Barely Legal

50

Herbie was still wobbly on his feet, but between them, Fred and Stone were able to muscle him through the door of Stone’s Turtle Bay town house.

Joan looked up from her desk as they came in. “Oh, my,” she said. “Do I take it we’re going to have company?”

“Herbie’s going to be staying with us for a while,” Stone said. “His apartment’s a crime scene, and he wouldn’t be comfortable there anyway. You want to help Fred set him up in the guest room? I need to call Dino.”

Dino was eager for an update. “You get him out of there?”

“No problem. Well, actually one problem. The ADA is Dierdre Monahan.”

“Ouch.”

“Indeed.”

“How’s Herbie?”

“Distraught. He’s still pretty out of it. When they read him his rights, it’s the first he’d heard that Yvette was dead. He’s still not sure he didn’t do it.”

“You mean he got taken in by the evidence, just like the cops?”

“No, I mean he’s so drunk or drugged or whatever he doesn’t remember anything. What about the crime scene? Is there anything that doesn’t point to Herbie?”

“There’s some evidence of a robbery. I’m running it down.”

“Do that. It would be nice to have something to tell him when he wakes up.”

Stone was just getting off the phone with Dino when Joan came downstairs.

“He’s out like a light. We gave him a pair of your pajamas and put him to bed. He was out before his head hit the pillow.”

“There may be people looking for Herbie. If anyone calls, there’s no need to bother him, just take a message.”

“Of course,” Joan said.

“There’s no reason to say where he is.”

“Of course not.”

“Some of these callers may be official.”

“I understand.”

“I don’t want you to lie to the police.”

“What if they ask me where he is?”

“You don’t know.”

“But I do know.”

“When we’re done here I’m going to have Fred take Herbie to a safe house where he can hide out. Or I might not. I haven’t decided yet. You won’t know which. So if anybody asks if you know where Herbie is, you can honestly say that you don’t.”

“What can I tell them?”

“I’m Herbie’s attorney. You can always get a message to him through me.”

“What if they want to talk to you?”

“Put them on hold and call me.”

“In other words, standard procedure. Okay, I got it.” Joan started out. “Do you want me to have Fred get the car?”

“No.”