Mistress of Justice

lawyer.”
    She had no idea what had happened. She’d shown up at the restaurant and found a crime scene investigation under way. Somebody’d been shot and Sebastian had been arrested.
    She barked, “What’s he been booked on?”
    “Nothing yet. The arresting’s on the phone to the medical examiner.” He turned back to a mass of papers.
    Man, that was a lot of blood.
    A uniformed officer came up, a thin man, slicked-back hair, gray at the temples. He looked over Taylor and was not pleased. His would be a joint prejudice: against defense lawyers in general (who spent hours tormenting cops on the witness stand and reducing them to little piles of incompetence) and women defense lawyers in particular (who had to prove they could torment more brutally than their male counterparts).
    Taylor Lockwood cocked her head and tried to look like a ballbuster. “I’m Mr. Sebastian’s lawyer. What’s going on?”
    Suddenly a roar of a voice filled the station house. “Hey, Taylor!”
    She froze. Oh, brother—why now? It was one of those moments when the gods get bored and decide to skewer you just for the fun of it. Taylor gave an inaudible sigh and turned toward the voice, now booming again, “Taylor Lockwood, right?”
    A huge cop, a faceful of burst vessels, tan from a vacation in Vegas or the Bahamas, stalked across the room. Hewas off-duty, wearing designer jeans and a windbreaker. Early forties, thirty pounds overweight. Trim, razor-cut blond hair. A boyish face.
    There was nothing to do, she decided, but go all the way. Her father’s advice: If you’re going to bluff, bluff like there’s no tomorrow.
    “Hey,” she said, smiling.
    “It’s Tommy Blond. Don’tcha remember? Tommy Bianca, from the Pogiolli case.”
    “Sure, Tommy. How you doing?” She took his massive, callused hand.
    The man was looking down at Sebastian. “He okay?”
    “Nosebleed is all,” the arresting said. “We thought he’d taken one, too. EMS looked him over, said he’ll be okay, he keeps an eye on his nostrils.”
    Tommy Blond looked at the arresting and the desk sergeant. “Hey, treat this lady right. She’s okay. She was working with the lawyer got off Joey, youse remember—Joey Pogiolli from the Sixth? Got him off last year some asshole sued him, said Joey worked him over on a bust.… Hey, Taylor, you was a paralegal then. What, you go to law school?”
    “Nights,” Taylor said, grinning and wondering if the nervous sweat that had gathered on her forehead would start running down to her chin and carrying her makeup with it.
    “That’s great. My kid’s applying to Brooklyn. Wants to be FBI. I told him agents don’t got to have law degrees anymore but he wants to do it right. Maybe sometime he could talk to you about school? Got a card?”
    “None with me. Sorry.”
    She glanced at Sebastian, staring at the floor.
    Tommy Blond said, “Whatsa story, Frank?”
    The arresting said, “We got a vic got took out outside the Blue Devil, name of Magaly Sanchez. Upscale coke dealer moving into the wrong territory. We think whoever did her wasn’t sure what she looked like and was using him”—he nodded toward Sebastian—“to ID the hit. Ormaybe they wanted to whack her in front of a customer. Send a message, you know. She had about ten grams on her, all packaged and ready for delivery. And Mr. Sebastian had a quarter gram.… That’s why we brought him in.”
    Taylor rolled her eyes. “A quarter gram? Come on, you guys.”
    “Taylor, I know what you’re asking.…” Tommy Blond said, then: “That’s a lot of blood. You’re sure it’s just a nosebleed?”
    She remembered a buzzword. “What was your probable cause for search?”
    “Probable cause?” The arresting blinked in surprise. “He was waving at a known drug dealer who got whacked right in front of him? That’s not probable cause—that’s for-damn-fucking-sure cause.”
    “Let’s talk.” She walked over to the bulletin board. Tommy Blond and the arresting looked at each other and then followed her. She stood with her head down and whispered harshly to the arresting, “Come on, he’s never been arrested before. Sure, the guy’s an asshole, but a quarter gram? You and I both know a collar like that’s optional.”
    Taylor was making this up.
    The arresting: “I don’t know.… Everybody’s pissed off about these assholes from Wall Street think they can buy and sell blow and we’re not going to do anything about it.”
    “Let’s cut a