Nipped in the Bud by Susan Sleeman Read Free Book Online

mess I found myself embroiled in. “I need your legal help, Perry. Mitch thinks I killed Bud.” I plopped onto the tabletop and shared Mitch’s brutal interrogation with the two of them. “It’s just a matter of time before he pounds me with more questions.”
    Eyes curious, Perry peered at the play area where Mitch talked with an officer who seemed a smidgen too enthusiastic about stringing yellow crime scene tape.
    Perry gave his head a solemn shake and locked gazes with me. “This is serious, Paige. I don’t handle criminal matters. If Lawson is convinced of your guilt, you need an attorney with the right experience.”
    “But I don’t know any criminal lawyers.” I glanced at Lisa, whose eyes looked haunted. This was my fault. I put her in the middle of a murder investigation. The last thing I wanted to do was to involve her husband, but I had to. “Couldn’t you help me out for now? Until I find someone?”
    Perry looked in Mitch’s direction. “Fine, I’ll do it, but just for today. I have a friend in McMinnville who specializes in criminal law. Once we’re done here, I’ll call him.”
    “Thank you, Perry.” I smiled my thanks.
    His acceptance didn’t come any too soon. Mitch stormed across the grass with a sour look consuming his face. I pointed at him. “Since you’re officially my attorney now, do you think you could handle that?”
    Perry and Lisa pivoted toward the lawman, who seemed intent on setting a speed record. Long strides, hands swinging in cadence, brought him to us faster than I would have liked. Breathing deeply, he halted short of the table. “Winkle, don’t tell me you agreed to represent her without hearing the facts?”
    Perry pulled back his shoulders and eyed up Mitch. Perry, narrow and string- beanish , weighed a third of what Mitch did, but the fierce look in his eyes made up for the weight difference. “Afternoon, Lawson,” he said as if we were at a garden party and not a murder scene. “What, exactly, do you need from my client?”
    “Aw, Winkle, come on.” Mitch scrunched his eyes. “We’re all friends here. No need to get on your legal high horse. As the person who found the body, I need to ask her a few questions.”
    “So she’s not a suspect?”
    He scowled. “She’s definitely a person of interest. We’ll know more after we’ve had a chance to investigate.”
    Perry stepped closer to him and pointed at the body. “Exactly. You haven’t compiled enough facts to ask Paige the right questions. The medical examiner isn’t even here. If you don’t know how or when Picklemann died, can you really detain Paige? Why don’t you give her a chance to get over the shock of finding Picklemann and have her come to your office tomorrow morning around ten?”
    “I can’t be there until
ten thirty
because of my show,” I said with caution, as I feared I might interrupt the negotiations turning in Perry’s favor.
    “Okay,
ten thirty
, then,” Perry said. “How about it, Lawson?”
    Mitch glanced at the body then back at Perry. “I’m holding you responsible for making sure she shows up.”
    “She’ll be there.” Perry gave me a demanding look, and Mitch followed his gaze.
    “Before you go, I’ll need the clothes you’re wearing,” Mitch said matter-of-factly, as if he asked women to strip in front of him every day.
    “Can I go home and change?”
    “I’d rather not have the clothes leave the scene. Winkle can pick up a change of clothes for you while I take Lisa’s statement. You can use the bathroom here.”
    “You’d rather, or that’s what I have to do?”
    “Send someone.” He made a half pivot toward Lisa then turned back. “Oh, and we’ll be taking your tools as evidence.”
    I opened my mouth to ask what I’d use to complete the project then snapped it closed. Why bother to ask? With the implication of being a murderer hanging over my head, the city council would likely fire me in the morning anyway.
    “Fine,” I said.
    Mitch