The Perfect Alibi (Robin Lockwood #2)(49)

“What did you tell him?”

“What do you think?”

Jeff laughed. “I hope you were diplomatic.”

“My answer was completely in Latin.”

“Good for you. So. Do you think Armstrong is faking?”

“I don’t have the training to give an opinion, but he seems genuinely confused.”

“So what’s this thing you need help with?”

“Doug has injuries that could have come from a fight. One piece of evidence that suggests that the fight was with Nylander is a minute amount of blood that was found under Nylander’s fingernail. The blood sample is too small to be used in a conventional DNA test, so Kellerman submitted the sample to an independent lab that uses some kind of cutting-edge technology, and they concluded that the blood is Doug’s. I need you to find out what that lab did and brief me on how valid the test is. I want to know if I can knock out the DNA evidence pretrial by arguing that it’s not been deemed reliable in the relevant scientific community.”

“Sounds interesting. Give me what you’ve got tomorrow, and I’ll look into it.”

“Will do.” Robin looked at the TV. “Who’s playing?”

“Broncos and Colts, but the game’s a snooze.”

Robin smiled. “Does that mean you don’t want to watch anymore?”

Jeff smiled back. “Why? Can you think of something we could do that would be less boring?”

Robin put her hand on Jeff’s thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I might,” she said, as she took the remote and switched off the set.





CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE


In the morning, Robin thought about Doug Armstrong’s case as she walked from the gym to her office through a cold, damp drizzle. As soon as she got in, she gave the discovery she’d received from Rex Kellerman to her secretary with instructions to make copies for Jeff.

Moments after her secretary left with the reports, the receptionist told Robin that she had a call.

“My name is Herschel Jacobs,” the caller said in a heavy New York accent. “I’m a homicide detective in Manhattan. Carrie Anders gave me your name. She says you represent Douglas Armstrong.”

“That’s right. What’s your interest in Mr. Armstrong?”

“None, actually. I’m calling because he’s Frank Nylander’s law partner.”

“Was,” Robin corrected. “Mr. Nylander was murdered, and Mr. Armstrong is charged with his murder.”

“Yeah, Detective Anders filled me in on the case.”

“I still don’t get why you’re calling.”

“I’m investigating the murder of Tyler Harrison III, an attorney in a firm with offices on Park Avenue. Mr. Harrison was found in a vacant lot Saturday morning, about five days after he met with Mr. Nylander to negotiate a case.”

“I’m still confused. Mr. Nylander was killed on Tuesday evening, the day he returned from New York. That’s several days before Mr. Harrison was murdered. So why do you want to talk to my client?”

“We’re stuck, Miss Lockwood. The vacant lot is in a part of Manhattan where someone like Mr. Harrison wouldn’t go. It’s high crime rate, drugs, prostitutes. No one in his law firm or his acquaintances or his family can give us any reason why he would be there. And to answer your question before you ask it, no, he didn’t have a drug habit and he was happily married.”

“How about clients? Did anyone he represented live in the neighborhood?”

Jacobs laughed. “Mr. Harrison represented financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies. Aside from one bank with a branch that’s fifteen blocks from the lot, there’s nothing that connects his practice with the area. Our theory is that he was killed someplace else and the killer dumped his body in the lot.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re interested in Mr. Armstrong.”

“I’m talking to everyone who had contact with Harrison the week he was murdered, so I called to talk to Mr. Nylander and I found out he was murdered the same week. I don’t like coincidences.”

“Sometimes a coincidence is just a coincidence.”

“True, but I’d still like to talk to your client to find out about the case Harrison and Nylander were working on and any guesses he can make that might help with Harrison’s murder.”

“I can’t let you talk to Mr. Armstrong, for obvious reasons, but let me make a suggestion. Why don’t you send me a list of questions you’d like him to answer? If he has no objection, I’ll send you his answers.”

“That sounds fair.”

“And I’d like a copy of the Harrison case file so I can advise Mr. Armstrong on how he should proceed.”

“The whole file?”

“You seem like a straight shooter, Detective Jacobs, but I don’t know a thing about you. This could be a trap to get Mr. Armstrong to incriminate himself.”

“He’s not a suspect. We’re just out of ideas, and I’m fishing around, hoping I’ll latch on to something helpful.”

“I believe you, but I find it’s better to be cautious anytime there’s a murder and a homicide detective wants to talk to one of my clients.”