Page 47 of The Accomplice
We reached the park and Clarence’s tail began to wag. It was late for a stroll in this part of the city, but Harry wasn’t afraid. He’d taken to carrying personal protection lately. New York, just like the rest of the country, was on edge. It felt like there were two Americas, and battle lines were drawn. Crime was up in the city, especially armed robberies. But two guys out for a walk with a dog were not easy targets, and I wasn’t worried about a gangbanger with a switchblade in his trembling hand.
‘Wherever Carrie is, she’s not thinking straight,’ I said. ‘I don’t think she’s with her husband either. You saw her that evening. She trusted him, loved him, and all along he was really a monster. How could you ever trust anyone again after something like that ? This guy changed her life when they met. Gave her everything she ever wanted – the big house, the car, and never having to worry about money again. And it was all a lie.’
‘Maybe it wasn’talla lie,’ said Harry. ‘Maybe Miller really loved her. Maybe he thought being married would change him.’
‘I know what you mean. People don’t just wake up with an idea to kill fourteen people. Men like that have evil growing in them for a long time. Once they start maybe they can’t stop, even if they want to. When she and I talked … actually, it doesn’t matter.’
‘No, go on. What were going to say ?’ asked Harry.
‘On top of the betrayal, and the public hatred, she’s carrying around a lot of guilt. She blames herself for part of this. She knows if she had picked up the phone to the FBI, people would still be alive today.’
‘The last victims were the Nielsens,’ said Harry. ‘That’s a lot to carry around. Knowing you could have stopped those murders – saved those kids’ parents. People have jumped …’
‘Go on, say it.’ I said, ‘I’ve thought about it too.’
Sighing, Harry stopped, bent down and stroked Clarence’s head.
‘I don’t need to say it. If the coast guard found her body in the river it wouldn’t surprise me. We’ve seen all that stuff on TV – the most hated woman in America. Her friends talking about her on the news. Jesus. What a nightmare.’
‘I just hope that she’s still out there, somewhere,’ I said.
We walked along in silence for a spell, in our joint hope that Carrie Miller was still alive somewhere, hiding beneath the same ceiling of stars. There were not too many people in the park. There never was at this time. Some folks were visible ahead, or on other paths in the distance as they walked beneath the beautiful cast iron street lamps. We wandered in silence, taking pleasure from Clarence’s enjoyment of being away from the noise and bustle of the city.
‘Where are we ?’ I asked.
Harry stepped toward a lamp, put on his reading glasses and used the flashlight on his phone to read the base section of the metal housing.
‘What the hell are you doing ?’ I asked.
‘This park is over eight hundred acres, built long before phones and GPS existed. The park employees needed to be able to pinpoint the lamps and their location, for lighting and maintenance. Every lamp in the park has a four-digit number. This one is 7238. First number is the cross street, so we’re close to 72ndStreet. The last two digits tell us what side of the park we’re on. Odd numbers are west side, even numbers east side. That’s why people say all—’
‘All the odd people live on the west side,’ I said.
Right then, I felt something. It was a sensation I’d felt many times, right before I finally realized something important. Something I’d missed.
It started as heat, in my chest, then rose to my throat. Like a spark that was hopefully going to travel all the way to my brain.
But not right now. There was something important, something absolutely crucial about Carrie Miller’s case that I wasn’t seeing. It was right there, and then it was gone. It would come again.
‘You looked like you were about to say something,’ said Harry.
‘I thought I was. Doesn’t matter, it will come to me. Let’s get back. We need sleep or we’re never going to get through tomorrow.’
‘It’s the DA’s opening statements. Kate is practicing hers now. I heard it earlier, it’s good. There will be time for maybe one witness tomorrow. Not a whole lot for us to do.’
‘We’re doing a lot more than that. Tomorrow decides if we win this case or not. So far we’ve been reactive. Time to change that up. In the morning we’re going after Drew White and Judge Stoker. They need to know they’re in a fight.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
KATE
‘Alexa, pause playlist,’ said Kate.
She thought she’d heard something. Kate stood in the little kitchen area of her apartment. While she was making great money now in partnership with Eddie, and could afford a nice place, she still had another few months left on her lease. It would be easier to move when the lease was up, which meant another three months living in one room. Bed, small couch, kitchenette and breakfast bar. There was a separate bathroom, with no bath. Just a shower and a toilet. And neither of them worked very well.
At least she kept it clean and free of roaches and pests. In truth, she was working so hard this was simply becoming a place to crash late at night, and no more. She sure felt like crashing right now, but wanted to go over her opening statement in the Carrie Miller case one more time. When Otto Peltier called the office about taking on the case, she had been the one to take the call. Eddie was at court. She had seen Carrie on TV and knew some of the details. More than that, when she saw Carrie, she recognized something in her expression.
Before Kate started working with Eddie, she had been an associate at a large corporate law firm. It was the dream start for a young lawyer. All that she could have hoped for. She soon discovered that like a lot of things in America – dream jobs, dream cars, dream lives – well, they’re not all that they’re cracked up to be. In her first week, one of the male partners started leering at her. During a drinks reception on the Friday of that week, one of the other female associates told her she was leaving the firm, because she couldn’t handle the constant pressure for sex from the partners and senior associates. Kate ended up going through months and months of grinding her jaw, taking deep breaths, and doing her best not to think of herself as a victim. Yet her work was marginalized and she was told, in no uncertain terms, that if she ‘was a little more friendly with the guys’ her career prospects would start looking up.
