PATSY by Kenneth L. Ehrenthal (fantasy novels to read .txt) 📕

You mean to tell me that only the Bureau Chief can give me access to my client.  And the DA himself condones that."   I don't know if the DA knows or not, all I know is that's the way it done."  Pushing her chair Margaret rises up and turning says to the assistant DA.  "Thanks for nothing.

 
When Margaret with true acting skills relates the meeting to the crew, she has them in stitches.  But we did get what we wanted.  It's McGinty's call.  Now we just have to find out the where, says George.  Now let's hear from Ann, says Sid.   


    
 
 
  Chapter 29
 
 
 Shauna McGinty was angrily shouting at her mother.  "This is my wedding and I'm going to have everything done my way."  "But dear”, said Mary Catherine, “ We hired the best wedding planner in the City, and both your father and I love his idea of decorating the hall with Irish themes and clusters of shamrocks and heather and green all over.  "I will not have green puke and weeds all over the place.  I don't give a shit that that fag is the best.  He can take his gay ass and shove it."   "Bad language will not make the situation better dear."  "I'll say what I want to say.  This is my day.  I want purple and pink.  I want roses and orchards and a huge pink wedding cake.  If I see any green around I swear I'll puke."
 
  Thomas McGinty's face turned beet red when his wife told him about the change of the color scheme of the wedding.  "That ungrateful bitch'....hush, Tom, she's you daughter."  "Does she know how much this is costing?"  She has to have it at the Plaza no less and over a thousand people."  Look, we are waiting for June, and spending all this extra money.  Bridal Shower, Pre-wedding breakfast, we’re even going to subsidize her girl friends gowns, because Shauna wants only the best.   "Well dear”, said Mary Catherine, "A lot of the extra costs are because you want to invite so many people including all you're friends."  "Since I'm paying I get to invite friends.  And how many of her "friends" are there for her and how many is she trying to impress?   I hope as Patrick sees what’s going on, he understands that brides get paranoid as the wedding approaches.  I hope he doesn’t opt out”.  "Dear, you only get married once."  "Yeah, and we'll have nothing left if Megan get married soon."  "Oh Tom, Megan, that would be wonderful."  Sure get rid of them both.  Hey, maybe we should get both for the same price."  Is Megan seeing anyone?
 
“Shauna, I want to have a serious talk about this wedding, Said McGinty.  Both your mother and I want you be happy and have the wedding of your dreams.  But you must understand, that while we are not poor people, we don’t have unlimited resources.”  “Dad, we know that.  Both Megan and I have talked about this and known about this for a long time.  We know that you have done everything to provide the best you could.  But Dad, I still want the kind of wedding we are planning, Remember, Patrick’s parents are involved also.  They are going to pay for our honeymoon.  “Oh”, Said McGinty. “We thought that you and Patrick would go to the Villa, on St. Croix” Suddenly Shauna’s face darkened, “I can’t believe that you thought I would ever want to have my honeymoon at that place!”  “I don’t understand why not, Said McGinty.  Your kidding, both Megan and I know about your little girl friend you see there all these years.  McGinty, face reddens. “What are you talking about?”  “Look Dad, we’re all grown up.”  We really don’t care anymore.  We can see how you treat Mom.  Going to St. Croix, two or three time a year alone, to play golf?  Please!  Look on one of our trips there about three or four years ago we found a pair panties under one of our beds.  They weren’t mine or Megan’s, and we know Mom wouldn’t wear thongs.  We certainly aren’t going to talk to Mom about this…but I certainly am not going to take my new husband to a place where my father meets his little “Island Girl”.
 
McGinty for the first time realized that even the best plans can have flaws.  But the fact that his kids found the evidence and considered that he met an islander there relieved some of his fears.  He remained, however sure, that no one could connect him to Sarah Alpert and never consider him involved in her death.  He reflected on the reason he had to kill her.  She would not agree to get rid of the fetus.  Her getting pregnant was her fault. She was responsible for not taking prevention methods.  She should have realized that he was never going to change his life for her. And what was she anyway but a little gold digger who was using her body to improve her position in life.  How could she think that someone like me would ever consider marrying her? He had worked too hard to reach the heights he had attained.  He even thought that if he played his cards right, when the DA retired, he would run and attain that job.  On a deeper level he realized that sinning and being unfaithful to his wife was a flaw that he had, and he could rationalize that by keeping knowledge of his affair from everyone else.  So who was really hurt? No one of course except of course Sarah.  His religious beliefs could be assuaged by “confessing it all” and take the chance that his maker, on balance, would absolve him. 
 


