Free All Day and a Night by Alafair Burke Page B

going to cost the government for trusting him.”
    They heard the front office door open, and, just like that, Thomas was back at his post.
    A few minutes later, there was another tap on the door. Linda pulled a step stool from against the wall and used it as a chair. “Sorry about the ghetto digs. More importantly, sorry to make you get started on your own. That stuff at Cardozo took longer than I expected.”
    She had already explained that she was giving a lunchtime lecture at Cardozo Law School, followed by a meeting with the director of their wrongful-conviction clinic. She had been hoping to peel off some of their students to work for her in exchange for school credit.
    “Any luck?”
    “Nah. They want a level of supervision we can’t provide. I need working bodies, ready to go.”
    “Well, I’ve been chipping away.” She told her about the subpoena duces tecum she had filed.
    “Sounds like good work. But I’ll warn you, this isn’t like the civil cases you’re used to. You can’t just ask and expect to receive. They’ll claim confidentiality of police personnel records, protection of witness and informant identities, ongoing investigations, every piece of bullshit. Sometimes you’ve got to find another way. I’ve got a contact in the crime lab. He tells me the police got a letter similar to the one Amaro received at the prison, but have they said one word? Of course not.”
    “They’re just ignoring it?”
    “Not entirely. They’re having the labs take another look for DNA evidence. They’re probably hoping to find fresh evidence against Amaro so they can bury the letter without anyone being the wiser, but my contact will tell me one way or the other.”
    “How do you have a source there?” Carrie realized how naïve she must sound to someone with Linda’s experience.
    “Because I show him more respect than the prosecutors do. The ADAs treat the science types like puppets, expecting them to regurgitate whatever rehearsed testimony might impress a jury. But I’ve learned that if you treat them like professionals, they’ll be fair on cross-examination. They’ll acknowledge the limits of their evidence. I’ve spent years cultivating relationships. The last thing these people want is to contribute to a wrongful conviction. They won’t tell me everything, but they’ll tell me when something doesn’t smell right.”
    Carrie noticed that Linda’s voice was calmer—less shrill—than during her television appearances. “Has anyone ever told you that you seem so different in person?”
    Linda’s laugh was deep and warm. “Oh, all the time. And thank God for that. ‘Linda’ on TV is a persona. In this job, you’ve got to be a fighter. Cops and DAs have the built-in superhero thing. There are eight different flavors of Law and Order on constant cable replay, depicting them as the good guys. I do what I need to do to help our clients. I try to channel every person’s inner rebel, that small part of us willing to recognize the terrifying truth that sometimes cops and DAs get it wrong—and, even worse, sometimes they really don’t give a damn.”

CHAPTER
TEN
    Y ou ready to talk?” Ellie asked. According to her watch, they’d been in the car for five minutes. They had already hit the Manhattan Bridge, and her partner’s only words had been “Not yet,” muttered when she started venting about Linda Moreland. Since then, he’d been surfing the radio. He’d been briefly satisfied by the tail end of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely,” but once the song ended, he’d gone back to channel flipping.
    “Stupid department-issue p.o.s. Impala. Should’ve taken my ride. Terrestrial radio is tired.”
    At least he was using his words now. Ellie was ready to press him for answers. “So, I assume the paucity of decent music on FM isn’t what’s actually eating at you. Is this about Santos? I thought he handled the case reassignment pretty well under the circumstances.”
    Rogan didn’t