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I took a seat in an old church peith a slot for hymnals underneath the bench It was filled noith alumni journals froh idly Presently, I heard footsteps and Clemson appeared

"Miss Millhone? Jack Clemson Nice to meet you You’ll have to pardon the reception My secretary’s out sick and the temp’s still off at lunch Come on back"

We shook hands and I followed him He was maybe fifty-five and heavyset, one of those men who’d probably been considered portly since birth He was short and squat, wide-shouldered and balding His features were babified: sparse eyebrows and a soft, undefined nose with red dents along the bridge A pair of tortoiseshell reading glasses were shoved up on his head, and strands of hair were standing straight up on end His shirt collar was unbuttoned and his tie was loose Apparently he hadn’t had time to shave, and he scratched at his chin experirowth His suit was tobacco brown, impeccably tailored, but wrinkled across the seat

His office occupied the entire rear half of the building, and had French doors that opened out onto a sunny deck Both of the dark green leather chairs intended for clients were piled high with legal briefs Clemson scooped up an ar for me to take a seat while he went around to the far side of the desk He caught a gli on the wall to his left, and his hand returned involuntarily to the stubble on his chin He sat down and pulled a portable electric razor froan to slide it around his face with a practiced hand,a clean path across his upper lip The shaver buzzed like a distant airplane

"I got a court date in thirty minutes Sorry I can’t spare you any more time this afternoon"

"That’s all right," I said "When does Bailey get in?"

"He’s probably here by now Deputy drove down this eular visiting hours, but Quintana said it’s okay It’s his case He was rookie of the year back then"

"What about the arraign If you’re interested, you can coive us a chance to compare notes" "I’d like that"

Cle back over to the Ocean Street this afternoon?" "Sure"

He tucked the electric shaver away and closed the desk drawer He reached for some papers, which he folded and slipped into an envelope, scrawling Royce’s nanature," he said I tucked the envelope in round on this have you been told?" "Notinto his fist He shook his head, apparently annoyed by the state of his lungs "I had a long talk thiswith Clifford Lehto, the PD who handled Fowler’s case

He’s retired now Nice ht a vineyard about sixtyChardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes I wouldn’tthat h his old files for me and pulled the case notes"

"What’s the story on that? Why’d the DA estured dise De Witt was the district attorney You ever run into him? Probably not It would have been way before your tie now I avoid hiot political aspirations, doesn’t he?"

"For all the good it’s gonna do He’s into the sauce and it’s the kiss of death You never knohich way he’s gonna go on a case He’s not unfair, but he’s inconsistent Which is too bad George was a hotdogger Very flashy guy He hated to bargain a high-publicity case, but he wasn’t a fool From what I hear, the Timberlake murder looked passable on the surface, but they were short of hard evidence Foas known around town as a punk for years His old man had thrown him out-"

"Wait a minute," I said "Was this before he went to jail the first tiht he’d been convicted of ariven ht, let ot the dates here somewhere, but it er hooked up right around the ti kid and he was sether You probably know the type He was just one of those kids who seeo sour Fros They had to pay the local dope peddler, so they started buas stations Nickel-and-dime jobs, and they’re rank a panty hose on their heads, trying to act like big-tiht Rupert Russell was the PD on that one and he did the best he could"