“That’s a lot of what ifs.”

“What about Kevin?”

“Sally’s son?”

“Why isn’t he dead, Mike? Arnold Pope Sr. is obsessed with getting custody of his grandson. The person who killed Sally also killed her personal assistant and her dog but he never hurt Kevin. I think Kevin is alive because Arnold Pope ordered the killer to make certain that he survived unharmed.”

“You’ve given me a lot to think about,” Mike said.

Amanda thought of something else, the photograph of Karl Burdett and Tony Rose carrying hunting rifles that she’d seen in the DA’s office.

“Are you ready to switch files?” Mike asked.

“Yeah,” she answered, still distracted by her epiphany. She decided that she would keep this idea to herself until she talked it over with Kate.

“Why don’t we just trade places?” Mike said.

“Good idea.”

Mike sat on the floor and Amanda went to the couch. At 11:25, she was going through a stack of photographs when she came across the original of the photograph of Charlie Marsh and his entourage at the Dunthorpe mansion, which Kate had told her was missing. She picked it up and studied it. She had met Mickey Keys and Charlie but it was interesting to see what Delmar Epps looked like. As she studied Epps, her eyes strayed to his waist. The bodyguard was wearing a loose jacket. He was in mid-stride and the movement of his body had brought the fabric out and back. Amanda brought the photo to eye level. Yes, she could make out the butt of a revolver. Then she saw something else in the photograph. Her breath caught in her chest and she knew why the photograph was missing and who had taken it. When Mike wasn’t looking, Amanda slipped the photograph under the cushion on the couch.

CHAPTER 44

Mike and Amanda got to bed a little before one, too exhausted for the second night in a row to do anything but sleep. The couple kept changes of clothes at each other’s condos and Mike was showered and shaved at five in the morning so he could get into his office with the files without being seen.

Amanda tried to go back to sleep after Mike left but questions raised by last night’s revelations bombarded her. Was Arnold Pope the mastermind behind these murders? Was Tony Rose the sniper? And there was the photograph from the Dunthorpe seminar. Charlie could help her there, so Amanda showered, dressed, and headed for the hospital.

When she arrived, Charlie was sitting up in bed.

“Have you heard about Karl Burdett?”

“It was on the news but they didn’t say anything except that he’d been shot and you found him. How did that happen?”

Amanda told Charlie about the phone call.

“Do you have any idea why Burdett wanted to see you?” Charlie asked when Amanda finished her recap of the night’s events.

“He didn’t say.”

“But he said it was about me, about the case?”

Amanda nodded.

“What’s going to happen now that Burdett is dead?”

“You’re still under indictment. An interim DA will be appointed-probably Wanda Simmons, the chief criminal deputy-and someone will be assigned to prosecute the case.”

“They’ll still go after me after all that’s happened?”

“Werner Rollins did retract his testimony, so they don’t have any direct evidence that you shot Pope. I’ll try to convince the DA that enough questions have been raised to warrant a dismissal.”

“What about all these people who’ve been trying to kill me? Shouldn’t that make them think they’ve got the wrong man?”

“You’re on trial for a murder that happened twelve years ago. There’s no hard evidence that the current rash of murders has anything to do with the congressman’s murder.”

“Come on. It’s obvious.”

“The only thing that’s obvious is that someone is after you. That could be because they think you murdered Arnold Pope Jr. and they want revenge.”

“You mean Arnie’s father?”

Amanda nodded. “I think there’s a good possibility that he hired someone to kill you.”

“Who?”

“I don’t want to say right now, but I’ve seen the list of witnesses Pope is calling at the guardianship contest, so I might know more after the hearing.”

“You think there’s a tie-in between Senior’s attempt to get custody of Kevin, Junior’s murder, and the attempts on my life?”

“I think it’s possible, but I’m open to suggestions. Besides Senior, can you think of someone else who might want you dead?”

Charlie looked nervous. “No. I mean there’s Tuazama, but-like I said-I don’t think he’d kill me until he got the diamonds.”

“So, you can’t think of anyone else?”

“No.”

Amanda opened her attaché case and took out a manila envelope. Inside the envelope was the photograph she’d stolen from Karl Burdett’s file. She took it out and laid it on top of the blanket on Charlie’s bed.

CHAPTER 45

The Honorable Maria Gomez took the bench and the parties in the case of In re Kevin Pope stood until she was seated. Judge Gomez was in her mid-forties. The wiry six-foot jurist had played on the LPGA tour until she gave up golf for law school. Then she’d brought her competitive drive to the legal profession, where she’d been one of the top domestic-relations lawyers in Oregon before the current governor elevated her to the bench. She was a no-nonsense judge who liked to move cases along and she disliked lawyers who were unprepared or wasted her time.

Sitting at one counsel table next to Arnold Pope Sr. was Andrew Curry, a stoop-shouldered, balding attorney with a skeletal build. Curry was nicknamed “the Vampire” because of the ruthless way he practiced law and a bloodless complexion that was the result of long hours spent indoors working on ways to win divorce and custody battles for his clients. Curry wore the nickname with pride. Nobody liked him but everybody recommended him to a spouse who wanted an ex destroyed, destitute, and demoralized.

Frank Jaffe sat across the aisle from Pope and Curry, and Amanda sat next to her father so they could confer. Liam O’Connell was next to Amanda. Kevin was not present, because custody hearings were often wars of character assassination and the accusations of biased witnesses were best left unheard by the child who would have to live with one of the maligned parties.

“Let me see if I understand the background of this case, Mr. Jaffe,” Judge Gomez said. “Sally Pope was Kevin Pope’s mother and Arnold Pope Jr. was his father. Mr. Pope passed away twelve years ago and Mrs. Pope raised her son until her recent death. Mr. O’Connell lived with Mrs. Pope and Kevin for approximately five years before her death. In her will, Mrs. Pope named Mr. O’Connell as Kevin’s guardian and Mr. O’Connell filed a petition requesting me to appoint him Kevin’s guardian.”

“That’s correct, Your Honor,” Frank Jaffe said. “I also want to make sure that you know that it was Mrs. Pope’s specific wish-which she spelled out in her will-that Arnold Pope Sr. never be allowed to be Kevin’s guardian. She was adamant while alive, and in her will, that Mr. Pope Sr. should never have contact with her son.”

“I’m aware of that and I will consider Mrs. Pope’s wishes very seriously when I make my decision. But I’m not bound by them. My main concern is the best interests of the child, Kevin Pope.”

The judge turned her attention to Senior and his attorney. “Mr. Curry, your client filed objections to Mr. O’Connell’s petition seeking guardianship and today I’m going to decide who will be appointed Kevin’s temporary guardian until a full-fledged hearing can be held. Is that correct?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Then it seems to me that Mr. Pope has the burden of proof, since the will asks the court to appoint Mr. O’Connell as Kevin’s guardian.”

Curry stood so rapidly that Judge Gomez had the impression that she had missed part of the transition from seat to feet. It was like watching a film from which several of the frames had been removed.