Hamilton Burger arrived at the scene shortly after the aging, but still tenacious Lieutenant Arthur Tragg. The longtime DA found Tragg grilling Hamilton's girlfriend, Alexandra about the situation. Alexandra, though still quite shaken from the shock of her discovery, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Hamilton and they shared a brief hug before he too started asking questions.
"I was just telling Lt. Tragg about how I came in early this morning and found Ruby laying on the floor of my office, dead. She had said she was staying at work late last night so I had left before her. I stopped at home to change my clothes and then went over to your place. Only other person who left after I did was Evelyn. When I came in for my early client this morning, this was how I found Ruby."
Hamilton looked at the scene around him incredulously. It was currently a madhouse in the building with cops, detectives, medical personnel, and other necessary workers milling about the scene, performing their respective duties.
"The medical examiner places the time of death at approximately 6:00 pm last night," Tragg stated plainly. "The clerk, Evelyn Walsh, departed here about 5: 30 and she has alibi around the time of death. Her husband was able to verify that she had arrived home about 5: 50."
Hamilton exhaled and regarded Alexandra seriously. "You said you left before Evelyn did?"
Alexandra nodded. "Yes, that's right. Evelyn saw me leave."
Tragg nodded and looked over at Burger. "And you didn't see Alexandra until nearly 7: 30, is that correct?"
"That's correct," the taller man said. "But Alexandra wouldn't do a thing like this, Tragg!"
"Can anyone verify that you were back at your apartment or somewhere else besides here at the time of the murder, Ms. Mullen?"
Alexandra shook her head, dejectedly. "No one that I'm aware of. I didn't pass anyone in the lobby or the halls on the way up to my apartment."
"Tragg, you can't seriously think Alex did this?! Why?! She has no motive! They were best friends!" Burger was starting to get agitated and excited and it was clear to Lt. Tragg that he was too emotionally involved in this to remain objective.
Tragg nodded. "That is true. Right now we haven't been able to establish a motive. However, we have no one else pinned as a suspect at the moment either and we weren't able to find any fingerprints on the murder weapon other than Alexandra's."
"If the murder was premeditated, the culprit could have worn gloves, especially if he or she was intent on framing someone in the victim's workplace," Burger insisted, desperate to find some other explanation. Not that it was hard at the moment. Despite the fact that most signs pointed to Alexandra because of the location of the murder and the fact no one could give her an alibi, Tragg hardly had an airtight case yet because he lacked a motive for Alexandra to murder her best friend.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Tragg couldn't help but chuckle with genuine amusement at Burger's vehement defense of Alexandra. He couldn't blame the hapless DA in this case, but he was beginning to sound just like a defense attorney.
"My my, Hamilton, you're sure starting to sound a lot like Perry Mason this morning. And just a word to the wise, you might want to consider removing yourself from this particular case. Conflict of interest and all that just in case I'm in the unfortunate position of having to take Alexandra into custody."
Tragg went on his way, retreating back into Alexandra's office where the most activity was still taking place, leaving the worried couple to their own devices.
"Come on," Burger said quietly, taking Alexandra by the elbow and leading her out the door. "We're going to see Perry Mason. Tragg doesn't have an airtight case or he would have taken you in already, but I still want you to have the best defense lawyer in town just in case. Preparation is half the battle in these things."
W^^^W^^^W
Defense attorney, Perry Mason listened quietly as Alexandra recounted her story for what seemed like the millionth time that morning.
"And Tragg has no motive yet?" Mason asked. "What about your pregnancy? Had you told Ruby or any of your other colleagues? And does Tragg know about it?"
"I haven't told Tragg yet, Perry," Hamilton said. "I trust the guy but I wanted to wait until after Alexandra and I had some things worked out, like a wedding date."
Alexandra leaned back in her chair and exhaled worriedly. "I did tell Ruby and a few other colleagues in the office. I felt I had little choice because a few of them had noticed that I'd been feeling consistently unwell the last month."
The young woman frowned in confusion. "I understand that having a child out of wedlock is still considered inappropriate by current societal norms and can be damaging to one's reputation, but surely Tragg wouldn't see that as a motive for murder."
Mason laced his fingers together on his desktop and regarded Alexandra seriously. "I'm afraid he could very well see that as a motive for murder; especially since you and Hamilton both have otherwise decent reputations and careers that could be damaged if word gets out before you two have married. It also may be all he has to go on unless another suspect and motive can be produced."
Mason's eyebrows knitted together in thought. "The law permits for therapist/client confidentiality to be breached when certain legal issues present themselves. Would it be possible to have a look at your client files and Ruby's?"
"You suspect it may have been a client who killed Ruby?"
"I certainly can't discount the possibility, especially when many of those individuals have psychological issues to start with. I'm also curious if anyone in that office or among the clients had any reason to dislike you or Ruby enough to do something like this. Whoever killed Ruby either happened upon her in your office for some reason and that was just as good a place as any or intended to make certain it looked like you were the culprit. Can we go back to your office now?"
"Absolutely," Alexandra said, standing.