Mickey Haller 4 - The Fifth Witness

thought maybe they were finally investigating him. I didn’t know they were investigating me.”
    “Well, did he tell you that you had certain rights not to speak to him and to contact a lawyer?”
    “Yes, like on TV. He told me my rights.”
    “When exactly?”
    “When we were already here, when he said I was under arrest.”
    “Did you ride with him here?”
    “Yes.”
    “And did you speak in the car?”
    “No, he was on his cell phone almost the whole time. I heard him say things like ‘I have her with me’ and like that.”
    “Were you handcuffed?”
    “In the car? No.”
    Smart Kurlen. He risked riding in the car with an uncuffed murder suspect in order to keep her suspicions down and to lull her into agreeing to speak with him. You can’t build a better mousetrap than that. It would also allow the prosecution to argue that Lisa was not under arrest yet and therefore her statements were voluntary.
    “So you were brought here and you agreed to talk to him?”
    “Yes. I had no idea they were going to arrest me. I thought I was helping them with a case.”
    “But Kurlen didn’t say what the case was.”
    “No, never. Not until he said I was under arrest and that I could make a call. And that’s when they handcuffed me, too.”
    Kurlen had used some of the oldest tricks in the book but they were still in the book because they worked. I had to watch the DVD to know exactly what Lisa had admitted to, if anything. Asking her about it while she was upset was not the best use of my limited time. As if to underscore this, there was a sudden and sharp knock on the door followed by a muffled voice saying I had two minutes.
    “Okay, I am going to go to work on this, Lisa. I need you to sign a couple of documents first, though. This first one is a new contract that covers criminal defense.”
    I slid the one-page document over to her and put a pen on top of it. She started to scan it.
    “All these fees,” she said. “A hundred fifty thousand dollars for a trial? I can’t pay you this. I don’t have it.”
    “That’s a standard fee and that’s only if we go to trial. And as far as what you can pay, that’s what these other documents are for. This one gives me your power of attorney, allowing me to solicit book and movie deals, things like that, coming from the case. I have an agent I work with on this stuff. If there’s a deal out there he’ll get it. The last document puts a lien on any of those funds so that the defense gets paid first.”
    I knew this case was going to draw attention. The foreclosure epidemic was the country’s biggest ongoing financial catastrophe. There could be a book in this, maybe even a film, and I could end up getting paid.
    She picked up the pen and signed the documents without reading further. I took them back and put them away.
    “Okay, Lisa, what I am about to tell you now is the most important piece of advice in the world. So I want you to listen and then tell me you understand.”
    “Okay.”
    “Do not talk about this case with anyone other than me. Do not talk to detectives, jailers, other jail inmates, don’t even talk to your sister or son about it. Whenever anyone asks—and believe me, they will—you simply tell them that you cannot talk about your case.”
    “But I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m innocent! It’s people who are guilty who don’t talk.”
    I held my finger up to admonish her.
    “No, you’re wrong, and it sounds to me like you are not taking what I say seriously, Lisa.”
    “No, I am, I am.”
    “Then do what I am telling you. Talk to no one. And that includes the phone in the jail. All calls are recorded, Lisa. Don’t talk on the phone about your case, even to me.”
    “Okay, okay. I got it.”
    “If it makes you feel any better, you can answer all questions by saying ‘I am innocent of the charges but on the advice of my attorney I am not going to talk about the case.’ Okay, how’s that?”
    “Good, I guess.”
    The door opened and Kurlen was standing there. He was giving me the squint of suspicion, which told me it was a good thing I had brought the Paquin jammer with me. I looked back at Lisa.
    “Okay, Lisa, it gets bad before it gets good. Hang in there and remember the golden rule. Talk to no one.”
    I stood up.
    “The next time you’ll see me will be at first appearance and we’ll be able to talk then. Now go with Detective Kurlen.”

Four
    The following morning Lisa Trammel made her first appearance in Los