Capitol Murder by Phillip Margolin

branch of the district attorney’s office, and the Multnomah County jail.
    The jail occupied the fourth through tenth floors in the building, but the reception area was on the second floor. Millie walked through a glass-vaulted lobby filled with police officers, attorneys, defendants, and others having business in this hall of sorrows. When she passed the curving stairs that led to the courtrooms on the third floor, she pushed through a pair of glass doors. A sheriff’s deputy was manning the reception desk. He searched Millie’s briefcase after checking her ID, then motioned her through the metal detector that stood between the reception area and the jail elevator. As soon as Millie passed through the metal detector without setting off any alarms, the guard walked her to the elevator and keyed her up to the floor where Clarence was being held.
    After a short ride, the elevator doors opened, and Millie stepped into a narrow hall with a thick metal door at one end. Next to the door, affixed to a pastel yellow concrete wall, was an intercom. Millie used it to announce her presence. Moments later, a uniformed guard peered at her through a plate of glass in the upper part of the door before speaking into a walkie-talkie. Electronic locks snapped and the guard ushered Millie into a narrow corridor that ran the length of three contact visiting rooms. The interior of each room could be seen from the corridor through a large window.
    The guard opened the door to the first room. Then he pointed to a black button affixed to the wall.
    “Your client will be brought over in a few minutes. When you need to leave—or if there’s any trouble—press the button.”
    The only furnishings in the concrete room were two orange molded plastic chairs set on either side of a round, Formica-topped table that was bolted to the floor. The guard left, and Millie took the chair that faced a steel door on the side of the room across from the corridor. As Millie stared at the door her heart beat faster. The man she loved would enter through it in minutes. She was trembling and her hand shook when she tried to open the clasp on her attaché case. Just as she started to take out the papers she had brought, the electronic locks on the rear door snapped open and two guards led Clarence into the room. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit, and the first things Millie noticed were that he had let his hair grow and he was putting on weight. Clarence had always been lean, but now he looked a little lumpy, and she credited the starchy jail food for the extra weight. When Clarence was free, they could both go on a diet and slim down.
    Manacles securing Clarence’s ankles and wrists restricted his movements, but he shuffled forward with a huge smile on his face. The first guard pulled Clarence’s chair away from the table so he could sit down. When he was sitting, the other guard unlocked his chains.
    “Buzz when you’re done,” one of the guards said. Then they left Millie and Clarence alone.
    Clarence looked her up and down. “I love your hair. You had it done, didn’t you?”
    Millie blushed. “I wanted to look good for you.”
    “Well, you succeeded. You look great, and I’m honored that you went to all this trouble for me. I don’t imagine you have much free time. You must be incredibly busy after the publicity you’ve gotten.”
    Millie couldn’t help grinning. “My business has been amazing. I’m actually turning away cases.”
    “You deserve your success. It’s not every attorney who could have convinced Judge Case to reverse two murder cases as notorious as mine.”
    Clarence paused and stared into Millie’s eyes. Then he reached across the table and took her hand in his. Millie felt an electric charge pass between them.
    “Thank you for standing up for me,” Clarence said. Then he released her hand and looked down at the tabletop. Millie had the impression that he was gathering his courage to broach something important. When he