Blood Relations by Barbara Parker

demanded.
    “Because statutory rape requires a minor of previously chaste character.” Sam said, “This girl isn’t. She went to a nightclub, took drugs, got drunk-”
    “And got what she deserved.”
    “I didn’t say that. I said it’s probably not a case we could win. If the jury won’t buy it, we’ve got nothing.” He watched Dina’s clippers snap at stray twigs. He said, “The jury in the Balmaseda case came back with a verdict.”
    She glanced up, waiting.
    “An acquittal. It took them four hours.”
    “They let him go, after what he did to that little boy?”
    “They had more than a reasonable doubt about who did it, I guess. The judge excluded his confession.” Sam flexed his right hand, rotating his thumb. “They might have voted for second degree, if we’d given them the chance. Joe McGee-he’s the division chief-wanted to go with jury instructions on first degree, and I let him do it. I feel bad about that. It was a risk. I shouldn’t have gambled.”
    Dina made an exasperated laugh. “It isn’t your fault.
    Balmaseda got away with it. Some people seem to get away with things, don’t they?”
    “Not all of them, or I’d quit this business,” Sam said.
    “He murdered a child and got away with it. How many other criminals like Balmaseda get away with it?”
    Suddenly weary, Sam said, “Let’s go in. I want to hit the sack early. What about you?”
    But Dina was still staring intently at him. “Nothing will happen to Klaus Ruffini either. Don’t dare tell me the girl was responsible. Three men and a seventeen-year-old girl.” Dina’s expression darkened further. “Have you spoken to her?”
    “Not yet.”
    “Had you even planned to?” She laughed. “Of course not. She should have known better.”
    “Yes, I plan to speak to the girl,” Sam said, trying not to show his irritation. “If it’s a good case, I’ll file it. If it isn’t, I won’t.”
    flush of red had risen in Dina’s cheeks. “You can’t.
    You’re stuck in a system that has no connection to justice, only to expediency, or to whoever has the most money or power. Oh, you’ll say it isn’t that way, but it is. Men with money can rape a young woman and nothing will be done about it.”
    Sam leaned heavily against the framed opening of the gazebo. Shadows stretched across the grass. On the other side of the fence the sprinklers slowed, then stopped.
    When he looked at Dina again, she was twisting the clippers through a handful of stems.
    “Is this girl from a good family, Sam? You should find out. Do her parents know what happened to her? I almost want to call them myself. We should have a support group. Parents of Children Ruined by South Beach, what do you think?”
    “Dina, for Christ’s sake. Matthew died because he got drunk and crashed his damned motorcycle.” Sam could feel his neck getting hot. “He did it to himself. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it, and even less you can do about it now. How long do we have to go over and over this?”
    She pulled back as if he had struck her.
    “Oh, Jesus,” he said, “I didn’t mean to yell at you. Why don’t we go in? Melanie made dinner.”
    “Sam, do you suppose we’re being punished for something?”
    “By what?”
    “God. Eternity.”
    “No.” Sam rested his forehead on his fists. “I don’t believe in that.”
    “Strange thing for a lawyer to say.” The clippers made metallic clicks. “The universe has laws, doesn’t it? And laws imply judgment. You know that well enough. If someone suffers, there has to be a reason. A system of laws must be rational. If one is punished, the next question is, what is the punishmentfor?”
    The breathlessness of her voice made him look at her.
    She was crying. Tears were spilling down her cheeks.
    Sam picked up her straw hat. He said gently, “Come on, honey. Let’s go in.”
    “I’m not finished. I want to finish this before it gets dark.”
    He stepped down to the walkway, holding