A Wrongful Drift (Seagrove 8) by Leona Fox Read Free Book Online

might lock if it closed and she'd be reduced to either banging on it or sitting down and waiting again. She caught the door just before it slammed shut and pulled it open so she and Mr. B could slide through. The officer was waiting at the end of the hallway, not impatient, but just standing there as if it was a daily occurrence; waiting for the slow civilian to catch up.
    Sadie followed the officer down the hall to the left and was let into a room. Justin was sitting at the table waiting and his face lit up when he saw her. He looked awful; unshaven, sleep deprived and disheveled. He'd clearly appeared to be out of his element while wearing one of those oversized jumpsuits.
    "Justin," she said, "how are you doing?"
    "You've got to get me out of here, Ms. Barnett. I swear I didn't kill her. I loved her. I still love her." He was about to descend into hysterics.
    "Easy," Sadie said. "It will be okay. Have you called a lawyer?"
    He shook his head. "No. Who would I call? And don't they automatically think you are guilty if you call a lawyer? Innocent people shouldn't need a lawyer, right?"
    "Justin, where were you when Oxford was sure I'd murdered Curtis? Yes you need a lawyer. A lawyer would have gotten you out of here the very first day."
    He hung his head. "I can't pay for a lawyer."
    "You can't afford not to pay for a lawyer. How many days have you been out of work? What about your reputation? College professors can't afford to languish in jail, especially junior ones." He looked as if he might start crying.
    "What can I bring you?" she asked quickly to divert his attention. Not that she minded men crying, it was just she thought he'd be embarrassed if he cried in front of her.
    "Do you have the name of a lawyer?" he asked, straightening his back.
    Sadie took a piece of paper and pen from her bag and wrote the name and number of the lawyer who helped her when she was threatened with arrest.
    "This," she said as she slid the paper across from him, "is the name of a really good lawyer. Tell her I sent you. Do you need anything else?"
    "Thank you," he said. "Will you come visit me again? I'm lonely."
    “If you’re not out of here tomorrow I’ll come back and see you. But if you call that number I gave you I guarantee you’ll be out of here.” Sadie skewered him with her eyeballs.
    “Call her.”
    “I will, I’ll call as soon as you’re gone.”
    “I’m going now then because that phone call is the most important thing you can do this year.” She stood up and patted him on the shoulder.
    “Do it now and everything will be okay.” Sadie felt like a fraud as she went back to the station desk. She didn’t really know everything would be okay, but what was she supposed to say to him?
    “You’re going to rot in this hellhole unless I can find the person who killed your girlfriend?” She grimaced to herself as she waited for the desk sergeant to tell Officer Ryan she was waiting.
    Officer Ryan was cordial when Sadie finally was let into his office. “Ms. Barnett,” he said offering her a chair, “have you thought of something you forgot to tell me?”
    “Not so much, no. I came to tell you that you’ve got the wrong man in custody.” She sat gingerly on one of his chairs and held Mister Bradshaw in her lap.
    “What makes you think that?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.
    “Because I know Justin Ives, and he could not have killed Sylvia Jones.” She tried to keep her voice level and unemotional but she wasn’t entirely successful and there was a hint of a quaver when she said Sylvia’s name.
    “How do you know Professor Ives could not have killed Sylvia Jones?” He asked. “Can you give him an alibi?”
    “No, I can’t give him an alibi, I just know that he couldn’t have done it.” She knew it sounded ridiculous even if it was the truth. No wonder Zack hadn’t been willing to speak to him.
    “My dog, Mr. Bradshaw,” she nodded down at the K-9 in her arms, “likes him. Mr. Bradshaw knows the