The Brass Verdict

wouldn’t be any of your business. But speaking of lucky, I heard you got Jerry Vincent’s whole practice.”
    Nina Albrecht and Patrick Henson entered the bedroom. I saw Patrick looking at the missing square in the carpet. I covered the phone and asked them to go back downstairs and wait for me. I then went back to the phone conversation. My ex-wife was a deputy district attorney assigned to the Van Nuys courthouse. This put her in a position to hear things about me.
    “That’s right,” I said. “I’m his replacement, but I don’t know how lucky that makes me.”
    “You should get a good ride on the Elliot case.”
    “I’m standing in the murder house right now. Nice view.”
    “Well, good luck in getting him off. If anyone can, it’s certainly you.”
    She said it with a prosecutor’s sneer.
    “I guess I won’t respond to that.”
    “I know how you would anyway. One other thing. You’re not going to have company over tonight, are you?”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “I’m talking about two weeks ago. Hayley said a woman was there. I believe her name was Lanie? She felt very awkward about it.”
    “Don’t worry, she won’t be there tonight. She’s just a friend and she used the guest room. But for the record, I can have anybody I want over at my house at any time because it’s
my
house, and you are free to do the same at your house.”
    “And I’m also free to go to the judge and say you’re exposing our daughter to people who are drug addicts.”
    I took a deep breath before responding as calmly as I could.
    “How would you know who I am exposing Hayley to?”
    “Because your daughter isn’t stupid and her hearing is perfect. She told me a little bit of what was said and it was quite easy to figure out that your… friend is from rehab.”
    “And so that’s a crime, consorting with people from rehab?”
    “It’s not a crime, Michael. I just don’t think it is best for Hayley to be exposed to a parade of addicts when she stays with you.”
    “Now it’s a parade. I guess the one addict you’re most concerned with is me.”
    “Well, if the shoe fits…”
    I almost lost it but once again calmed myself by gulping down some of the fresh sea air. When I spoke I was calm. I knew that showing anger would only hurt me in the long run when it came time to re-address the custody arrangement.
    “Maggie, this is our daughter we’re talking about here. Don’t hurt her by trying to hurt me. She needs her father and I need my daughter.”
    “And that’s my point. You are doing well. Hooking up with an addict is not a good idea.”
    I was squeezing my phone so hard I thought it might break. I could feel the scarlet burn of embarrassment on my cheeks and neck.
    “I have to go.”
    My words came out strangled by my own failures.
    “And so do I. I’ll tell Hayley you’ll be there by seven thirty.”
    She always did that, ended the call with inferences that I would disappoint my daughter if I was late or couldn’t make a scheduled pickup. She hung up before I could respond.
    The living room downstairs was empty but then I saw Patrick and Nina out on the lower deck. I stepped out and over to the railing where Patrick stood staring at the waves. I tried to put the upset from the conversation with my ex-wife out of my head.
    “Patrick, you said you tried surfing here but the rip was too strong?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Are you talking about a riptide?”
    “Yeah, it’s tough out here. The shape of the cove creates it. The energy of the waves coming in on the north side is redirected under the surface and sort of ricochets south. It follows the contour of the cove and carries it all the way down and then out. I got caught in that pipeline a couple times, man. It took me all the way out past those rocks at the south end.”
    I studied the cove as he described what was happening beneath the surface. If he was right and there was a riptide on the day of the murders, then the sheriff’s divers had probably searched in the wrong place for the murder weapon.
    And now it was too late. If the killer had thrown the gun into the surf, it could have been carried in the underwater pipeline completely out of the cove and out to sea. I began to feel confident that the murder weapon would not be making a surprise appearance at trial.
    As far as my client was concerned, that was a good thing.
    I stared out at the waves and thought about how beneath the beautiful surface a hidden power