                                                                                                                                                                          
 
 
 
Chapter 30
 
 
Sid was beginning to feel very frustrated about the way this case was going... He knew from the start that this case was going to be difficult, but he naively, he supposed that at some point the real killer would have made some mistakes. But at this point all they had some circumstantial evidence.
They had some good guesses, but at this point no way to get the real hard stuff, like the DNA.  All the others involved from his office agreed that their client was innocent.
 
It was this defending the innocent that caused him to go into the law in the first plane. Then another was his need for a logical, rational structure in his life.  He did not like surprises he needed to know that "B” would follow "A", etc.  As a defense attorney, he always saw his role, not to get the bad guys out, but to give everyone the best legal advocacy that he could.  The end result, for him, would be justice. Now what had happened to him in the past year was turning his "world" upside down. The police, who are supposed to protect us, were involvement in a series of robberies and someone in the DA’s office hiding someone’s involvement in murder.  He had to confront the reality that we all face at some time in our lives.  Our expectations are seriously compromised.  We can all make jokes about, "dumb cops", cops who sleep in their cars, cops who overlook certain acts, cops who treat different racial groups in different ways.  But when those in authority who we depend upon to protect us, don't, that's a different kettle of fish.  And when someone in the District Attorney's Office, not just a lower level employee but in the upper leadership either covers up or even commit heinous crimes, we tend to question our whole value system.   Maybe he had to take off his "rose colored glasses.  This conflict within himself could really drive him crazy.  It was certainly affecting his sleep.  It was even affecting his relationship with Heidi, the one good thing that had happened to him this year

Sunday morning, he liked to read the newspaper in bed. .  Heidi had gone out to the sidewalk in from of their building to pick up the paper.  Sid lay in bed as she jumped in, spread the sections out and asked him which section he wanted first, knowing that his answer would be the Sports.  His answer, I don't care, stunned her.  "Sid, what's wrong."  He remained very quiet.  "I know that's something wrong."  At this point, some people usually follow with either, "is it something I did or said? Or why don't you tell me about it?"  Heidi did neither.  She waited.  There is something deep down in me that is disturbing me.  I've been trying to get over it, but it keeps coming up.  I thought I could deal with it myself, but I can't.  "You know Sid, she said, "People are very complicated.  Often we all have thoughts and feelings that we believe we have to hold in.  If it's fundamental to ones being, we really can't.  When I entered into this relationship with you, I never expected smooth waters.  I went in with my eyes open.  All of us have secrets that we bare from life.  Sometimes we can live with them and not let them interfere with all our relationships, sometimes we can't.  But one thing I know; that if they interfere with our normal functioning or even our happiness, we have to; in some way get them out.  I will not feel less love for you if you don't want to let me help.  But then I strongly recommend professional help".  Heidi, I don't need a "shrink".  Well, sweetheart, you need something.
“Yes”, he said, I need some real evidence to get Mohammed out.”

Sid grabbed the Sports section and began to flip through the pages.  "Let's go the brunch," he said.  "Sid please” said Heidi; “we have to deal with this.  I want you to be happy"  "I am happy with you" he said.  That's not what I mean, and you know it."  If it’s the Mohammed case that’s bothering you just remember that you are doing the best you can.  This is really a very complicated case, and you can’t use any of your usual sources of information
 
Usually the police and the DA are helpful.  This time their not. 
It's so easy to attribute motives to others.  The hard part of course is to be able to separate ours from theirs. In other words, we measure others to our standards and judge them as to how close they come to our own.” At the surface, Sid considered himself completely selfless. That is in the popular version of that. Consider his pro bono experiences, especially with this Mohammed case.  He had gotten his whole office staff, hired George, and even involved Heidi.  There had been no thought of any payment.  While Sid was doing well, and the staff had many of their own paying cases, the Mohammed investigation was beginning to drain the coffers of the business.  There was very little doubt that this man did not do the crime and someone else did.  He even knew now that someone in an authority position was deeply involved.  OK!  But why was all this, his problem.  What was there in his psyche contributed to this apparently obsessive compulsive need to find the answer?  There were many men in Sing Sing, and all of the prisons all over that were as innocent as Mohammed. 

It was the explanation of these feelings that he began to express to Heidi during Brunch.  “I look at my self in the mirror and I say great Sid.  You’re the Don Quixote of the New York Bar.  No one, in my experience is like that ...Except the great me.  Look at me