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It was pretty much unthinkable

And yet Puller had seen enough in his career at CID to know that people were capable of just about anything

He thought back to his early years with his parents They had argued, but not to an excessive degree The old man was harder on his sons than on his wife

And Jacqueline Puller, known to all as Jackie, did not possess a sub she was more than a match for her husband The old e the rules of their lives that Jackie Puller had carefully constructed As the boss of ht he was qualified and entitled to run everything His wife had not been in agreement on that point

So there had been arguer But didn’t es have that?

Puller didn’t know for sure, never having beenlumly recalled thatthe other

He left and went to his car He got in and punched in the number

“Shireen?”

“Puller? How’s it going?”

Shireen Kirk had fore Advocate General’s, lawyer representing those in uniforone into private practice in northern Virginia She had the rep of being a scorched-earth lawyer And that’s exactly what Puller required

“I need a lawyer”

“Okay, so I guess it’s not going too well”

“Well, my father needs one”

“I thought he was in a care facility with Alzheimer’s?”

“Dementia, but yes, he is”

“If he did so that someone found out of bounds I think he’d have a pretty solid diminished capacity defense”

“It’s not like that This is froo when he was still in the military”

“Okay, what happened?”

Puller filled her in on the situation and the letter that Demirjian had sent to CID

“That really sucks You say they want to interview your father?”

“Yes”

“If he’s been diagnosed with dementia he should have counsel there with him I could even make a case that they can’t question hi and we don’t want him to inadvertently incriminate himself”

“No, we don’t”

“I can take the case”

“That’s great, Shireen But can they even charge him if he’s not competent?”

“They can charge anybody, Puller Competency is a matter for a court to determine And even if he’s not competent to stand trial they can hold the prosecution in abeyance until he becomes competent, if that ever happens But thattried for the crime”