Page 49 of The Right to Remain

“Did you talk to him?”

“I tried calling, but he didn’t answer. There’s no message or anything either. Just the money.”

Jack thanked her, and Theo was back with the bread as the call ended.

“Weird,” said Jack. “Elliott ignores my calls and texts. Then he wires my full retainer to my bank account.”

“Even weirder that a guy like Elliott has enough money sitting in his bank account to pay your full fee in advance to cover a murder trial.”

“Unless someone else paid it.”

Theo turned the bacon. “Like who?”

Jack considered the possibilities. “Let’s call Patricia Dubrow.”

As Theo poured the scrambled eggs onto the hot griddle, Jack dialed and then placed his cell phone on speaker so Theo could hear. Patricia answered on the first ring. She’d already heard the news.

“Sorry about Elliott’s indictment,” she said. “Looks like this referral has turned into a lot more work for you than just a grand jury subpoena.”

“I’m not sure I’m going to keep the case.”

“Why? Has Elliott not paid you?” she asked.

“He paid in full. Where he got that kind of money, I don’t know.”

“I have no reason to believe he robbed a bank, if that’s what you’re asking me. But why would you step aside?”

Jack didn’t want to get into his client’s lies. “Elliott ignored my advice when he testified before the grand jury.”

Any lawyer would have given the same advice, so Patricia knew exactly what he meant. “Do you think it would have gone any differently if another lawyer had told him to take the Fifth?”

“Probably not. But what’s your point?”

“I see two very good reasons for you to stay with Elliott. First, if he paid you, he wants you. He may not show it, but he wants you.”

“Thankfully, I’m past the days of having to represent anyone who’s willing to pay me. What’s the second reason?”

“Elliott needs you even more than he knows.”

“What does that mean?”

“Did I ever tell you how I met Elliott?”

“No.”

“About four years ago, a young woman named Elle Carpenter cameto my office. She’d been convicted of a felony as a juvenile and wanted to see if it could be expunged.”

It was just as Andie had told him. “What was the crime?”

“Obviously, I wouldn’t be telling you this if you weren’t Elliott’s lawyer. The crime was arson.”

Not what Jack had expected. “What happened?”

“When Elle was in high school, the administration converted one of the boys’ bathrooms to gender-neutral for students like Elle. There were still plenty of boys-only bathrooms, but one day, a group of boys followed her inside. They didn’t like losing one of ‘their’ bathrooms. So they nearly drowned her in the toilet and left her on the floor barely conscious.”

“Bathrooms are a flashpoint issue, but that kind of violence is horrible no matter where you stand,” said Jack. “But I hope you’re not about to tell me she burned down the school.”

“That was the charge, and it stuck. But what really happened is that she crawled to the waste can, stuffed it full of paper towels, and lit them on fire. The idea wasn’t to burn down the school. Her plan was not to come out of that bathroom alive.”