Call the Devil by His Oldest Name Read Online Free

Falkner’s tenure. She repressed a sigh. How they all did miss Jim! Although the Deckard County DA now had a much trendier office, the Deckard County ADAs had sought justice much more happily when sloppy old Jim was in charge. They could do nothing about that, though. If the voters of Deckard County elected a jackass, you dealt with the jackass or sought employment elsewhere.
    â€œHow’s the Pugh case going?”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œVirginia Kwan throwing you any curves?”
    â€œNot really. I moved to allow taped testimony, given the age of the witnesses. She objected, saying her client has the right to see his accusers. Judge Cate sided with her.”
    â€œYou’ve gone up against Kwan before, haven’t you?”
    â€œI’ve beaten her once.” Mary thought of the last time she had faced off against Virginia Kwan, a diminutive woman of Chinese ancestry who wore stiletto heels and blood-red nail polish, and was nicknamed “Dragon Lady” by the denizens of the courthouse. Mary had won, but it had been a hard trial, and the next day Virginia had sent her a dozen yellow roses, with a card that read, “Your greatest foes are your best teachers. Next time! Virginia.”
    â€œYou know, Ms. Crow, I really feel like this case could set the tone for my administration.” Hobson took off his glasses and gave her a square, mah-jongg-tile grin. “A slam-dunk conviction would make the African-American population of Deckard County aware that I’ll take their cases just as seriously as Falkner did.”
    â€œI may not get a slam-dunk conviction, Hobson.” Mary grimaced as she recalled Jasmine’s scream of pure terror. “I’ve got a mighty reluctant witness.”
    â€œThe Harris kid?”
    Mary nodded. She always dreaded cases where she had to put children on the stand. “Danika and I have worked with her for weeks. She still can’t look at Pugh and maintain any kind of control.”
    â€œControl?” Hobson frowned.
    â€œBowel control. Jasmine Harris gets diarrhea every time she sees Pugh’s photo. I don’t know what I’m going to do with her on the stand.”
    Hobson looked as if he might puke. “But you’ve built your whole case around that kid’s testimony.”
    â€œYes,” Mary said, again feeling as if she were being sucked down into a dark hole. “I have.”
    â€œMs. Crow, I don’t know if you realize this, but the U.S. Attorney is letting us try this case as a personal favor to me. It’s garnered a huge amount of publicity. Right now you should be steamrolling toward a conviction, not wringing your hands over whether your witness can han­dle the stress of testifying.”
    â€œShe’s five years old, Hobson. Pugh’s already traumatized her back into diapers. I’m not going to turn that child into a total basket case for five minutes of testimony. Anyway, child pornography on the Internet is a federal crime. If Richard Johnson thinks he can do better, then let him go for it.”
    Hobson leaned forward, squinting at her as if he’d discovered some kind of lesion on her nose. “Ms. Crow, when I came on board here, you were the number one ADA. Falkner’s big three point shooter. You would have questioned the Devil himself if you thought it would win your case.”
    â€œThe Devil wouldn’t shit his pants, Hobson.”
    â€œDoesn’t matter.” He smirked condescend­ingly. “Look, I know the last year took a toll on you…”
    â€œAre you speaking of Judge Hannah’s death?”
    â€œYes. I know you sought professional help in trying to overcome that trauma.”
    Mary’s cheeks grew hot. Almost a year ago the FBI had asked her help in protecting her friend Irene Hannah from a white supremacist group. She had failed. Ultimately Mary had sought psy­chiatric help to work through her grief. Never, though, had she