Identity Crisis (Sam McRae Mystery 1)

Ray hesitated. “I ... I’m not sure about that.”

“What do you mean? We’re talking about an employed, middle-class individual with a job, and community contacts. She should be released on her own recognizance.”

“You can forget about an OR release. We’re talking about a woman accused of murder and major fraud, big enough for the feds to take an interest. She also fled the jurisdiction.”

“She didn’t know about any of this,” I said. “She left because she was afraid.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m leaning toward contesting any pretrial release. At best, we’ll be asking for a very high bail, possibly as high as a hundred thousand.”

I stared at him. “You must be joking.”

“Sam, this is serious business—”

“Don’t be condescending, Ray. Of course, it’s serious, but my client doesn’t have property. She’s a university student who works at a bank. She’s not a flight risk.”

“She’s got a spotty employment history. She also has a record in another state.”

“What?” That stopped me cold. A background check is something I do as a matter of course for any criminal client. In this case, I hadn’t had time.

“It’s true,” he said. “I’ve got the paperwork. She was picked up in Florida for shoplifting.”

“How could she get a job at a bank with a record?”

“That’s what I’d like to know. She got Florida’s version of a stet, so maybe they missed it on the background check.”

A “stet” is a case that gets continued and never goes to court, eventually getting dismissed. It was something short of probation—used frequently for first-time offenders.

“When was this?”

“A while ago.”

“What does that mean, a while ago?”

“I don’t know, maybe 15 years.”

“So she was young and stupid. And she hasn’t done anything since.”

“I have my marching orders,” he said. “You’ve got your arguments. Take your best shot.”

“Ray, why can’t we work something out?”

“This is a big case. I don’t have a lot of room to move.”

“My client is not one of those lowlifes you run across all the time in your cases.”

He did a double take. “Oh? So, because your client isn’t poor and black, she should get a free ticket out of the slammer?”

“That’s not what I’m saying and you know it. There’s no reason to be inflexible on this.”

“You don’t appreciate what I’m dealing with.” He glared at me. “I’ve got three sets of cops telling me what’s what, and my own boss is walking on eggshells to keep everyone happy. This is hot stuff.”

“Maybe you should recuse yourself?”

He laughed. “On what grounds? Certainly, we’re not going to bring up certain, uh, things we’ve done recently?”