A Darker Justice Read Online Free Page A

devil we know,” said the Virginian. “And what he said about your boys made sense. Killing a federal judge requires more skill than taking a baseball bat to one of your old classmates.”
    “Okay.” Dunbar held up his hands, as if to absolve himself of the consequences of this act. “Wurth, are you sure you want to go for the woman in your hometown?”
    Wurth grinned at Dunbar. “Does the word ‘undoubtedly’ have too many syllables for you to understand?”
    No one at the table spoke.
    “Then I thank you for your confidence, gentlemen. I’ll be in touch.” Smiling, Wurth pocketed the quarter as he walked toward the door.

CHAPTER 3
    DECKARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE
December 23
    “Sorry I took so long,” Mary gasped as she burst into the office. “Martel had to drive me all the way from the country club.” She paused to catch her breath. “What’s going on?”
    “I’m sorry I had to interrupt the wedding, Mary. This is Daniel Safer, FBI.” Deckard County DA Jim Falkner, the lower half of a bright red Santa Claus suit barely visible above his desk, jerked his head toward a man sitting on the other side of his office. “I’ll let Dan here explain.”
    Sitting in front of Jim’s desk was a man who looked more like a foreign diplomat than a federal agent. Around thirty-five, he had wiry dark hair that curled around his forehead and tumbled into a close-cropped beard the color of pitch. Though his blue silk tie accented an elegant Italian suit, his eyes were what caught Mary’s attention. Dark and deep-set, they seemed to open like the aperture of a camera, instantly taking in everything from the dark green pumps on her feet to the now slightly ridiculous flowers that she still wore in her hair.
    “Hi.” She extended her hand. “I’m Mary Crow.”
    “Daniel Safer.” He stood and shook her hand. He was tall, with a commanding demeanor that with his beard reminded her of a Russian Cossack. He would look perfect in heavy black boots and a sable hat.
    Mary smiled, but chose the chair farthest away from Agent Safer. The man had a kind of dark gravitational field that made her want to keep her distance.
    “You want to fill us in on this now?” Jim Falkner said gruffly.
    Without a further word of explanation, Safer clicked open a black leather briefcase. “Anybody here squeamish?” he asked as he withdrew a large manila envelope.
    “We’re prosecutors, Safer.” Jim rolled his eyes at Mary. “We got over being squeamish years ago.”
    “Good.” Safer opened a smaller red evidence file on the desk, revealing a photograph of a white-haired man. “This is the Honorable Arthur Fitzgerald of New York, late of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. On September 18, Judge Fitzgerald was killed by a single knife wound to the kidney just outside his home in Greenwich Village. He was walking his dog about ten o’clock in the evening. No one saw anyone, the police have no suspects.”
    “Okay.” Jim flipped through the file, then passed it to Mary. “What’s next?”
    Safer opened a second red file. This time a chubby man lay sprawled out on an Oriental rug. “The Honorable Edward Hebert, late of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. On Halloween night, a cleaning crew found Judge Hebert on the fifth floor of his office building, hanging from a staircase banister. The coroner ruled it a suicide. His widow vehemently denies this, insisting that the judge was a happy, satisfied man with no history of depression and no reason at all for taking his own life.”
    Jim grunted, passed the file to Mary, then Safer tossed out a third.
    “Let me warn you, this one is not pleasant.”
    “I thought we handled the first two pretty well,” snapped Jim, taking the third file from Safer’s hand.
    “That’s the Honorable Rosemary Klinefelter, of the Sixth Circuit Court,” explained Safer. “She failed to come home the night before she and her husband were due to fly to the Caribbean for a Thanksgiving