Free The Innocent Woman by Parnell Hall Page B

now?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Let’s go.”

13.
    A MY D EARBORN LOOKED THE worse for wear. Her eyes were red, her face was pale. She was so nervous she couldn’t sit still.
    Steve Winslow was not feeling sympathetic. “Get a grip on yourself,” he said. “I need answers, and I need ’em fast. Now, to begin with, you knew the body was there before you called?”
    Amy Dearborn said nothing. She looked down at her lap, where her hands were fiddling with her handkerchief.
    “Hey, wake up,” Steve said. “You’re going to be charged with murder. What happens in the next ten minutes may determine whether you beat the rap.”
    Amy looked up then. Her eyes were wide. “Murder?” she said.
    “Yeah, murder. That’s what they call it when someone dies. Little more serious than petty theft. Little harder to get off. So snap out of it and clue me in.”
    “Oh, my god.”
    “How did you find the body?”
    “I just did.”
    “No, there’s no just about it. You got fired from your job, you haven’t been in the office in over a month and you go there tonight. Why?”
    “To clean out my desk.”
    “What?”
    “I had stuff in my desk. I’d been afraid to go back and get it. What with being fired and being charged with a crime. I figured now that I was found innocent, it didn’t matter.”
    Steve frowned. “You went up there tonight to clean out your desk?”
    “That’s right.”
    “What time?”
    “What?”
    “What time did you go?”
    “Oh.”
    “Thought of an answer?”
    Amy stuck out her chin. “I don’t like your attitude.”
    “I don’t like yours,” Steve said. “We’ve got a situation here where minutes count. I gotta decide if I’m going to report this thing, and how. And you’re playing games with me. Now listen. I’m your attorney. Anything you tell me is privileged. It can’t hurt you. So just tell me what you did, and stop trying to figure out what you want me to know. I’m not here to judge you, I’m here to help you. But you’re not making it easy.”
    Amy’s lip trembled. “I’m doing the best I can.”
    “Steve, take it easy,” Tracy said.
    “Easy, hell,” Steve said. “This is murder. She’s got you involved, and now she’s involving me. So let’s see what we can do to get out from under.”
    “I’m not involving you,” Amy said.
    “I’m glad to hear it,” Steve said. “I bow to your superior legal knowledge. When they disbar me, I’ll tell the judge, no, no, it’s all right, Amy told me I wasn’t involved.”
    “Steve,” Tracy said.
    As Amy glared at him defiantly, Steve said, “I have your attention? Good. I wasn’t kidding about there being no time. I want you to stop stalling and answer questions, or I’m putting in a call to the cops. Got it? Good. Now, what time did you find the body?”
    Amy took a breath. “I’m not sure. But it was just before I called her.”
    “That would be just before eight o’clock,” Tracy said.
    “Is that right?” Steve said.
    “I guess so. I called right away.”
    “From the office?”
    “No, no. When I found the body I was scared, I got the hell out of there. I called from the street.”
    “You mean from a pay phone?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, that’s a break. So, as soon as you found the body you went out in the street and called?”
    “That’s right.”
    “And how long were you in the office before you found the body?”
    “Oh.”
    “Weren’t prepared for that one?”
    “No. I’m just trying to think.”
    “If the cops ask you questions you have to think before you answer, that makes them suspicious. Gives them the idea you’re not telling them the truth.”
    “I’m telling the truth.”
    “Maybe so. I’m just telling you how it looks. If we call the cops and report this, you gotta do a better job with them than you’re doing with me. So, let’s try it again. How long were you in the office before you found the body?”
    “Not long. Five or ten minutes.”
    “You went there to clean out your