Presumption of Innocence: David Brunelle Legal Thriller #1 by Stephen Penner Page B

this is what we did..."
    He explained it all. From his initial idea, to his phone call with Lizzy, through working out the logistics with the jail, and making sure word didn't get out to Welles or Edwards. And he made sure to emphasize what a good job Lizzy did.
    Kat shook her head. "That damn girl is such a performer."
    "She's got a future as a detective too," Brunelle added. "She's got great instincts."
    Kat smiled. "She's got tight lips too. Never breathed a word of it to me."
    Brunelle's jaw dropped. "What? But you said—"
    "I said nothing, dear lawyer," Kat grinned. "I told you to tell me what happen and you did." Then she couldn't suppress a laugh. "You big dummy."
    Brunelle wanted to be angry at being tricked, but that thick black hair and those twinkling eyes wouldn't let him. "Well done, counselor," he said instead. "So how did you even know?"
    "All over the news," Kat replied. "Welles filed a motion to dismiss the case because you used an unidentified teenage girl to trick his client into making inculpatory statements."
    "They weren't that inculpatory," Brunelle shook his head.
    "Focus, lawyer boy," Kat responded. "You used a teenage girl to trick him three days after you learn about Odette and Odile from my daughter. Didn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out."
    "Just a medical examiner," Brunelle joked.
    "We're smarter than brain surgeons anyway," Kat replied. "I've cut up plenty of brains in my day."
    "I'm sure you have," Brunelle answered. "Although making sure they still worked wasn't really a concern."
    "Details," Kat waved away Brunelle's comment. She sat on the edge of his desk and picked up his letter opener, testing its weight in her hand. Brunelle felt the urge to duck.
    "But you know what really bothers me?" she asked. She didn't wait for a reply. "You lied to me, David. You promised me you wouldn't do it, and you did it anyway. You lied to me."
    Brunelle waited for the letter opener to fly at him, but it remained distant, but ready, in Kat's steady hand. He decided to choose his words carefully.
    "I didn't lie to you, Kat. I meant it. I wasn't going to do it at all until Lizzy called me. Then I thought back on our conversation. What I promised was to not put a wire on her. And we didn't. We used the jail's surveillance equipment."
    Kat looked him square in the eye. "Are you fucking kidding me? You're going to split hairs like that? I basically have a knife in my hand. It's dull, but that's just gonna make it hurt more."
    She started to stand up.
    "It's not an insignificant difference," Brunelle insisted. "If we'd done a wire, we would have needed a warrant and I would have had to identify Lizzy in the warrant application. But as it is, I can keep her identity secret."
    Kat paused, letter opener still at the ready. "Her identity is secret?"
    Brunelle sighed. "Well, yes. Of course. I'm not that stupid. She's identified in the reports as confidential informant #7. And that just means she was the seventh C.I. Chen used so far this year."
    Kat narrowed her eyes. "But you can't keep it secret forever. She's going to have to testify, right?"
    Brunelle shook his head. "No. This was never about getting a confession for trial. I can't send a C.I. in to talk to someone who's invoked his right to an attorney. Not and use the information for his trial anyway. No, this is about shoring up a weak case so the judge doesn't dismiss it."
    Kat's narrowed eyes were joined by a doubtful frown. She pointed the letter opener at Brunelle. "Explain."
    "Welles was going to file a motion to dismiss anyway," Brunelle answered. "Our case is paper thin. It's just and righteous, but paper thin. We can't call Holly and we don't have any other witnesses. But now Karpati has admitted to the murder—or at least to telling Holly to knock on the door. That's not going to convict him at trial, but it should keep the judge from throwing it out, now that she has confirmation, even through inadmissible evidence, that Karpati did it.