I folded my arms and paced in front of the massive home. “When he was twenty-five, someone said something in a bar that he didn’t like, apparently. Russell kicked the man to death. Magically, in a bar full of people, no one wanted to come forward. Apparently, our young Mr. Pritcher had mob connections. His father was a lawyer for one of the families and represented their interests in Atlanta. Don’t kid yourself, the guy does not care one ounce about the law. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in there right now looking for the gun himself. Where the hell’s the warrant?”

Will called the detectives, and a full half hour later, Howard showed up with the warrant.

“Stop for doughnuts?” I said as I took it from him.

He grinned. “See, now, it’s comments like that that make it so I just don’t want to hurry.”

Howard and two uniforms searched the house, and the mother-in-law apartment, which we didn’t have authority to search last time since Nathan’s younger sister lived there. I stood in the study with Pritcher as he sat in a large Victorian chair near the window, sipping coffee. Behind him were three massive bookshelves and a ladder to reach the top shelf. The books looked brand new, unused. We were alone.

“Where are your two thugs?” I said.

“Tomomi and Jordan? Hardly thugs. They’re quite incredible actually. Jordan was a marine captain, and Tomomi was the archery champion of Japan before law school.”

“Sounds impressive.”

“Oh, they are. They’re also willing to slit their mothers’ throats if I tell them to. That’s something you never seemed to understand: you can get a lot more out of people with fear than you can with respect. You were spineless with your associates and had high turnover as a result.”

“We had average turnover and mostly because associates eventually go off to open their own firms and make more money.”

He shook his head as he sipped his coffee. “Not mine. They know I’ll destroy them if they leave me when I don’t want them to.”

“How gracious of you. Did you threaten their firstborns, too?”

He laughed. “No, but I certainly would.”

I folded my arms and walked to the window, which looked out over the pines near the house. “Can I ask you something, and I give you my word it stays between us?”

“That’s cute that you think your word means anything to me, but sure.”

“Michelle Keri.”

He grinned. “What about her?”

“You know what. She’s the top divorce attorney in the nation. If she opened her own firm, she could pull down five times what you pay her, but she still sticks it out with you.”

“And your point?”

“Now, I heard that she did want to open her own firm. That she came and told you and you were kind and supportive.”

“I certainly was.”