Dante's Poison by Lynne Raimondo Page A

King Lear .”
    â€œYes, if it’s the part where the blind man is murdered. There’s a package for you.”
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œI put it on your desk.”
    â€œGreat. Would it be too much trouble to say who it’s from?”
    â€œMr. Halloran. His assistant called to be sure it got here.”
    â€œImagine the exertion that required. Did you open it?”
    Yelena sighed loudly and followed me back in. I heard her tearing at the packet while I hung up my raincoat. “ Chyort voz’mi! ” she swore suddenly. “I just broke a nail.”
    â€œGood thing it’s Monday, then,” I commiserated. Yelena adhered to a strict grooming schedule that left little time for such annoyances as opening mail and answering the phone. I would have complained to her supervisor, but Josh, who shared her services with me, had advocated a Neville Chamberlain approach, pointing out that we’d never get her fired under her union contract. Monday afternoons were reserved for her bi-weekly manicure.
    â€œWhat’s it look like inside?”
    â€œA letter from Mr. Halloran, saying he is enclosing some notes.”
    â€œWhat’s with the letter?”
    â€œThe notes, of course.”
    â€œI meant are they printed or handwritten?”
    I heard another disgruntled sigh.
    It figured. “Too bad,” I said.
    Yelena pretended not to hear me.
    â€œC’mon,” I said reasonably. “You know the scanner doesn’t work with handwriting. It’s either transcribe them or read them to me, and you know how much you hate spending time by my side.”
    â€œTrue,” Yelena said. “But there must be twenty pages here.”
    I did a quick calculation of how much time off this was worth. “I’ll let you leave an hour early today.”
    â€œMake it an hour and a half and I’ll see what I can do.”
    â€œOK, but you’ll have to clear it with Dr. Goldman, too.”
    â€œI will, but he never says no.”
    â€œAnd thanks for being such a sport.”
    â€œâ€˜I must be cruel only to be kind,’” Yelena said, adding—in case I didn’t get it—“Hamlet to Gertrude, Act III, Scene Four.”
    Touché , I thought, shaking my head as she waltzed out the door.

    The rest of the day, my mind was only half on my work while I waited for news from Hallie. Before becoming involved in Charlie’s case, I’d always thought bail was available to all those accused of a crime, the only issue being how much of their life savings they had to pony up to secure their release while the charges were pending. Not so I discovered in Illinois, where bail could be denied outright in homicide cases based on the strength of the prosecution’s case. Hallie would try to broker a deal for Jane, but if the State’s Attorney didn’t bite, there would have to be a hearing to decide whether there was enough evidence to hold her.
    Hallie didn’t get back to me until almost closing hour.
    â€œWhat do you know about eyewitness testimony?” she demanded as soon as I’d picked up.
    â€œYou’re asking me ?
    â€œWhy not? There has to be a heavy psychological component.”
    â€œI’ve never looked into it myself, but I know there’s a lot of literature on the subject.”
    â€œGood. You’ll have to get up to speed on it quickly.”
    â€œWhoa,” I said. “Slow down. Last time we talked I was just going to consult on some medications. Now you want me to become an authority on lineups? What’s going on? Did you have the bail hearing?”
    â€œNot yet. I asked that it be put over until Friday. It means Jane will have to spend a few more nights in the lockup, but she seems to be bearing up OK and I need the time to prepare.”
    I sat back and listened while she filled me in on some of the details that had been missing from our last discussion. It seemed that Jane had been