Free Cold Justice: A Judge Willa Carson Mystery (The Hunt for Justice) by Diane Capri Page A

Trevor has two kids also.”
    “What do the judge’s kids have to do with anything? He’s sentenced murderers before, surely. His kids have got to know that’s his job, even if their friends are involved. Why would they be worried about that?”
    “So you’d have Randy Trevor, what, send his brother-in-law to prison and then raise those kids in addition to Leo’s and his own?”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Kemp snorted a little and the corners of his mouth lifted as he nodded his head. “So he didn’t tell you, then.”
    “Didn’t tell me what?”
    “Trevor didn’t tell you that he’s related to both David Mason and Leo Richards?”
    “He did not. He said Mason and Richards were business partners. He said Mason was his brother-in-law.”
    “That’s all true, as far as it goes. They were business partners, and David is his brother-in-law. But that’s not the half of it. Randy Trevor, David Mason and Leo Richards are married to three sisters. This is a tragedy for the entire family, not just a part of the family. They’ve already lost one husband and father in Leo Richards. You want to send another husband and father to prison in David Mason. And then what? Judge Trevor takes on the whole family?”
    So that was Randy Trevor’s dilemma. He wanted to protect his wife’s family. Judges aren’t gods. We have lives. We have families. We have feelings. So his desire was understandable.
    But he was a judge. He had responsibilities that came with the job. If he couldn’t, or wouldn’t fulfill his oath to administer blind justice in this case, the very least he should do was to recuse himself and let an impartial judge take over.
    He was using his power for his own self-interest. Which meant he was corrupt. He’d lose his job and be disbarred. Three families would be ruined for sure if Randy Trevor continued down this path.
    I said, “The wives aren’t helpless, you know. Those six kids have mothers, too.”
    “You met them all today. At the bridge club. In birth order, Madeline, Maureen, and Molly. The 3Ms, folks call them around here. From an old line Pleasant Harbor family. Did they look like they were capable of taking care of themselves to you?” he replied.
    The comment irked me so my words were a bit too testy. “Here’s some advice that may save your life, Kemp. Never underestimate a woman. Every cop should know that much.”
    Kemp grinned and nodded. He’d have tipped his hat again, if he’d been wearing one. “Noted.”
    I said, “So Leo is married to Maureen, the middle sister from a prominent family. And he’s missing for fourteen months. And nobody does anything about that? That doesn’t seem reasonable to me. Does it to you?”
    Kemp might have shrugged again. He said, “The mileage on the Toyota bothers me more. Even if he only drove down to Traverse City and stashed the vehicle somewhere and flew out and drove back to where we found him, the SUV should have more miles on it.”
    I thought again about the victim’s unusually pink skin. There were only two causes I could think of, and neither one of them made any sense. Too many anomalies in this case, for sure.
    We’d finally arrived at Eagle Creek. Kemp’s vehicle plowed two fresh ruts through the snow in the parking lot and slammed into a snow pile higher than the cruiser.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

    Most people had enough sense to stay home on a night like this. But there were two vehicles I recognized parked close to the entrance. A silver Cadillac I’d noticed there earlier today. The other was our rented Jeep. Parked in the same place George had placed it at lunch.
    So this is where you are. The knowledge made me feel both better and worse. I was relieved he wasn’t dying in a ditch somewhere, of course. But also damned annoyed that he hadn’t let me know he was okay. Now that I knew he wasn’t dead, I considered killing him myself for scaring me. Figuratively, of course.
    I checked my cell phone for messages again.