Moment Of Truth

'You wa

'How did you know that?'

'We interviewed the secretary.' Walsh glared at her from the driver's seat, which barely accommodated his burly frame. 'In fact, a big cheese like Whittier was, I came down and questioned her in person. What did you want him for? She said you told her it was important. You had to see him about Honor Newlin.'

'I was coming to confront him. Whittier was responsible for Honor Newlin's death. He blackmailed Trevor to do it. That's what the fight was about last night, in Whittier's office. The one Jack broke in on.'

'What? This a new theory? And it's Jack now?'

'Look, I swear it. Trevor sold drugs to Whittier's kid and Whittier must have known that I knew that.' Mary checked her urgency to convince him, but his eyes narrowed with trained skepticism. 'I was onto him, and he knew it was only a matter of time before it all came apart. It must be why he -'

Walsh cut her off with a chop. 'DiNunzio, don't give yourself so much credit. Whittier killed himself because you were on to him? Get real.'

Mary felt an undeniable pang of guilt. 'Not that I'm proud of it. But it proves that what I was telling you is true. Whittier knew it was over and he couldn't face it. This proves Jack Newlin is i

'Newlin confessed!'

'He recanted!'

They all recant when they realize they can get out of it! As soon as they find a lawyer young and gullible enough to buy their rap. I saw you two in the interview room, makin' eyes.'

Mary ignored the slight. You get a crush on your client,

you have to take the heat. 'It's the truth, Captain. Honor Newlin's murder just got solved.'

'Oh please! You don't know what you're doing. You're pingin' around like a Ping-Pong ball, and in the end good people get hurt. Don't you get it? You're an amateur!' Walsh looked away, obviously trying to keep his temper, but Mary couldn't let his words hit home.

'Captain, I know this seems crazy to you. I know I haven't had it figured out from the begi

'Please.' Walsh harrumphed audibly and his eyes sca

'It's proof! Didn't Whittier know I was coming?'

'Yeah, he got the messages, but so what?'

'How soon after my last message did he kill himself?'

'Fifteen minutes, okay?'

'So there. Not much time, is it? What happened?'

'He sent his secretary down to the cafeteria for doughnuts. When she came back, he had jumped. A lawyer down the hall heard the crash. He broke the window with a chair first.'

'What did the note say?'

'No note.'

'So we don't know the reason for sure.'

'Wrong again.' Walsh laughed, without humor. 'You think he's go

the matter and he told her he was ashamed of being all over the newspapers. He thought he embarrassed himself and the firm. She said that Whittier had already lost four of his biggest clients. I'd jump outta the building, too!'

'But that's not the reason. He knew it was going to get worse, when I proved he killed his own client.'

'Come off it! You got proof of nothing! You can't have! Whittier didn't kill the wife, Newlin did.'

'Captain, hear me out,' Mary said, and told him the whole story, omitting the aid of Brinkley and Kovich. As she spoke, she experienced a sinking sense of deja vu. She had no credibility with Walsh and she knew, even as she tried to convince him to the contrary, that she had no hard evidence against Whittier. It sounded like supposition, especially without Trevor's record in juvenile. She knew it was true, she just couldn't prove it. 'Captain, you're holding an i

'According to you. I'll pass it along to Davis. I hear he liked the one about the daughter and the bruises, too.'

'You want evidence, I'll get it.' Mary opened the passenger side door. 'I'll make you let him go.'

'Not with your track record, kiddo,' Walsh said, but Mary was leaving.

She hurried from the squad car and broke into a light jog, ru

Her pumps clattered on the cold concrete. The sun was cold on her back. The chill stung her nose and made her eyes water, but still she kept ru

She had felt so close to the solution, right at Whittier's door, and now he was dead. She had succeeded in nothing

except forcing the man's hand. Driving him to end his own life. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes and she didn't pretend they were from the cold. As dreadful a man as Whittier was, he didn't deserve to die. She had wanted to bring him to justice, not suicide. And not that way. Not with your track record, kiddo.

She kept ru

It made her run faster. Brinkley and Kovich were in custody, too. Could Judy keep them out of jail? Mary kept ru

The crowd thi

Her heels rang out swift and certain on the concrete. Her ears were filled with the sound of her own breathing. She was on her own. She couldn't call on Judy or Lou; she didn't want to. Mary was meant to get to the bottom of this, it would have to be her. She had to think, she had to plan. She had to keep moving and not give up. Most of all, she had to succeed.

And when she finally stopped ru