Moran was silent for a moment and then slammed his fist on the table. "No! It's not going to be that way. I'm not going into court with some penny-ante tale about a woman who shoots her ex for life insurance. It's corny and it's peanuts. The national media won't even bother to cover it."

"Could be it is that simple," Goddard said.

"Reid is perfect," Moran said. "There's enough here to completely confuse the jurors. He'll look pathetic on the stand. The jury pool around here hates him to start with. Should be easy to get a conviction. I've waited too long for a case like this. Keep digging. We're going ahead with Reid."

Goddard was astonished to hear Moran speak so bluntly in front of them. "This has nothing to do with justice. This wasn't why I became a cop."

"What about the newspaper disclosures coming out?" the chief asked. "The media will tear us up. The phones will ring, and the TV cameras will be back in town unless we come up with some way to counteract the new speculation."

Moran said, "I'm going to see that the smartass sister goes back to the paper and retracts everything. She'll tell them she made it all up. They won't dare print anything with that much uncertainty facing them. That will get this case back on track."

"She won't cooperate with you," Goddard said, "and if you push her too hard, you're setting fire to dynamite."

"We'll see about that. She's just one little sister."

"One deadly sister," Goddard corrected.

"You don't mean she's armed?"

"I don't know. Is a pit bull armed?"

"I want to see you outside." The chief started to protest, but Moran motioned him to stay where he was. In the hall Moran demanded, "Go drag that sister out of your bed, and bring her to my office at one o'clock."

"What are you doing? It's Sunday."

"Just do it. Go get her. Don't tell her what for, make it seem mysterious, ominous. Tell her she isn't technically under arrest but had better show up. Whatever it takes to unnerve her. I want her to sweat. I want to be face to face with the little bitch who's out there screwing up my prosecution. That'll be the end of her interference. You're going to do this, Goddard, understand?"

"That's blatant harassment. I won't be a part of it."

"I was right about you! I know you've been meeting with her. Just can't keep your hands off that cute little body, huh."

"I haven't touched her. I'd never jeopardize the investigation."

"Word is she's letting you hit it big time."




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