Chapter Twenty-Two
By the time Muriel got to her office the next morning, she had decided that she was at a dead end.
She’d reviewed every case involving the Lucifer’s Disciples to see if there was something that pointed at a specific DA who could have been involved in the plot to frame Karen Wyatt.
She had found a few cases that had been dismissed because evidence had gone missing or a key witness had disappeared, but different prosecutors on her list of suspects had been assigned to the cases, and she couldn’t find a pattern involving only one DA.
At lunchtime, Muriel left the courthouse and waited until she was a few blocks away before making a call that she hoped was not a mistake.
“Karen Wyatt and Associates,” the receptionist said.
“I’d like to talk to Miss Wyatt.”
“Who shall I say is calling?”
“I’m a potential client.”
When Karen picked up, Muriel said, “Miss Wyatt, this is Muriel Lujack.”
“My receptionist said you’re a possible client?”
“I didn’t want to give her my name.”
“Is this about a case? I didn’t think anyone in my office had one with you.”
“You don’t. This is personal. Can we meet after work, someplace where no one will see us?”
There was dead air for a moment. Then Karen asked, “Are you in trouble?”
“This is about you and the people who set you up. I don’t want to say any more until we meet.”
Muriel and Karen chose a restaurant in Sandy, Oregon, a town that was twenty miles from Portland. The restaurant served good Italian food, but neither woman had much of an appetite.
“What’s this all about?” Karen asked as soon as the waiter left with their orders.
“I had a visitor who is a friend of a person I’m prosecuting. She wanted to know if I’d give him a break if she told me something important about a big case. It was your case.”
Without mentioning names, Muriel gave Karen the gist of what Nikki Randolph had told her. Then Muriel handed Karen the list of suspects she had compiled.
“I’ve scoured the files of cases handled by the DAs who were around when you were set up, but I haven’t found anything that makes me suspect any particular prosecutor.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Karen asked.
“I’ve hit a brick wall, and I don’t feel comfortable investigating the people I work with anymore.
If my information is correct, one of these people deserves to be in prison.
They may be betraying their oath of office every day.
I need to know if there is a traitor in the DA’s office, but I don’t have the means to find out.
You do. You’ve got investigators, money, everything you need to expose this person. ”
Karen digested what Muriel had told her, and Muriel waited for Karen’s answer.
“I appreciate what you’ve done. It can’t have been easy. I’m going to use what you’ve told me. I just don’t know how right now.”
“When you figure that out, don’t tell me. If the person you’re looking for finds out I’m involved, I won’t be safe.”
Muriel left while Karen paid the bill so they wouldn’t be seen together.
Karen was deep in thought all the way home.
Finding the traitor in the DA’s office required an investigator, and she employed one of the best. During the drive, she called Morris Johnson and told him to meet her at her apartment.
Gabby Wright had earned his nickname because he rarely spoke. He was also the first person that Walter Zegda relied on if he wanted someone followed because he was average height, slender, with average looks. In other words, the type of person no one notices.
Gabby followed Muriel Lujack to the Italian restaurant in Sandy, Oregon, and watched the place from the shadows of a parking lot across the street. He texted Zegda when Karen Wyatt joined her. Gabby knew who Wyatt was because all the Disciples knew about the Baer case and its aftermath.
Zegda told Gabby to go home now that he had some idea of what Lujack was up to.
What he hadn’t decided was what he should do about it.
Snuffing a DA was a last resort because it would bring down so much heat that it could affect his business, but he would do just that if it became necessary to protect his mole in the DA’s office.