Free Motion to Suppress by Perri O'Shaughnessy

behaving as close to perfectly as possible. This young woman did not seem to fit that mold.
    Why had she married Anthony Patterson? Did Misty even know the real answer? He must have had something, Nina finally decided, to sweet-talk her into marriage, because whether she knew it or not, Misty could have her pick of the males of the world.
    Nina shouldn’t take the case, not because she couldn’t handle it, she told herself, but because she should start small here, build a reputation block by block. She should avoid splashy cases with muddy circumstances. She should build a life. Jack would say ... Oh, the hell with what Jack would say. But Matt would be horrified. The community at large would not welcome her.
    Yes, there was a sensible way to approach things, and she prided herself on her good sense and rationality at the same time she was feeding the cyborg ice cream. She wanted to take this case.
    She would sleep on it. In the morning, she would know what to do.
    Mulling, she reversed direction, walking back toward the building, this time turning into the offices of the El Dorado County District Attorney.
    "Mr. Hallowell is in court in Placerville this morning," a clerk guarding the window reported. A square-faced Asian-American sailed out of an inner office, his arms full of files. The clerk called out, "Mr. Lam?" As he passed her desk, she tucked an envelope on the top of the pile.
    "Mr. Lam? The new deputy DA, right?" Nina asked, falling into step beside him as he pushed through the double doors into the courtyard. She introduced herself. "I’ve been asked to represent Michelle Patterson. Do me a favor and tell me what you can about the charge."
    "Really? Hmmm. That’s going to startle a few people," he said, slowing down to study her. "You’re new here, also, I understand."
    Nina nodded.
    "Well, I heard she is one good-looking ... defendant," Lam said. His broad face under the heavy glasses spread into a big smile. "Really, you should wait and talk to Collier."
    "I’m good about favors," she said. Whatever it was he thought she meant, it worked. His eyes were calculating.
    "You can call me Burton, and I hope you will," he said. "On one condition. You didn’t hear this from our office."
    "Duly sworn. Just tell me what you know about the body, Burton."
    "Ah, yes, the corpus submarinus ... Well, I heard the Coast Guard found a stolen boat floating empty out on Lake Tahoe, about a half mile out from the Keys. They found traces of blood in the boat. Maybe somebody had sloshed lake water around in the galley or maybe the storm last weekend got it, because it was semiwashed, but the blood wasn’t totally gone. Because of the blood, a diver was sent down to have a look around. Bad luck for the defendant." Lam shifted his files. "I have to be in court two minutes ago."
    "So tell me fast," Nina said.
    "You know all the stories about Lake Tahoe being so deep and cold, people who drown never get seen again? It’s normally a couple hundred feet deep there, and murky from the boat traffic. The lake was much shallower than usual a long way out and was unusually clear yesterday, like in the old days. They picked him off clean sand thirty-five feet down. You know why bodies don’t float on Lake Tahoe? Because it’s melted snow. And corpses sinking into melted snow don’t decompose like they would in warmer water. They don’t form gases and puff up.
    "Probably a bunch of dead things hanging around on the bottom from way back," he added thoughtfully. "Like in a dinosaur tar pit. Bodies just waiting to be discovered. The diver said Patterson wasn’t lying there. He was sitting, leaning over a little, head up and bobbing. And his eyes and mouth were open. Looked like he was just about to say something. Not a nibble on him. Perfectly preserved, like a woolly mammoth. Or good ol’ T. rex."

7

    NINA MARCHED BY the jail for the second time just as an older couple stopped in consternation at the locked door. "Push the buzzer,"