A Reasonable Doubt Page 24
Robin felt terrible during her walk to the office. Her arm was throbbing, but the pain in her heart was worse. She loved Jeff and she was afraid that what he saw as reckless behavior was pushing him away. She saw what she’d done in a different light. Regina and Stanley were very important to her, and she had no doubt that the decision to watch their house had saved their lives.
Should she have asked Jeff to go with her? Approaching problems without emotion and solving them with cold logic were things Robin did very well. When she thought about what Jeff had said, she could see now that he was right. The police wouldn’t have gone to Regina’s house because Robin had a hunch, but that didn’t mean Robin should have confronted Jane Randall alone. She knew that she should have asked Jeff to back her up, just as she knew that Jeff would have gone with her because he loved her.
Robin went to Jeff’s office as soon as she arrived at the law firm, but he wasn’t in. Robin felt terrible. Had she destroyed their relationship?
She went to her office and distracted herself by calling Peter Ragland. “Did Carrie or Roger tell you what happened last night?” Robin asked.
“Yeah. It looks like Porter or Randall or whatever her name is killed Chesterfield,” Ragland said, but he didn’t sound happy about being proved wrong.
“I can see why you arrested David,” Robin said to make Ragland feel better. “Can I tell him you’re dropping the charges, now that we know he’s innocent?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Thanks, Peter.”
As soon as she hung up, Robin called her client.
“I have great news,” Robin said when David Turner answered his phone. “I just got off the line with Peter Ragland, and he’s going to drop all the charges against you.”
“How did you manage that?”
“Last night, the police arrested Nancy Porter when she tried to murder Regina Barrister. Porter’s real name is Jane Randall, and there is overwhelming evidence that she murdered Chesterfield and two other people.”
Robin told Turner about the Randall and Gentry cases and how she had discovered Porter’s real identity. Then she told her client about finding Renee Chambers alive and her capture of the fugitive.
“I’m so grateful,” Turner said when Robin was done. “I can’t imagine that there are many lawyers who would risk their lives to help a client.”
“Fighting killers isn’t part of my usual legal service.”
“Caesars Palace has been threatening to cancel my contract, but I’m guessing they’ll change their tune, now that I’ve been cleared—and I’m also guessing that the publicity will bring in the crowds.”
“It worked for Chesterfield.”
“Do you think I should use the Chamber of Death as my new finale?”
Robin laughed. “Absolutely not!”
“Just kidding. What I can do is comp you and Jeff to a night in the penthouse and front-row seats to my next show.”
“That’s tempting, but I’m not sure I ever want to see another magic show.”
Jeff was standing in Robin’s doorway when she hung up.
“Do you hate me?” she asked.
Jeff didn’t answer right away. He closed the door and sat down in a chair across the desk from her. “If I hated you, I wouldn’t care if you were hurt or killed. My problem is that I love you and I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to you.”
“I had to go to Regina’s house last night, but you were right. I shouldn’t have gone alone. I should have asked you to help me. I’m just not used to asking for help.”
“I get that. Sometimes I think you see yourself as one of the Knights of the Round Table, galloping off to right wrongs. But those knights had squires, Batman had Robin, even Don Quixote had Sancho Panza.”
Robin stared at Jeff for a moment. Then she burst out laughing. “Is that how you see me, as Don Quixote?”
Jeff smiled. “More like Wonder Woman.”
“Does she have a sidekick?”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know. I was more of a Dark Knight guy.”
“Were you threatened by the idea of a strong female?”
“If I were, I would never have tried to hook up with you.”
Robin stopped smiling. “Are we still hooked up?”
“I want to be. But I also want to know that you believe you can count on me when things get rough.”
“I gave what you said a lot of thought. I shouldn’t have charged off alone. I should have told you why I thought Regina and Stanley were in danger. I should have asked you to come with me.”
“And I would have.”
“Are we okay?” Robin asked.
Jeff nodded. “We’re okay.”
Robin got up and walked around her desk. By the time she got to Jeff, he was standing up. Robin touched Jeff’s cheek. “I love you.”
Jeff held her and they stayed that way for a while.
