MURDER SEASON, Book 3 in the Detective Lena Gamble thriller series.
A reader sent me
a blurb that she said got to her. I forgot how much I liked it, too. It's a laid back scene. Gamble is with defense attorney Buddy Paladino in his office. The big question is, who killed Lily Hight? It seemed like giving two characters who were opponents a common cause gave the story juice.
***
Paladino remained quiet for several moments. When he finally spoke, he was gazing at the bands of scarlet light rippling up and down the wall.
“I was thinking about something,” he whispered. “Something that happened a long time ago when I was in law school. My roommate had a good relationship with his father. His dad knew that we didn’t have much money, so once a month he’d stop by and take us out to dinner. He was a very wise man—more than most—and I was jealous that I didn’t have a dad just like him. One night he took us out for steaks and beer, and he said something I’ll never forget. He told us that we needed to keep our eyes open. That there are a lot of nice people in this world—lots of nice people—but that doesn’t mean they’re good. Good is special. Good is very rare. You might only meet one or two, three or four, in your whole life. That’s why you’ve got to keep your eyes open. You can’t afford to miss one.”
His eyes drifted away from the wall and lingered on her.
“Will you help me?” she asked. “Will you talk to me?”
He nodded slowly and seemed ready and pleased to help. “What do you need to know?”
“Lily Hight’s image,” she said. “The way she was presented to the public versus the way she may have really been. They don’t seem to jibe.”
Paladino smiled at the memory. “They don’t, do they? It made things difficult for both sides during the trial. A very delicate situation.”
“Tell me about it.”
.jpg)
ROBERT ELLIS WRITERS BLOG
04/19/2024
