HE NOTICES IT, the game: she’s stopped playing, or at least paused it for a moment. sometimes people need a second to drink it in, the shocking truth, that some parents just don’t make for good ones. murphy needed a second too, a few years back. ❝ m’kidding, ❞ he shrugs it off. ❝ she’ll show, detective. little tipsy, maybe. ❞ his voice pitches, words stretch — he’s squinting his eyes as if he’s putting on a little show, telling her a joke.
she read the files, the reports, the testimonies ; she studied the evidence. it’s damn near impossible to sell anything less when the department is itching for a scapegoat, for someone to blame — she learned that too well on the palmetto case — but a couple of fist - fights & misdemeanors don’t make this kid a murderer.
‘ you know, if she’s indisposed, ’ the clinical term for IRRESPONSIBLE, ‘ we can do this another time. or i can make a call, see if your caseworker’ll sit in with us instead. it’s up to you. ’