McNally's Dilemma by Lawrence Sanders, Vincent Lardo

Perhaps if we talked long enough...
    “Arizona. Scottsdale, actually.”
    “And she has a family?”
    “Indeed. A husband and three children. Or is it three point two children? Well, you can be sure Dora has whatever the national average boasts. They are a very average family, but nice in spite of that.”
    “I’m sure,” she said with little enthusiasm. She walked to a window at the far end of the room and pretended to look out, but I was sure all she could see was the dark reflection of her own face in the glass. Then she turned to face me once again and cried, “What’s going to happen to us, Archy?”
    “Do you want me to say everything is going to be just fine?”
    “Don’t you dare.”
    “Okay. Then I’ll tell you. It’s going to be a three-ring circus with you and your mother jumping through the hoops and the press cracking the whip. I was able to protect you tonight because we’re one short step ahead of the media, but when your mother was booked—I would say about two hours ago—the news hit the wire services. My guess is that the local boys are already charging your unarmed security gate and the New York boys are cabbing it to La Guardia and Kennedy. Unless you choose to disappear, it’s going to be hell, kid.”
    “I won’t leave my mother,” she protested. “When will she be released?”
    “If, not when, the judge allows her out on bail. There could be a hearing as soon as tomorrow, or today, actually. She’ll have called her lawyers in New York, but the earliest they can get here is late tonight.”
    “Can you represent her until they arrive?”
    “Unfortunately, no. A disagreement between myself and Yale Law makes that impossible. But I will ask my father to arrange to have someone from the office speak to Melva first thing this morning.”
    “Thank you, Archy.”
    “Now let’s try to get some sleep. We’ll need it, believe me.”
    “What are her chances, Archy?”
    “Very good, I would say. Her offense, I’m sure, will be tried as a crime of passion. Seeing Geoff and that women having sex in her home rendered your mother temporarily insane, making her not responsible for her actions. It wasn’t premeditated murder. Hence, they’ll most likely go easy on her. Of course, a lot depends on the corroborating evidence of your stepfather’s playmate.”
    “Is that necessary?” She seemed naïvely surprised.
    “Necessary? My dear Veronica, it’s imperative. Without her testimony, Melva’s word is pure hearsay.”
    She shook her head and grimaced. “But it’s so sordid. So cheap. The kind of thing people like us don’t talk about.”
    How pathetic, I thought. “If it’s the kind of thing people like you don’t talk about, then it’s the kind of thing people like you shouldn’t indulge in. But you did. Or your stepfather did, and the volcano erupted, unquote.”
    “I’m sorry, Archy.” She buried her face in her hands and bowed her head, causing her hair to cascade like a golden veil. “How many times have I said that tonight?”
    “Who’s counting?”
    “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded,” she said, picking up where she had left off. “But suppose they can’t find this woman?”
    “It’s not a thought conducive to a good night’s sleep, so let’s concentrate on something more cheerful, like World War Three.”
    She smiled and came to me, kissing my cheek. I was once again aware of her particular scent and—not helping my role as benevolent and benign benefactor—the feel of her breasts against my chest. Veronica Manning wasn’t wearing a bra.
    “Thank you, Archy. I’m grateful for your help and this elegant port in a storm.”
    I wondered what would have happened if I took her in my arms and kissed those sensuous lips. I was ashamed of my thoughts, but that didn’t make them any less potent.
    In my third-floor nest I undressed, splashed cold water on my face, and got into bed. Sleep did not come when my head touched the pillow—or for some time