Keller smiles. “Yeah, it’s a sweet story. I think you’d like him.”
“If he keeps my babies—Arya and Jon Snow—safe, I’m sure I will.”
Keller ignores him.
They turn back toward the house, but Bruno plants his feet.
“Come on, buddy,” Keller says to the dog. But she knows from experience, the pooch isn’t going to budge.
“Well, this is humiliating,” Bob says, bending down and scooping up Bruno in his arms. He carries the dog all the way home, smiling and waving to more neighbors along the way.
CHAPTER 44
CHRIS
“We’re sorry to drag you in like this,” Henry says to Ella Monroe. Henry sits at the head of the rectangular table in the large conference room at the PD’s office. To his right, Chris and Julia. Ella sits on the edge of her chair across from them. Behind her, a wall of photographs. The annual staff photo. Henry is in nearly every shot. He stands out in every photo. Not only because he’s one of the few Black guys in the early years at the office, but because of the intensity of his gaze.
“It’s no problem,” Ella replies.
“We met Jesse today, and she wouldn’t talk to us,” Henry says. “She said she’ll only speak with you.”
Ella doesn’t seem surprised. She explains how she’d been called to the hospital yesterday morning after the attack. That she and Jesse had made a connection.
“We’re in a bit of a bind, Ms. Monroe,” Henry says.
“How’s that?”
“If we let Jesse speak with you, whatever she says won’t be protected by the attorney-client privilege. If the prosecution calls you as a witness, anything she says to you is fair game.”
Ella considers this. “I’m a therapist, and we have privileges for communications with clients too.”
Henry nods. “That’s true. New Jersey has a victim-counselor and other privileges. But is she under your care? If there’s any question about that, then we need to assume there’s no protection. If she tells you anything incriminating…”
Ella seems to ponder that. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What if I was a member of your team? An expert or consultant or whatever. Wouldn’t that protect what she says to me?”
“Hypothetically,” Henry says, “yes.”
“How about things she said to me previously?”
“Not under the attorney-client privilege. But if you were part of the team, no one would likely ask you. They’d know we’d raise hell and that you’d probably not disclose anything helpful to them anyway.”
“So…”
Henry pauses, then says, “Can you give us a minute to discuss?”
Ella nods.
Henry steps out of the conference room, Julia and Chris at his heels. In the hallway, he asks, “What do you think?”
Julia says, “I’m not sure what choice we have, if Jesse won’t talk to us.”
“I don’t know,” Chris says. “She seems to want to tell us something, like she knows something about Jesse.” He hesitates. He doesn’t have the experience, the years under his belt, but his Spidey senses are telling him this is a bad idea, so he goes out on a limb and voices his concerns. “I’m not sure we want to hear whatever it is she has to say. It could bite us down the road. Once she tells us, we can’t unhear it. And if Jesse really was researching the Blockbuster case, the press could have a field day with us working with the original survivor.” Chris recognizes the irony of this last part.
Henry seems to be doing a risk assessment in his head. “I think we’re better off having her on the team, hearing what she knows. And maybe it helps to have a former victim on Jesse’s side. I mean, if Ella believes and supports her, that could work in our favor with the public.”
He says this like it’s open for further discussion, but Chris can tell he’s made up his mind, so he doesn’t fight it.
Back in the conference room the deal is struck. Ella Monroe will be a consultant for the defense. They print a form agreement and she signs it.
Ella then fishes out a cell phone from her purse, places it on the table. It’s a standard iPhone with a cracked face and large Hello Kitty case.
Henry’s face turns sour. Chris doesn’t understand.
“It’s hers,” says Ella.
Henry’s head drops, an exaggerated show of vexation.
“And there’s more,” Ella continues. “Jesse lied to the police about why she was at the ice cream store.”