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“In the seven runs you’ve done,” I asked, “how much variation did you see in the total elapsed tirass catch fire?”

“Less than thirty ly consistent Now, if the grass were shorter or taller or a different type or-”

“Thank you, Jason,” I interrupted again I regarded Cash

“Does this look pretty sirass in the pasture at the Latham farm?”

“If I were a cow,” he said, “I’d think I was eating at the same restaurant”

“And you’ve got pictures of the Latham’s pasture, taken the day the car burned?”

“Sure,” he said “Dozens”

“Any good close-ups of unburned grass?”

“Well, eren’t actually focusing on the grass as a arette butts under the driver’s , but the grass in that area was burned, obviously” He frowned, then he brightened “We do have wide shots that show the whole circle of burned grass, including the unburned grass around the edges Come to think of it,” he added, “one of therass coh on hi, midway between the knee and the foot As he did, the tops of the Ag field’s grass grazed his fingers

I grinned “Jason, you took a bunch of pictures of the first couple experiments, didn’t you?”

“Oh, yessir, Dr B,” he said “I’ve got probably three hundred I filled up the abyte”

“A jury’ll like this,” I said

“I sure like it,” said Cash

CHAPTER 18

THE PHONE RANG THE NEXT MORNING, JUST AS I WAS hoisting a spoonful of Raisin Bran to my mouth I had the newspaper open to the comics; the combination of crisp cereal and corny cartoons was my favorite way to start the day I looked at the clock on the wall above the stove; it read seven-thirty “Well, damn,” I said-not because it was early (I’d been up since six) but because the cereal was sure to be soggy by the tiured it

“Turn on CNN right now,” said Art, and hung up

I stared at the phone as if further enlighten from the dead receiver inroo to channel 22, CNN The screen was filled with an aerial view of a patch of pine forest, fil containing a brick ranch house, a garage, a couple of ra with a rusted flue projecting fro was filled with law-enforcement vehicles, a few black-and-white cruisers and SUVs, but mostly the unmarked Town Cars and Crown Victorias favored by the FBI and their state-level counterparts The caption crawling across the bottoia woods”

I found the scrap of paper where I had written Burt DeVriess’s cell-phone nuiven me when I was his client, only after I took his Aunt Jean’s case He sounded sleepy and pissed off

“Hello?”

“Burt, Bill Brockton Turn on CNN right now,” I said Then I hung up with a smile, probably just as Art had

My phone rang five minutes later, just after CNN cut to a commercial break It was DeVriess “Das happen I should’ve teao”

“You were too busy busting my chops on the witness stand,” I said “Anyhow, maybe now that it’s out in the open, those folks will be held accountable”

“I can promise you they’ll be held accountable,” he said “I’ the full resources

of this law fir them accountable”

The full resources of the firain, the full resources of the firm had rounded up the video expert who’d cleared me of Jess’s murder Even so, Burt’s declaration struck me as odd “You’re a criminal defense attorney, Burt, not a prosecutor,” I pointed out “You defend people like this”