defense lawyer.” Tears began to form in her eyes.
“ Not likely,” Karen said. “The Assistant State’s Attorney decides these things, of course, but I think it’s fair to say that Taylor’s statements, connected as they are to all this theory about reincarnation and so on, wouldn’t play very well in court from a prosecutor’s point of view. I’ve spent several years investigating crimes relating to children, Mrs. Chan, and I can tell you very bluntly that prosecutors don’t like to see children give testimony if it can at all be avoided. If Taylor can point us in the right direction that’d be great, but the ASA would still expect us to establish reasonable grounds based on other sources separate from Taylor before she’d go anywhere near a courtroom with a charge of murder against someone. Do you understand what I mean?”
Grace nodded, brushing at a tear on her cheek. “I think so.”
“ We’d like to know why Taylor’s saying these things,” Karen said. “We’d like to hear it for ourselves, if possible.”
“ Please,” Grace said, “let me talk to my husband about it first. He’ll be against it.”
“ Lieutenant Donaghue and I can meet with you and Dr. Chan before talking to Taylor, if you like. We can set the ground rules beforehand so that y’all will be comfortable with what’ll happen.”
Grace closed her eyes. “Let me talk to him.”
“ All right.” Karen stood up. “Here’s my business card. Call any time.”
Grace took the card from Karen and tried to smile.
They left the office and went back down the hallway into the reception area. A middle-aged man with a walrus mustache was sitting there, hands clasped between his knees. Grace Chan’s next appointment, perhaps. Brandi was on the phone but Hank could feel her eyes drilling holes in his back all the way out the front door and down the steps to the parking lot.
They got into the car and Karen started the engine. “Where to now?”
Hank looked at her. “Nicely done.”
“ I was going to rough her up a little, but as soon as she started talking about her son I could see it was different. We need to find out where the kid’s hearing this stuff.”
“ Yeah.” Hank pushed his hand through his frizzy hair. “She pretty much corroborated what Josh Duncan was saying. Doesn’t mean much, but it’s a start.”
“ So what’s next?”
“ We need to backtrack on Martin Liu.”
“ Whatcha got in mind?”
Hank took out his notebook and flipped through the pages. “I want to talk to Martin’s mother. See if we can nail down the connection to Peter Mah a little more firmly before we go have a word with him about this game the little boy was talking about.”
“ Okay. What’s the address?”
“ Don’t you mean the fucking address?” When she just stared at him, Hank smiled. “She lives in Midtown but she’s probably still at work, which is up in Granger Park.”
Hank removed his cell phone and called the home phone number written in his notebook. After a few rings he heard the answering machine pick up, so he cut the connection and called her business number. After speaking briefly with Meredith Collier, he closed the phone and nodded at Karen. “Granger Park.”
“ Figures. What does she do for a living?”
“ Receptionist in a chiropractor’s office.”
Karen backed out of the parking space and floored it, whipping onto the street into a gap in traffic that was more theoretical than actual.
As they raced out Hank caught a glimpse of a black sedan turning into the parking lot behind them. There was a heavy-set driver with Asian features in the front and a passenger in the back that Hank could not see. He looked behind him but in the split-second available was only able to get the last three digits of the license plate: 86H.
“ What make of car was that?” Hank asked.
“ What car?” Karen glanced in the rear view mirror and switched lanes abruptly.
“ The black sedan that turned into the
“ Not likely,” Karen said. “The Assistant State’s Attorney decides these things, of course, but I think it’s fair to say that Taylor’s statements, connected as they are to all this theory about reincarnation and so on, wouldn’t play very well in court from a prosecutor’s point of view. I’ve spent several years investigating crimes relating to children, Mrs. Chan, and I can tell you very bluntly that prosecutors don’t like to see children give testimony if it can at all be avoided. If Taylor can point us in the right direction that’d be great, but the ASA would still expect us to establish reasonable grounds based on other sources separate from Taylor before she’d go anywhere near a courtroom with a charge of murder against someone. Do you understand what I mean?”
Grace nodded, brushing at a tear on her cheek. “I think so.”
“ We’d like to know why Taylor’s saying these things,” Karen said. “We’d like to hear it for ourselves, if possible.”
“ Please,” Grace said, “let me talk to my husband about it first. He’ll be against it.”
“ Lieutenant Donaghue and I can meet with you and Dr. Chan before talking to Taylor, if you like. We can set the ground rules beforehand so that y’all will be comfortable with what’ll happen.”
Grace closed her eyes. “Let me talk to him.”
“ All right.” Karen stood up. “Here’s my business card. Call any time.”
Grace took the card from Karen and tried to smile.
They left the office and went back down the hallway into the reception area. A middle-aged man with a walrus mustache was sitting there, hands clasped between his knees. Grace Chan’s next appointment, perhaps. Brandi was on the phone but Hank could feel her eyes drilling holes in his back all the way out the front door and down the steps to the parking lot.
They got into the car and Karen started the engine. “Where to now?”
Hank looked at her. “Nicely done.”
“ I was going to rough her up a little, but as soon as she started talking about her son I could see it was different. We need to find out where the kid’s hearing this stuff.”
“ Yeah.” Hank pushed his hand through his frizzy hair. “She pretty much corroborated what Josh Duncan was saying. Doesn’t mean much, but it’s a start.”
“ So what’s next?”
“ We need to backtrack on Martin Liu.”
“ Whatcha got in mind?”
Hank took out his notebook and flipped through the pages. “I want to talk to Martin’s mother. See if we can nail down the connection to Peter Mah a little more firmly before we go have a word with him about this game the little boy was talking about.”
“ Okay. What’s the address?”
“ Don’t you mean the fucking address?” When she just stared at him, Hank smiled. “She lives in Midtown but she’s probably still at work, which is up in Granger Park.”
Hank removed his cell phone and called the home phone number written in his notebook. After a few rings he heard the answering machine pick up, so he cut the connection and called her business number. After speaking briefly with Meredith Collier, he closed the phone and nodded at Karen. “Granger Park.”
“ Figures. What does she do for a living?”
“ Receptionist in a chiropractor’s office.”
Karen backed out of the parking space and floored it, whipping onto the street into a gap in traffic that was more theoretical than actual.
As they raced out Hank caught a glimpse of a black sedan turning into the parking lot behind them. There was a heavy-set driver with Asian features in the front and a passenger in the back that Hank could not see. He looked behind him but in the split-second available was only able to get the last three digits of the license plate: 86H.
“ What make of car was that?” Hank asked.
“ What car?” Karen glanced in the rear view mirror and switched lanes abruptly.
“ The black sedan that turned into the
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