That moment had changed everything between them. Suddenly, Howard wasn’t a crackpot, operating on the fringes of the case. Suddenly, Gale had called in an associate and taken Howard’s statement. Gale had clapped him on the back. Joked with him about lawyers and judges. Poured him a shot glass of expensive Scotch and sat and chatted with him as if they were fellow members of Duluth’s exclusive private club, the Kitchi Gammi.

Howard said, ‘Do you think she’ll finally be released?’

Gale, brimming with effervescence, replied, ‘Yes. Yes, this time I really do. Between the gun and the ring, I do.’

‘I always knew she was innocent.’

And then Archie Gale, with the strangest of grins, a little tipsy from his third shot of Laphroaig, said: ‘Yes, yes, innocent. Or exceedingly smart.’

Which Howard thought was an odd thing to say.

But it didn’t matter. It was really happening. Janine would be free tomorrow. He was dizzy with desire. Every nerve ending felt as if it were on fire with anticipation. He swiveled in his office chair and put his feet up on the basement wall and hummed along to Beethoven.

‘Howard,’ Gale said when he finally came on the line. ‘The man of the hour. You heard the news?’

‘Of course!’

‘Well, you definitely played a role in making this happen. Janine and I are very grateful.’

‘Do you know what time she’ll be released?’ Howard asked.

‘I do, but I’m not giving out that information to anyone. I’m trying to keep the media at bay. You understand.’

‘Well, I’m not just anyone,’ Howard told him. ‘I want to be there. To pick her up.’

There was a long silence on the line, and when Gale spoke again, his ebullience had tempered into something cooler. ‘That’s very gracious of you, Howard, but it’s not necessary. I’m handling all the details.’

‘I want to see her,’ he insisted.

‘And you shall see her, of course. Very soon. I’ll talk to Janine, and I’m sure we can arrange a time for her to thank you in person.’

Howard’s fingers clenched around the phone. ‘To thank me in person?’

‘Exactly.’

‘I need to see her tomorrow. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?’

The politeness vanished from Gale’s voice, and he became a lawyer again. ‘I’ll pass along your wishes to Janine, but when and if you see her is entirely up to her. I know she’s grateful, as am I, for all the hard work you’ve put in on her behalf. But you shouldn’t presume a personal relationship that doesn’t exist.’

‘It does exist,’ Howard snapped.