Then Robin stepped back and smiled. “That’s enough sexual harassment. Don’t you have witnesses to interview in the Miller case?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then hop to it. We can continue the harassment tonight.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I had more fun writing A Reasonable Doubt than almost any other book I’ve written because I love magic and a grand magic illusion is at the heart of this book. I have seen most of the famous magicians like David Copperfield and Penn and Teller in person and I got the idea of murdering a famous magician on stage while he was performing a fantastic illusion. My problem was that I can never guess how these amazing tricks work. Fortunately, Marshall Amiton, a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge, and attorney Robert Kabacy, who are amateur magicians, took time from their busy schedules to show me how the Chamber of Death illusion works.
In many criminal trials, the prosecutor tries to introduce evidence of crimes that are not charged in an indictment to prove a defendant is guilty of the crimes that are charged in the indictment. The 1901 appellate decision in People v. Molineux established the rules governing the admission at trial of bad acts not charged in an indictment. It also provided me with the backstory in A Reasonable Doubt that takes place between 1997 and 1998. In the late 1890s, Roland Molineux was charged with two murders committed at different times and places. Molineux was the privileged son of one of the original founders of the Knickerbocker Club, where some of the wealthiest and prestigious men in New York City society congregated. One of the murders involved a dispute with the club’s manager, so you can see how the facts of this real-life historical mystery got my mental juices flowing.
A finished novel is the product of team work. The most important part of my team is my editor, Keith Kahla, who points out where I have gone astray in a polite and civilized manner and is rarely wrong. I also received great support from Hector DeJean, Martin Quinn, Alice Pfeifer, Sally Richardson, Eliani Torres, Ken Silver, and Jonathan Bush at St. Martin’s.
I wouldn’t be at St. Martin’s if it hadn’t been for Jennifer Weltz, my fabulous agent and the crew at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, which has guided my career since 1984. Wow, that’s a long time.
Finally, I treasure the support I receive from my wonderful wife, Melanie Nelson; my daughter, Ami; my son, Daniel, and his wife, Amanda; my amazing grandkids, Loots and Marissa; Melanie’s children, Noelle, Brianna, and Brent; and Brent’s wife, Tess. I haven’t gotten any verbal kudos for my writing from one-year-old Micah, Melanie’s first grandchild, but I hope he likes my books when he gets a little older.
ALSO BY PHILLIP MARGOLIN
Heartstone
The Last Innocent Man
Gone, But Not Forgotten
After Dark
The Burning Man
The Undertaker’s Widow
The Associate
Sleeping Beauty
Lost Lake
Worthy Brown’s Daughter
Woman with a Gun
Vanishing Acts (with Ami Margolin Rome)
Amanda Jaffe Novels
<
br /> Wild Justice
Ties That Bind
Proof Positive
Fugitive
Violent Crimes
Dana Cutler Novels
Executive Privilege
Supreme Justice
Capitol Murder
Sleight of Hand
Robin Lockwood Novels
The Third Victim
The Perfect Alibi
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PHILLIP MARGOLIN is the author of more than twenty novels, most of them New York Times bestsellers, including Gone But Not Forgotten, as well as the previous Robin Lockwood novels, The Third Victim and The Perfect Alibi. In addition to being a novelist, he was a longtime criminal defense attorney with decades of trial experience. Margolin lives in Portland, Oregon. You can sign up for email updates here.
VISIT THE AUTHOR’S WEBSITE AT
www.phillipmargolin.com
OR FIND HIM ON FACEBOOK AT
www.facebook.com/PhillipMargolinAuthor.
Thank you for buying this
St. Martin’s Press ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Prologue
Part One: The Chamber of Death
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Part Two: Evidence of Other Crimes
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Part Three: Vanishing Act
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Part Four: Resurrection
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Acknowledgments
Also by Phillip Margolin
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
A REASONABLE DOUBT. Copyright © 2020 by Phillip Margolin. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by Jonathan Bush
Cover photographs: lighthouse © plainpicture/Elekirons 08; clouds © rangizzz/Shutterstock.com; rain © Chonlathit Stock/Shutterstock.com
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-11754-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-11755-7 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250117557
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact your local bookseller or the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: March 2020