Black Tie Event

Chapter Twenty Two

A/N: Heeeeey guys!

The amount of times I had to type "LMAO" on the last chapter...you guys are too. funny. Thanks for hanging in there with all the sadness and suspense...I would have quit a while ago if I were reading all this dark shit. Why do I like this chapter, you may ask? Because I really missed making legal jokes and this gave me an opportunity. LOL. Enjoy guys. :)

- Railene

***

"I have to say, this is the first time I've said yes to one of the Green Falls detectives asking to buy me a drink."

"That's because I'm not a Green Falls detective," I reminded her. "If I were, I wouldn't be this charming."

The fact that I'd had the nerve to call up Counselor Caroline Everett and ask her out was nothing short of a phenomenon. The fact that she'd agreed was even more baffling. But I couldn't have been happier with the surreal turn of events. I wanted to drink myself into a coma after everything that had gone down with Anneliese, and the truth was, I was sick of her sensitivity. Sorry I tried to save your life, Ana. Really, it won't happen again.

And so, I found myself seeking the very antithesis of sensitive, which was cold, icy, and unfeeling. Enter ADA Carrie Everett. I was thrilled.

"Why did you call?" she asked, stirring around a Cosmo like a city girl.

I could have answered that in several ways, but I went with the all encompassing excuse. "I needed legal advice."

"You should be seeking a defense attorney," she derided.

"Not that kind of legal advice."

"So you haven't been indicted, then."

I rolled my eyes. "Not yet."

"Okay," she said. "What have you got for me?"

"A witness that won't testify."

"Also known as, a human being. Good work, Detective."

"Look," I said. "I know that Shaw's hitting his wife. I've seen the contusions, and I got her to confess about it. But now she's mad at me, for reasons I won't really get into, and she doesn't want to talk about it anymore. But the contusions are exactly like those I found on the missing person, Lucy Carthage. Same MO, only one link between the two victims."

"Hm," she said, taking a sip of her drink. "Your fault."

"My fault?" I repeated. "How is this my fault?"

"Why'd you piss off the vic?" she asked, stolidly. "Don't they say patience and understanding get the confession?"

"Okay, I don't want a lesson on how to do my job. I just want to know how I can get an indictment on this son of a bitch."

"Well there's an answer, but I'm afraid you don't want to hear it."

"Why? What is it?"

She shrugged. "You have to find your missing person."

"You're talking me in circles here, Counselor. I know I have to find my missing person. I'm on it night and day."

"Well that's the missing link, Kim," she said plainly, causing me to wonder if the pun was intended. "You get her, she can testify. She testifies, I bet it will coerce the wife into testifying. Two matching testimonies are good odds. That's when you can get your arrest warrant, and that's when I can help you, and we can talk bargains and pleas until you're sick of it. No sooner."

"So you're saying you can't help me."

She leaned back, crossing her legs. "Not until you help yourself."