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"How many people read that colu in it to object to?"

"A whole lot of people read it," I said, "ands, actually He'd played a role in Richie's little dance through the halls of justice, and he could probably find a way to feel at least some responsibility for the outcoet Richie to plead"

"All right, it's speculative but I'll allow it You said two things What's the other one?"

"He had access"

"To what, the blunt instru him from the tree?"

"To Richie Think about it, Ray Here's a son of a bitch they caught dead to rights for killing children, and he walks, so now he's free but he's a pariah, a fucking moral leper And you're Will, a public-spirited citizen deterh justice What do you do, look him up in the phone book? Call hies of investing in tax-free munis?"

"But Adrian would have knohere to find him"

"Of course he'd know He was his lawyer And do you think Richie would refuse a uard?"

"You can never predict what a client will do," he said "You're the next thing to athe trial, and then it ends in an acquittal and they don't want to know you I used to think it was ingratitude Then for a while I decided it stemmed from a desire to put the experience behind theratitude God knows there's a lot of it going around" He leaned back in his chair, his fingers interlaced behind his head "Let's say you're right," he said, "and Adrian had access He could call Richie and Richie would uard Adrian wouldn't have to turn up on his doorstep disguised as a twelve-year-old girl You have anything beside conjecture to place the two of theht have the ether," I said "I didn't even try What I looked for was the opposite, proof that Adrian was somewhere else when Richie was killed"

"In court or out of town, for instance"

"Anything that would give him an alibi I checked his desk calendar and his time sheets at the office I can't prove he didn't have an alibi, because he wasn't around to answer questions, but I couldn't find anything to establish one for him"

"What about the others? Patsy Salerno was next Another distinguished client?"

"Adrian never represented hio he had one of Patsy's soldiers for a client"

"So?"

"Maybe it gave hi dislike to the man I don't know Maybe it left hiht let slip where Patsy was going to be having dinner and when"

"So Adrian could get there first and hide in the toilet" He shook his head "It's hard to picture hi up to Arthur Avenue for a plate of ziti and eggplant And how does he hide in the can, and how can he be sure Patsy's going to answer a call of nature? I'll grant you Patsy was of an age where you wouldn't expect hio too many hours between visits to the can, but you could still spend a long tiuy who'd blend in there"

"More conjecture," I said

"Go ahead"

"Maybe he didn't try to blend in Maybe he used who he was instead of trying to disguise it Maybe he got Patsy's ear and set up a supersecret "

"On what pretext?"

"A traitor in Patsy's ranks A leak in the US Attorney's office A hly placed in one of the other crime families Who knohat he made up? Patsy'd have no reason to be suspicious The only wire he'd worry about is the kind you wear, not the kind that goes around your neck"

"He could even let Patsy pick the time and place," Ray said " 'I'll make sure the back door's unlocked for you Slip in, and the bathrooht' "

"I don't even know if there's a rear entrance," I said, "but one way or another he'd let Patsy set up aAnd he'd make sure Patsy wouldn't ives him access Same as with Richie"

"It strikes me as the best way for him to operate"

He nodded "When you think of Will," he said, "you picture soh the city streets But the best cloak of invisibility ht be a three-piece suit I suppose you looked for an alibi for hi in Montana?"

"As far as I can tell, he was right here in New York"

"So were eightthe on getting into the compound in St Albans?"

"I don't know," I ad on a plan to lure Rashid out I knoasn't there when Rashid was killed He spent the evening with"-I checked e and a college president? I'd say it's a damn shame the cardinal couldn't join them I don't suppose the three of them wound up at a leather bar on West Street"

"Dinner at Christ Cella's, fifth-row seats for the new Stoppard play, and drinks afterward at Agin-court A notation in his calendar, backed up with a credit card receipt and a ticket stub"

"That's just perfect," he said "You ed to find him a rock-solid alibi for the one murder Will didn't commit"

"I know"