Partners

7.

The Sunday edition of the Chronicle was chock-full of color photos of Buck’s grand farewell. The flag-draped coffin being carried from the cathedral; the pretty young widow in black; the hordes of cops in full dress (and from seven states!); the throng at the cemetery. Even the city’s polished fire trucks were used in the procession.

And on the front page of section B, Metro, there was a mug shot of Thomas Ray Cardell, the cold-blooded killer, the man who’d caused all the suffering. Next to him was a photo of his lawyer, the Honorable Sebastian Rudd, described as a “well-known criminal defense lawyer.”

When Rachel checked the voice mail early Monday morning, the third message came from a husky voice that promised, “If that nigger walks, Rudd’s a dead man.”