the display. ‘How did it go?’

‘Not good, Juanita.’

He had phoned her on the way to San Quentin and told her about Dusenbury’s offer.

‘He refused?’ she asked incredulously.

‘He said he didn’t know.’

‘But how—?’

‘Listen, I haven’t got time. I’ll fill you in when I get back to the office. In the meantime, I need you to do a couple of things.’

‘That’s what you pay me for.’

‘I want you to go online and find out everything you can about the feud between Clayton Burrow and Dorothy Olsen.’

‘We already looked into that, boss.’

‘I know, but all we found out was that she was the butt of his jokes. What we need to find out is if there’s anything behind it.’

‘What’s to find out? He was a bullying jock and she was the smart, geeky girl with glasses. What else is there?’

‘Okay, I know it’s a long shot, but I got the impression that Burrow was holding out on me.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Well it’s just that none of it makes sense. If he’s guilty, why the hell did he reject the deal?’

‘So now you think he’s innocent?’ Juanita asked incredulously.

‘Until today I never even considered it. But innocent or guilty, I think there’s something he’s not telling me.’

‘And you think it’s something to do with this high school feud?’

‘It’s a good place to start—the relationship between the victim and the accused.’

‘Are we looking for anything in particular?’

‘Let’s start off with motive.’

‘I thought the feud was the motive?’

‘No, I mean the cause of the feud. Was it just a culture clash between the male jock and the female geek? Or was it a case of hell hath no fury? Maybe some of the other students know something.’

‘It’s gonna be hard to track down the phone numbers. And I can’t leave the office, can I?’

‘Use the internet. Maybe there’s discussion about it online. We also need to know who her friends were. And if she had any enemies—other than Burrow, that is.’

‘It’s going to be hard. You know how it works on the web. You do a search and it throws up a million irrelevant items.’

‘Do your best, Juanita. I’ll be back in fifteen.’

Nat smiled. Twenty-five was more realistic. He’d have to floor it.

Alex put in another call, this time to Information. He asked for Esther Olsen’s number, adding that she lived in Sunnyvale. Fortunately the number was listed. He followed up by putting in a call to her.

‘Yes?’ The voice was weak…nervous.

‘Mrs Olsen? It’s Alex Sedaka here.’

Her mood seemed to brighten.

‘Oh, hallo, Mr Sedaka.’

Alex was embarrassed. He didn’t know how to continue.

‘Listen, I’m afraid I have some bad news.’

‘He…he wouldn’t tell you?’

She sounded sad, but not angry or bitter as he’d feared.

‘He said he didn’t know. He still maintains he’s innocent.’

‘Can I ask you a question?’ Esther Olsen’s voice was croaky now.

‘Yes.’

‘Do you think he’s guilty?’

This was a question that Alex couldn’t answer. Not that his own private thoughts were privileged. But a lawyer’s view of his client’s innocence or guilt is partly based on what his client tells him, and this could be a slippery slope.

‘I don’t know, Mrs Olsen.’

This was the diplomatic response if not an altogether truthful one. Alex pressed on.

‘But can I ask you a question?’

‘Yes?’

‘Do you know anything about the relationship between them? I mean, I know they hated each other, but do you know why?’