Martin Misunderstood by Karin Slaughter Read Free Book Online

a
decidedly subservient role.)
    'I'm here for you, babe.' Bruce patted her
shoulder. 'You know that, right?'
    His touch was warm, and An flashed back to
that crazy night six years ago when she had for
some reason let herself fall for the limited charms
of Bruce Benedict. They were working hard on a
case, and the truth of the matter was that An
missed a man's touch. She missed the gruffness,
the warmness, the sense of being filled to the
brim with a man who knew what he was doing.
It had been a horrible, stupid mistake to think
that this man would be Bruce (and they had both
agreed never to tell Jill; it would've broken her
heart).
    Bruce dropped his hand. 'I dunno, An, this
guy's just creepy. If he didn't do this, he did
something.'
    She nodded a third time, glad that the focus
was back on Martin Reed. The pasty man knew
his way around the law. He had refused to talk to
them without a lawyer present and insisted that
he was not signing any statements unless they
were written in his own hand. What kind of game
was he playing?
    Bruce said, 'You should probably take this. I
got no traction with him in the car.'
    Possibly because Bruce had noted the fat
around Martin's wrists as he'd tightened the
handcuffs looked like dough squeezing out of the
donut maker at Krispy Kreme.
    An chewed her cuticles. She thought about
Sandra Burke, the way her broken body had been
discarded in a drainage ditch. The car had nearly
pulverized the woman. Treadmarks crushed into
her brain, squirting gray matter on to the road.
    The intercom buzzed behind them. Bruce
pressed the button, asking, 'Yeah?'
    'Reed's lawyer is here.'
    'Be right there.' Bruce opened the door to
leave, but An stopped him.
    'Give me a couple of minutes with him,' she
said, indicating Martin with a tilt of her head.
    'Sure.'
    'Did you get the crime-scene photos back yet?'
    'Should be here any minute.'
    'Bring them in with the lawyer. I'm going to
see if I can get something out of him.'
    Bruce nodded and left, letting the door swing
back. One of the downsides of being a pretend
lesbian was that men didn't open doors for her
anymore.
    An pulled back her hair into a loose pony tail
as she walked toward the interrogation room.
There was a small sliver of glass in the door, and
she saw Martin still sitting at the table, still
clenching his fists. When she entered the room,
he stood up, as if they were in a Jane Austen
movie. She expected him to say something like,
'Forsooth', but he just stood there, hands
clenched, staring at her with his dark green eyes.
    'Please sit down,' she told him, taking the chair
opposite. 'Your lawyer is on his way.'
    'Does he have any experience?'
    An was surprised by the question. 'I don't
know,' she admitted.
    'Because a lot of times people get courtappointed
lawyers who aren't experienced,'
Martin told her. 'I've read about it – cases where
innocent people get lazy lawyers who are blind,
literally blind, as in they can't see. Some of them
are even alcoholics or have narcolepsy!'
    'Is that so?'
    'It's very troubling. There have been many
books written about this very thing.'
    An had never been a fan of public defenders,
but she was a cop, so that was hardly an earthshattering
revelation. 'My experience with
public defenders is that you get what you pay
for.'
    'Just as I suspected. I appreciate your honesty.'
    'Is there anything you want to say to me, Mr
Reed?'
    'Not until my lawyer gets here. I hope you
don't think I am being rude, but this is a very
serious situation. Do you realize I've never even
gotten a speeding ticket?' He shook his head. 'Of
course you do. You'll have already pulled my
record. Are you searching my house? Is that why
this is taking so long? You're trying to get a
search warrant?'
    'What do you think we'll find in your house?'
    He mumbled his answer, but she heard him
clearly enough: 'A very angry sixty-three-yearold
woman.'
    An said, 'Your mother seems to think you're
an alcoholic.'
    His lips sputtered, 'She wishes!'
    An looked