A Matter of Life and Death by Phillip Margolin (ereader with dictionary TXT) 📕

you were in Miss Hayes’s bedroom. Can you explain to Judge Wright how you knew the exact location of the concealed camera?”

“I … She…”

“Let me help you. Isn’t the answer that you learned where the camera was hidden on your third visit to apartment number 5, when you murdered a man you hated; a man who was trying to ruin your life?”

“No, I … I didn’t kill the judge.”

“Carasco knew that Kevin Bash would talk to get out of his legal troubles, and Bash’s ace in the hole was his knowledge that Carasco had paid him to have Elizabeth Carasco killed. So, Carasco was on the run and needed money fast. He knew you had a trust fund, because you’d told Stacey Hayes. At the fight, Andre Rostov gave the sex tapes with you and Hayes on them to the judge. The tapes were not in apartment 5 when the judge’s body was discovered.

“I think Carasco was hiding at the apartment and ordered you to come over. He knew you’d do anything for the tapes, including getting money when your bank opened on Friday morning. What he didn’t count on was how much you hated him.

“When you came to apartment 5 the third time, Andre Rostov had knocked the books that had concealed the tapes to the floor, exposing the location of the camera. That’s when you learned where the camera was hidden.

“You also knew that there was a gun in Stacey’s nightstand. I think you killed Anthony Carasco with that gun and left with the sex tapes. Did I get that right?”

Hennessey’s mouth opened, but no words came out. He looked at Vanessa Cole. Then his head swung back to Robin.

“Well, Mr. Hennessey. We’re all waiting for your answer,” Robin said, but all the young prosecutor did was look down and begin to sob.

Luis Ortega walked out of the jail elevator, and Robin walked over to meet him. As soon as she was near enough, Luis wrapped her in a hug.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” he said when he let go. “You literally saved my life.”

“How are you feeling?”

Luis paused before answering. “You know, I thought I’d feel great when the people who were responsible for my father’s death were punished, but I just feel empty. And I feel really bad about Ian. This was all Carasco’s doing. Ian is an innocent victim of Carasco’s horrible plot. I know he killed someone, but I wish there were some way he could be saved.”

“I talked to Vanessa, and she feels awful about having to prosecute Ian. Mary Garrett is representing him. She’s the best. She and Vanessa will work something out.”

“Tell her I’ll testify about Ian’s mental state. It was obvious to me that he was at the end of his rope.”

“I will. So, are you headed home?”

“After I make arrangements to have Dad’s body sent back for burial.”

“How is your mom doing?”

“She’s sad that Dad’s life ended the way it did, but I think she’s finally found peace knowing he’s at rest.”

Robin took Luis’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Have a safe journey home—you and your dad.”

“We will, thanks to you.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Robin’s cell phone rang, and Jeff grabbed it. They were lying on lounge chairs at the pool of a very expensive resort on Maui.

“Didn’t I order you to turn that thing off?”

“You’re not the boss of me,” Robin said with a smile.

“I am definitely the boss of you on this vacation, and you may not communicate with anyone on the mainland for the next seven days. Now sip your piña colada or there will be no conjugation this afternoon.”

Robin laughed. “I don’t think that’s the correct term for what we’ve been doing.”

“Then where does conjugal visit come from?”

“I don’t have the energy to argue about your vocabulary.”

Robin held up her hand and smiled as she studied the diamond engagement ring Jeff had given her on their first night at the resort.

“Do you still like the ring?” Jeff asked.

“I’d like it even if it were plastic and came in a Happy Meal. How did you know how to size it?”

“I’m an ace detective.”

Robin laughed and studied the ebb and flow of the ocean for a while before taking another sip of her drink.

“Say, I’ve been meaning to ask you about your dream,” Jeff said. “Amanda told me that the nightmare helped you solve the case. How did that work?”

“When I was wandering through the spooky corridors in my nightmare, I thought the important thing was finding a hidden door that would let me escape. But that wasn’t what my subconscious was trying to tell me.

“Roger told the judge that Rostov forced Hayes to tell him where the camera was hidden. That meant that Rostov couldn’t see it, even though he’s really tall, just like I couldn’t see the hidden door. That made me wonder how Hennessey could have seen the camera during the two times in Hayes’s apartment.

“When I looked at the crime scene photo, it showed the top shelf of the bookcase without any books and the two hollow books spread on the floor after Rostov got the tapes. That’s when the position of the camera would have been exposed, and that’s when I figured out that Hennessey had to have been in the apartment a third time.”

“And you got all this from a dream?” Jeff said.

Robin shrugged. “What can I say? My mind is like a Rubik’s Cube. Once I get a problem, it keeps tumbling around until all of the sides are the right color.”

“Based on what our apartment looks like, I’d say your mind is like a washing machine that’s tumbling around a load of dirty laundry.”

Robin fixed Jeff with a playful glare. “One more crack like that and you won’t be conjugating any verbs or parsing any sentences for the rest of this vacation.”

Jeff laughed. Then he leaned over and kissed Robin.

“You’re the best,” he said.

“Yes, I am,” she answered with a big grin.

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

When I do a