Chapter 3

Jarrod nearly jumped when Archer told him Nat Springer was in jail. "Jail? What in heaven for?"

"He's accused of murdering one of Big Annie's girls last night," Archer said.

Jarrod could have fallen down right where he stood. Not because Nat had seen one of Big Annie's girls – he'd always been that kind of man, even though he'd been married for years. But murder? "That's crazy."

"Since I knew him from law school too, this is awkward, but I'll be prosecuting. No choice. We just don't have the staff. But he wants you to defend him, and Jarrod, I think you should turn him down."

Now Jarrod was very curious. "Why? Is his guilt that clear?"

Archer sighed. "The woman was found in her room with a knife wound. Nat was found in his hotel room with blood on the sleeves of his shirt. He says he cut himself shaving last night." Archer shrugged.

It sounded pretty lame to Jarrod, too. "Phil, I ought to talk to him before I decide whether to defend him or not."

"If you think you should, Jarrod, but three law school buddies involved in a trial like this one, and one of them being Nat Springer who loves the press coverage…"

"He'd probably use it to work himself free, if he can," Jarrod said. "I'll come into town and talk to him, Phil. But I might decide to take the case."

"It's up to you, but the publicity you're going to get might not do anything for your legal career."

Jarrod smiled. "When has that ever concerned me?"

"It ought to concern you this time. I'm only saying."

Phil started back for the door. Daisy watched him, raised her head and growled again. Archer left a little more quickly than he planned.

Jarrod closed the front door behind him, then went to Daisy. She wagged her tail and he scratched her ear. "You're right about him, Daisy. He bears watching. He just doesn't want me on this case because he doesn't want to lose as publicly as this is going to turn out to be."

"Maybe he has a point."

Jarrod looked up to see his mother in the hall from the kitchen. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to hear what Mr. Archer wanted," she said and came in. "You know I'm not fond of either him or Mr. Springer, not after cases involving Heath that we didn't get any favors from either one of them."

"Well, it's not Phil's job to grant favors to defendants or defendants' lawyers, but you're right about Nat. I still don't see him murdering anyone though, especially not a woman. I'll go talk to him."

"For your sake, I hope he's worth defending, since I know you'll do it."

Jarrod smiled and gave her a kiss. "I might not be home for dinner so don't hold it for me if I'm not here on time."

"Be careful with this, Jarrod," Victoria said.

Jarrod nodded. "Try not to worry. This won't be dangerous."

Jarrod left and went out the door. As it closed, Victoria looked down at Daisy, who looked back up at her and wagged her tail a bit. Victoria said, "I wish you could predict the future, too, Daisy."

Daisy sighed and laid her head back down.

XXXXXXXX

Nat Springer in jail was a helluva sight. Normally perfectly groomed, he always looked worth every cent of the bags full of money that he had, but not today. He had been arrested the night before. Now he was unshaven, disheveled and distraught. But Jarrod cut him some slack. He knew he'd probably look like that too if he were facing charges of murdering a working girl.

"Saying hello doesn't seem to cut it this time, Nat," Jarrod said.

"Jarrod, I didn't kill that girl," Springer said quickly. He held his wrists up so Jarrod could see his sleeves. "Look. You know as well as I do that this isn't the amount of blood you'd see if I had murdered someone. This is from cutting myself shaving. Here." He pointed to a sizable nick on his face.

"Nat, I talked to the sheriff a bit," Jarrod said. "They found Mandy Peale with the knife still in her, not much external bleeding. And two sleeves with bloodstains like that – that's an awful lot for getting cut shaving. You're in a lot of trouble."

Springer heaved a very unhappy sigh and turned away.

"Tell me what happened last night," Jarrod said. "Did you spend some time alone with that girl?"

"Yes," Springer said, embarrassed. "I – well, you know how it is."

"I know how it is for a widower like me," Jarrod said, "but you're a happily married man. Why would you risk this and all the stuff that goes with it that you can take home to your wife?"

"Every man gets foolish now and then, Jarrod."

"What time did you go to her room, and what time did you leave?" Jarrod asked.

"I went in after nine, left maybe fifteen or twenty minutes later," Springer said.

Well, at least it wasn't five minutes, Jarrod though. "How was she when you left?"

"Happy! She wanted ten dollars. I gave her twenty. I left and went back to my hotel and half an hour later the sheriff was banging on my door."

"That's hardly time for the girl to get found, Nat, much less for someone else to get in and kill her. That doesn't bode well for you."

"Jarrod, I didn't do it. She was fine when I left."

"All right," Jarrod said. "What are you doing in Stockton in the first place? Don't tell me it was to go fishing. I'm not buying that."

Springer hesitated but then said, "I got wind of a deal."

"What kind of a deal?"

"A business opportunity I didn't want you to get to first."

"Who were you here to see?"

"Wally Miles."

Not a name that gave Jarrod fond memories, even if he himself had been born at the Miles ranch. He didn't know if Springer knew of the now years-old rift between the Barkleys and the Mileses, and he didn't want to fill Springer in on it if he didn't know. "Did you see him?"

"No," Springer said. "I was to see him today at the hotel. Can you go talk to him for me?"

"I'll make sure he knows where you are, but I won't talk to him about the business deal. When you left Mandy, did you see anyone who might have been going in there after you?"

"No, but the parlor was full. Maybe Annie can help you."

"Annie doesn't necessarily require names of her customers. All right, Nat. I'll take your case if you're sure you want to hire me."

"Thank you, Jarrod. Of course I do. Can you get me out of here on bail or something?"

"I'll try at your preliminary hearing this afternoon, but don't hold your breath. Since you don't live here, you're a flight risk."

"And Archer's not likely to vouch for me. He likes me less than he likes you."

"Yeah. He didn't want me to take your case at all."

Springer sighed. "It figures."