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Back The Hallows Save as PDF
Chapters (89)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. 67
  72. 68
  73. 69
  74. 70
  75. 71
  76. 72
  77. 73
  78. 74
  79. 75
  80. 76
  81. 77
  82. 78
  83. 79
  84. 80
  85. 81
  86. 82
  87. 83
  88. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  89. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

He turned to me and said, “You, um, take care of yourself, Tatum. If you need anything with your car while you’re here, don’t hesitate to come to me.”

“Thanks.”

I watched him leave. His head hung low. When he reached his truck, he put his hands on the roof and stared off at nothing for a second, as if pulling together the strength he needed to get inside, and then he got in and drove away.

I turned to the steak and eggs in front of me. I didn’t feel much like eating either.

14

14

I was back at the County Attorney’s Office. Will was there, along with a young lady whom I guessed was Korean. She looked at me and said, “Can I help you?”

“Gates here?”

“She’s out.”

Will came out of his office and said, “Jia. This is Tatum Graham.”

Her face changed and she said, “Oh. Nice to meet you.” She rose and shook my hand. “I followed several of your cases very closely. We actually had the Santos case as a mock trial in our trial advocacy class in law school.”

“Oh yeah? What side were you?”

“Prosecution. I got a conviction.”

“Wow. That was a tough case for them. Good job.”

“I’m not in the habit of losing, same as you.”

I pointed to her. “You I like.”

I turned back to Will and said, “You got Patty’s file here?”

He glanced at Jia. “Yeah. Um, did you want to look at it?”

“No, I wanna buy it dinner and meet its parents.”

He grinned but still stood there, while Jia went over to a filing cabinet and returned with a massive file.

“Paper files?” I said. “Abraham Lincoln work here, too?”

“Hey, if you can convince the county council to budget more money for us, we’d be happy to take it.”

I thumbed through the file. “I’ll be in the conference room.”

The conference room was tiny. Six chairs around an old table made from logs with a bearskin rug under it. Photographs of canyons and cowboys in the West decorated the walls. I sat down and opened the file.

The detective’s narrative was straightforward and filled with about as many errors as I expected from small-town detectives not used to homicide cases. I guessed there weren’t specialists here, and these guys were used to investigating stolen bikes and fraudulent checks instead of a rape and murder. I grabbed a legal pad that was on the table, along with a pen, and took a few notes to try to boil down the essence of what had happened, since the detective, who apparently hadn’t really been able to tell, had thrown everything and the kitchen sink into his massive narrative.