Page 99 of Good Boys Don’t Bite

Bell closed the folio.

“We'll go together.”

Elliot looked at him.

“That's it?”

“For now.”

“You don't want to ask whether I killed anybody?”

Ronan's head snapped toward him. Bell barely reacted.

“I generally avoid asking clients questions they haven't been accused of needing to answer.”

Elliot smiled. Maybe he liked him after all. Bellweather Police headquarters looked disappointingly ordinary. Brick building. Flagpole. Automatic doors. Fluorescent lighting. Elliot had expected nothing else and still found the banality interesting. Murder investigations happened in rooms with vending machines. Detectives drank coffee from paper cups. Evidence sat behind beige doors. People could disappear from the world and somehow bureaucracy still required laminated visitor badges. Bell arrived in his own car. Ronan insisted on following Elliot. That was irritating. Also reassuring. At 9:58, Elliot parked exactly where an officer directed him. His car looked absurdly clean beneath the gray morning. Dark blue sedan. Three years old. Nothing distinctive. The officer wrote down the plate. Another photographed the exterior. Bell noticed Elliot watching.

“Let them work.”

“I am.”

Ronan stood beside him.

“Stop staring.”

Elliot glanced over.

“You both have control issues.”

Ronan snorted. Bell said nothing. Detective Vance appeared through the front doors. Dark coat. Hair tied back. No visible surprise at seeing the lawyer.

“Mr. Mercer.”

“Detective.”

Her attention shifted.

“Gregory Bell.”

They shook hands.

“Counsel?”

Bell nodded.

“For today's conversation.”

Vance looked toward Ronan.

“And Mr. Vale?”

“Emotional support,” Elliot said.

Ronan stared at him. Vance almost smiled. Almost.

“Inside.”

They followed. The interview room was different from yesterday. Smaller. No window. Gray table bolted to the floor. Four chairs. Elliot sat beside Bell. Ronan was told to wait outside. He hated that. Elliot could tell from the look he gave Vance before the door closed. Then there were three. Vance placed a folder on the table.