Extract

VERDICT UNSAFE

'And if I do become his sixth victim?' asked Judy. 'What would you feel like then?'

'I'd be very distressed indeed,' said Harper.

'Would you feel guilty?'

'No.'

'Would you defend him?'

There was a pause. 'No,' he said.

'Why not?'

He looked at her. 'I imagine you know why not,' he said, with a smile.

Judy looked back at him. He had grey eyes. Grey eyes that were looking amused; looking into hers. She didn't speak.

I don't suppose you'd consider making it dinner next time?' he asked.
'No,' she said softly. But firmly.

'Why not?' he asked, in a deliberate echo of her last question to him.

'Well…since you obviously know Freddie, and Freddie is a gossip, I imagine you know why not,' she said, in an equally deliberate echo of his answer. This wasn't right. This was all wrong, this minueting with Hotshot Harper.

'Yes,' he said. 'But perhaps you'll take my card, anyway.' He put it on the table between them. 'You never know when you might need a good lawyer.'

He left. Judy watched his back view making its way through the tables, had an argument with herself, then picked up the card, and she too made her way out.

<back to bibliography>