All About the Money (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 7) by Ann Mullen Page B

run, do you? That’s
nuts!”
    “She’s rich, and murder is a serious offense.”
    I gasped at the thought. I was shocked and upset. Sheriff
Hudson was here to arrest Savannah ! I wanted to scream at him and tell
him he was out of his mind, but I didn’t. The look on his face was too scary,
and I didn’t want to get arrested.
    The sheriff hesitated, turned to Billy, and then said, “Oh,
by the way. We just arrested two teenagers and charged them with arson in the
Flo Garner case. A neighbor came forward and gave us a description of the two
guys she saw hanging around just before the place went up.”
    “Are you sure they’re the ones who did it?” I asked, trying
to seem like I had calmed down somewhat.
    “Oh, yeah,” he replied, and then smiled. “This isn’t the
first time these boys have had a run-in with the law. I knew who they were the
minute the witness gave me their description. Plus, it didn’t hurt that the
daughter of the neighbor knew the boys—names, addresses, the whole bit. She
went to school with them before they dropped out. She said that the kids at
school were afraid of them. They’re nothing but trouble. That’s for sure.”
    “Did you get a confession out of them?”
    “No, they lawyered-up. Got themselves a big-time Charlottesville attorney—Roger Damon.”
    “Never heard of him,” I said.
    “He’s good. Unfortunately, he gets a lot of bad guys off.”
    “Do you think he’ll get them off? You have enough evidence on
the boys, don’t you? You know they did it.”
    “No, he won’t get them off. He’ll plea bargain. They’ll do
some time. How much just depends. We have two eyewitnesses who can place them
at the scene, so we got ‘em. We just have to put them away.” The sheriff turned
and walked into Savannah ’s room. His deputies followed.
Someone closed the door.
    I looked at Billy and said, “I guess that lets Downer Rhodes
off the hook. They caught the guys.”
    “Not necessarily. Punk kids like that don’t have the kind of
money it takes to hire an attorney like Roger Damon.”
    “Do you know… never mind. I’m sure you do. You know
everybody. Was Roger Damon an old friend of yours or Jonathan… or …”
    “He represented a friend of mine. The guy was guilty, and
Roger got him off. I lost all respect for Mr. Damon after that. You have to
have some integrity. A lawyer chooses his clients, not the other way around.”
    “Then who’s picking up the tab?”
    “I’d like to know the answer to that myself.”
    Billy went to grab the doorknob, but stopped when Cole
appeared from inside the room. He took a step back and waited.
    “You know the drill,” Cole said. “You can’t go in there. I’m
here to see to it that you don’t.”
    “Just a minute, Cole,” Billy said. “How do we know that Savannah ’s being treated fairly… by the book?
She doesn’t have her lawyer present. I’d have to testify in court that she
didn’t have counsel to advise her. How would that look for your case?”
    “You know the drill,” I added, sarcastically.
    Cole rolled his eyes and then stepped back into the room.
Before he could come back out, the doctor arrived. He went into the room, and
then a few seconds later, Sheriff Hudson and his deputies emerged. The sheriff
didn’t look too happy.
    “What’s he trying to pull?” I whispered to Billy.
    “Intimidation,” Billy responded, quietly. “I’m sure he
advised her of her rights, and then said something to the effect that if she
wasn’t guilty, she shouldn’t need a lawyer.”
    “Can he do that?”
    “I most certainly can,” the sheriff said. “You know I can
hear everything you say.”
    Cole laughed at us. I wanted to slap him.
    The doctor walked out of the room, closing the door behind
him. “Mrs. Kelley’s being released,” he said, and then looked at me. “She asked
for you.”
    The sheriff stepped forward, but the doctor held up his hand
and said, “She’s getting dressed. You can see her when