The Lincoln Lawyer

personally.
    “Could this have been a gay thing?” Lankford asked.
    “What? Why do you say that?”
    “Prissy dog and then all around the house, he’s only got pictures of guys and the dog. Everywhere. On the walls, next to the bed, on the piano.”
    “Look closely, Detective. It is probably one guy. His partner died a few years ago. I don’t think he’s been with anybody since then.”
    “Died of AIDS, I bet.”
    I didn’t confirm that for him. I just waited. On the one hand, I was annoyed with Lankford’s manner. On the other hand, I figured that his torch-the-ground method of investigation would preclude him from being able to tag Roulet with this. That was fine with me. I only needed to stall him for five or six weeks and then I wouldn’t care if they put it together or not. I’d be finished with my own play by then.
    “Did this guy go out patrolling the gay joints?” Lankford asked.
    I shrugged.
    “I have no idea. But if it was a gay murder, why was his office ransacked and not the rest of the house?”
    Lankford nodded. He seemed to be momentarily taken aback by the logic of my question. But then he hit me with a surprise punch.
    “So where were you this morning, Counselor?”
    “What?”
    “It’s just routine. The scene indicates the victim knew his killer. He let the shooter right into the back room. As I said before, he was probably sitting in his desk chair when he took the bullet. Looks to me like he was quite comfortable with his killer. We are going to have to clear all acquaintances, professional and social.”
    “Are you saying I’m a suspect in this?”
    “No, I’m just trying to clear things up and tighten the focus.”
    “I was home all morning. I was getting ready to meet Raul at Dodger Stadium. I left for the stadium about twelve and that’s where I was when you called.”
    “What about before that?”
    “Like I said, I was home. I was alone. But I got a phone call about eleven that will put me in my house and I’m at least a half hour from here. If he was killed after eleven, then I’m clear.”
    Lankford didn’t rise to the bait. He didn’t give me the time of death. Maybe it was unknown at the moment.
    “When was the last time you spoke to him?” he asked instead.
    “Last night by telephone.”
    “Who called who and why?”
    “He called me and asked if I could get to the game early. I said I could.”
    “How come?”
    “He likes to-he liked to watch batting practice. He said we could jaw over the Roulet case a little bit. Nothing specific but he hadn’t updated me in about a week.”
    “Thank you for your cooperation,” Lankford said, sarcasm heavy in his voice.
    “You realize that I just did what I tell every client and anybody who will listen not to do? I talked to you without a lawyer present, gave you my alibi. I must be out of my mind.”
    “I said thank you.”
    Sobel spoke up.
    “Is there anything else you can tell us, Mr. Haller? About Mr. Levin or his work.”
    “Yeah, there is one other thing. Something you should probably check out. But I want to remain confidential on it.”
    I looked past them at the uniformed officer still standing in the hallway. Sobel followed my eyes and understood I wanted privacy.
    “Officer, you can wait out front, please,” she said.
    The officer left, looking annoyed, probably because he had been dismissed by a woman.
    “Okay,” Lankford said. “What have you got?”
    “I’ll have to look up the exact dates but a few weeks ago, back in March, Raul did some work for me on another case that involved one of my clients snitching off a drug dealer. He made some calls, helped ID the guy. I heard afterward that the guy was a Colombian and he was pretty well connected. He could have had friends who…”
    I left it for them to fill in the blanks.
    “I don’t know,” Lankford said. “This was pretty clean. Doesn’t look like a revenge deal. They didn’t cut his throat or take his tongue. One shot, plus they ransacked the office. What would the dealer’s people be looking for?”
    I shook my head.
    “Maybe my client’s name. The deal I made kept it out of circulation.”
    Lankford nodded thoughtfully.
    “What is the client’s name?”
    “I can’t tell you. Attorney-client privilege.”
    “Okay, here we go with that bullshit. How are we going to investigate this if we don’t even know your client’s name? Don’t you care about your friend in there on the floor with a piece of lead in his