The Burning Man by Phillip Margolin Read Free Book Online Page B

quiet streets of Whitaker. The houses Peter passed were not split levels or indistinguishable tract homes. They were old, wood frame houses with gables and front porches that stood in yards rimmed by white picket fences where swings hung from the thick, gnarled limbs of ancient oaks. In the half light of early morning it was easy to imagine the glow behind the curtained windows was cast by an oil lamp and that the rickety garage doors would open wide, barn style, to reveal a horse and buggy.
    After his run, Peter showered, dressed for court and brewed a cafe latte in the espresso machine he had brought with him from Portland. He drank the latte with his breakfast at a rickety wooden table in his postage-stampsize kitchen. Amos Geary had been dragging Peter around Blaine, Whitaker and Cayuse counties so he could meet the D.A."s, judges and court personnel.
    Geary had not let Peter handle anything by himself but Peter was starting to realize that criminal law was not that difficult. After breakfast, Peter walked to the court ... ... ... ... ... . aided house to watch Geary handle the preliminary hearing in Christopher Mammon's case.
    Criminal complaints in felony cases were lodged in the district court, but only a circuit court had jurisdiction to try a felony. There were two ways to change the jurisdiction of a felony case to the circuit court: A grand jury could meet in secret and hand down an indictment or a district court judge could hold a preliminary hearing in open court and order the case bound over to circuit court. District attorneys loathed preliminary hearings because they gave defense attorneys the opportunity to hear the state's case and cross-examine the state's witnesses. It was very rare to hold a prehin in cases as serious as Mammon's. Amos Geary had been shaking his head about the development all week, but he was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
    The four-story courthouse was the tallest building i in Whitaker. It was a square, no-nonsense edifice of gray stone and it stood at the end of High Street across from Wishing Well Park. The office of the district attorney was on the to floor above the two circuit courts. The p administrative offices and the traffic court were on street level. Misdemeanor cases and certain preliminary matters in felony cases were handled in the district court, where the preliminary hearing for Christopher Main mon and Kevin Booth was to be held.
    Peter walked up the central staircase to the secondfloor courtroom and found Steve Mancini standing in the hall talking to the cutest thing Peter had seen since mavin g to Whitaker. Peter figured her for five two at the most. She had curly red hair, freckles that made her look like a high schooler and a body that was definitely not adolescent. just looking at her made Peter feel all mushy and downright lascivious at the same time.
    Mancini waved Peter over. "You're here to help Amos wit the prelim, aren't you?"
    "Yeah. He wanted me to sit in," Peter said, fighting to keep from staring at the redhead.
    "Then, you should meet Becky O'Shay, Whitaker's so most vicious prosecutor. Becky, this is Peter Hale. Watch out for him. He's a big-city lawyer who's moved to the sticks to prey on innocent young things like you."
    O'Shay looked up at Peter and he swore she was gazing into his eyes with something more than polite curiosity.
    "Pleased to meet you, Peter," she said. Her voice sounded like the trill of clear water rushing over smooth stones in a mountain stream. O'Shay extended a tiny, delicate hand. Peter took it and felt a jolt of electricity.
    "Time to go, boys and girls," M ancini said.
    "Are you involved in this case?" Peter asked him.
    "I'm representing Kevin Booth, the co-defendant."
    O'Shay entered the courtroom and Peter watched her walk to the prosecution's counsel table. When he tore his eyes from her, he saw Christopher Mammon sitting with Amos Geary at the defense table. The two were chatting as if they were old friends