Outfoxed: An Andy Carpenter Mystery Read Online Free

twenty.
    But this time, I really blew it, and I spend the ride back with Willie mentally beating myself up. It never entered my mind that Pete might have me followed, or be following me himself. I didn’t entertain the thought that he might not believe me when I said I didn’t know where Brian was, especially since when I said it I was being truthful.
    I’m also annoyed with Pete for assuming I was lying. Of course, had I known where Brian was at the time, I certainly would have lied, but that isn’t the point. Pete is my friend; if you can’t bullshit your friends, who can you bullshit?
    Legally, Pete was within his rights. He wasn’t in any way invading attorney-client privilege, because he had not obtained any information that intruded on it. Of course, no such information existed anyway, since Brian hadn’t told me where he was.
    What Pete did was smart police work, and what I did was stupid lawyer work.
    Hence my annoyance.
    Willie is mostly silent on the way back; he’s being respectful and letting me think things through. Boomer, sleeping in the backseat, hasn’t been very talkative either.
    We’re about twenty minutes away from home when Willie says, “What happens to Brian now?”
    “He’ll be taken back to the prison, and probably put in solitary, at least for the time being. They’ll charge him with the murders, and throw in the escape charge as well.”
    “He did escape,” Willie says.
    I nod. “Yeah, it’s pretty hard to deny that.”
    “You think he did the murders?”
    “I don’t know,” I say. “It’s certainly possible.”
    “You going to represent him?”
    “I don’t know that either. But I’ll definitely take him through the arraignment. And if I don’t continue on, I’ll make sure he gets a good lawyer.”
    “As good as you?” he asks.
    “Don’t be ridiculous.”
    He laughs. “You’ll take the case right to the end.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “You know why,” he says, with as much smugness as Willie can demonstrate.
    Of course, he’s right, and we both know what we’re talking about. “Those cars were bearing down on us, sirens blasting,” I say. “He was about to be captured and taken back to prison, and what does he do?”
    Willie smiles. “He saves Boomer, even though he could have been run down himself. So you figure a guy who would do that can’t be all bad.”
    “He can’t,” I say.
    “Which is why you’ll stay in it to the end.”
    What Willie doesn’t understand is that as a trained attorney and an officer of the court, I will examine all the relevant legal issues and make a thoughtful and reasoned analysis of my potential role in this case.
    What Willie does understand is that I’ll disregard that analysis and wind up taking the case because Brian risked his life to save Boomer.
    The beneficiary of Brian’s heroism, Boomer, is still sound asleep in the backseat. “Are you going to take him back to the foundation?” I ask.
    “Nah, I think I’ll take him home. He’s had a rough couple of days, and Cash can use the company.”
    Cash is the dog Willie and I found the day we won a ten-million-dollar wrongful arrest judgment for Willie after he was released from prison. Somehow the name seemed appropriate, and Cash went from a stray street dog to a life as a pampered mutt sucking down designer biscuits.
    There’s no sense in me going to the prison now. It will take time for them to reprocess Brian, and I think he’s smart enough to follow my instructions not to say anything.
    I usually like to see an arrested client at the earliest possible moment. They are scared and bewildered by what is happening, and have to adjust to new and intimidating surroundings. I try to calm and reassure them that I am there to help.
    But in this case, Brian is not facing anything new; the prison has been his home for quite a while. He’ll be fine, and I can see him in the morning. It will give me time to think things through. Tomorrow I can find out his side