”I’m not sure we can prove that.“

Quentin’s smile vanishes. ”You told me the police had video of the dead girl going into Cyrus’s apartment.“

”Sonny Cross told me that. He’s dead now. And, well…he worked for the sheriff’s department.“

”So the sheriff’s department will have the video. We’ll get that during discovery.“

”I hope so.“

”What do you mean?“

”When I talked to Sonny, I got the feeling he kept a lot from the sheriff. I don’t think they got along too well.“

Quentin’s face hardens. ”I need that video, Penn. You’ve got to get it for me.“

”I’ll do my best.“

”Is there any other proof that Kate Townsend and Cyrus knew each other?“

An image of Kate’s secret journal fills my mind, but I’m not ready to tell Quentin about that yet. There’s no way we could use that diary in the trial without causing Drew further damage. Besides, Jenny Townsend gave me Kate’s private things specifically so that they wouldn’t be seen by prying eyes. Even if I wanted to make the diary public, I’m not sure I could bring myself to violate Jenny’s trust. If it meant saving Drew’s life, I would, of course. But right now, that journal is as likely to hurt him as help him. There might be digital proof somewhere that Cyrus was tracking Kate’s cell phone, but I’ll find that out on my own.

”I don’t know,“ I murmur. ”I’ll try to find out.“

”You’ll have to talk to Cyrus’s crew,“ Quentin says, ”see if they remember her coming around.“

”You think they’ll talk to me?“

Quentin shrugs. ”You’re my investigator. We’ll subpoena them if we have to, but that’s never the best way to get information.“

It’s time for me to come clean with Quentin about Kate’s relationship with Cyrus. As succinctly as possible I explain Ellen Elliot’s Lorcet addiction, and Kate’s reason for visiting Cyrus once a month. He listens like a man who has heard it all in his time. He can’t be shocked, only disappointed.

”This ain’t good,“ Quentin says when I finish. ”I can make the jury feel sorry for a good doctor who happened to fall in love with a beautiful young girl. Even an underage girl. But I can’t make them feel sorry for a manipulator who used a high school girl in a sleazy scheme to get drugs.“

”I’ll be very surprised if Shad makes that connection.“

Quentin raises one eyebrow. ”I’ve learned something in my long years of practicing law, Penn. What holds true of adultery holds true for most other sins. Sooner or later, people find out. For us the important question is, how long does this particular sin stay secret?“

”In other words, how soon will Drew be indicted and go to trial?“

Quentin nods. ”I look for sooner rather than later. As soon as Shad gets a DNA match on the semen taken from the girl’s rectum, he’s likely to ask for an indictment.“

”That’s usually three weeks, minimum, although Shad hinted to me that it might not take that long. If he really wants Drew bad-and we know he does-he could use a private lab to do the analysis. That could knock ten days off the wait, maybe more. The irony is that Shad will be helping us if he rushes to trial.“

”Only as it relates to that single issue,“ Quentin points out. ”Connecting the Lorcet to Ellen Elliott. Maybe you shouldn’t talk to Cyrus’s crew after all. We don’t want to jog anybody’s memory too hard.“

”We’re at the beginning of a court term now,“ I think aloud. ”Even if Shad gets an indictment, the trial will be scheduled for the next term, which gives us two months to prepare.“

”I wouldn’t count on that,“ Quentin says.

”Why not?“

”Shad’s thinking about the special mayoral election, not the trial. That’s the whole point of the trial. If he gets the indictment, he’ll try to have the trial scheduled for the current term.“

”Judge Minor and Shad are thick as thieves. All Shad will have to do is steer the case to Minor’s court, and Minor will schedule the trial for this term.“

”We’re likely to be trying the case in less than a month,“ Quentin says.

”That’s unethical!“

Quentin laughs heartily. ”Try convincing the Supreme Court of that. The founding fathers specifically guaranteed the right of the accused to a speedy trial. If we protest against Shad rushing this trial, he can argue that he’s only trying to provide what the Constitution demands, the right of an innocent man to prove his innocence as soon as possible. Hell, that was the way it worked all the time in the old days. In some rural counties, they still indict the accused and try him within a week. The system has gotten so ass backwards over the past three decades that we routinely expect capital cases to take years. But that’s not how it’s supposed to be. If Judge Minor is on Shad’s side, there’s no way we’ll slow this trial down.“

”Great.“

Quentin nods thoughtfully. ”It is great. Because we want the trial over before anyone can figure out just what a sleazy character our defendant really is. And we want Cyrus White to stay lost.“

Quentin’s description of Drew offends me, but I hold my tongue.

”Out with it,“ says the lawyer. ”Am I pissing you off?“

”A little bit.“

A tight smile. ”I understand human frailty, Penn, believe me. I’m only talking the way the jury will behind closed doors. I don’t care if your buddy was Albert Schweitzer right up until he met Kate Townsend. His behavior since then is going to make him scum in the eyes of most potential jury members. Now, a lot of jurors will understand the psychological dynamics of extramarital affairs. And some of them will even forgive that. But this drug angle…they’ll fry his ass for that.“

”The sheriff’s men will be questioning Cyrus’s crew about Kate’s visits to Cyrus. I hope to hell Kate never said anything about Ellen to Cyrus or his men.“

”Yeah, it would be a lot better if you hadn’t told Byrd about that video.“

”I didn’t tell him there was video.“

”You told him there was documented evidence. That’s video or still photos.“

I squeeze my hands into fists, wishing I could change the past.

”Stop beating yourself up,“ says Quentin. ”Cyrus’s homeys won’t say shit to those cracker cops. The cops may find out Kate was going there to buy drugs, but they’ll assume she was getting them for herself. At first, anyway.“

”But the toxicology on her body will be clean.“

”Are you sure? Have you seen the report yourself?“

”No. But Sonny Cross said it was clean.“

Quentin chides me with a smile. ”We’ll request that in discovery. If we’re lucky, our prom queen popped a few Lorcet herself to ease the pain of waiting for her lover to get divorced.“

”I’m glad I never came up against you in court, Quentin. You’re a pragmatic son of a bitch.“

His eyes twinkle. ”That I am, my boy. You are, too. You just have this romantic haze over your eyes. You want the world to be better than it is. But I know your record. You’re as hard as I am when it comes down to it. You just get there by a different route.“

”I’m not sure about that.“

Quentin snorts. ”As many people as you got executed, I hope you’re sure.“

Images of desperate men fill my mind, some of them glaring at me from death row cages, others staring through bulletproof glass as a technician injects paralyzing drugs into their veins. In some of those eyes I see a plea for forgiveness, in others unalloyed hatred. But one thing is common to them all: the animal fear of death.

”Stop it,“ Quentin says. ”Let the dead bury the dead.“

”Sometimes I can’t stop it.“

The old lawyer looks out over the rooftops toward the river and speaks in a low voice. ”Fifteen years ago, I was asked to review the case of a young man sitting on death row in Huntsville, Texas. He was black, and his family told me he’d been railroaded by the state. The facts sounded promising as presented, so I flew down to Texas and reviewed the file.“ Quentin glances at me. ”You were the lawyer who convicted him.“