Three Shirt Deal (2008) by Stephen - Scully 07 Cannell Page B

that we picked up some investigative discrepancies on this situation during a standard case review."
    "That should work," Scout said, smiling widely at him.
    "I'll be in touch," Tito promised and led us to the door. "Listen, Detectives, I want to tell you something. Even though the insubordination charge is a problem, I salute your dedication to the truth in this case. After the parade has passed and everything's been adjudicated, it's much easier to just look the other way. You did the hard thing, which is the right thing."
    "We really appreciate your time, sir," Secada beamed. I felt a twinge of annoyance, or was it jealousy? "Tito," he reminded her. "Tito," she said.
    And then, we were out of his office and standing in the hall. "What a doll," Scout enthused, "And he's still single." "Still got your wallet?"
    "Come on, he's charming. This is just what we needed, Shane." "Yeah."
    "Look at you. Why don't you smile? And what's with this black-on-black ensemble? You look like Steven Seagal. Who picked that outfit, for God's sake?" "This just feels way too easy," I said.

    Chapter 12.
    I LEFT SECADA IN THE PARKING LOT. SHE SEEMED AS IF A GREAT
    weight had just been lifted from her as she got into her slick-back and tooled off toward the Bradbury Building.
    I guess I'm just such a natural skeptic that I couldn't accept a good break even when I got one. Or maybe it was that my luck had been running so cold, I couldn't quite believe in a crusader D . A . willing to flag a prosecutorial mistake on the eve of his own mayoral election, no matter how great his teeth or warm his smile.
    Since I was already in Van Nuys, standing in the parking lot of the prosecutor's office, and had the name of Tru Hickman's court - appointed public defender in my file, I decided to look her up and see what light she could shed on this mess.
    The Public Defenders Division is part of the prosecutor's office, so I found myself on the second floor of the same building I'd just exited. The P . D .'s office was a cluttered cube farm full of fresh-faced recent law school graduates. Tru had told me that his P . D . had red hair, braids, and freckles and looked like she just graduated from high school.
    That pretty much fit my take when I located Yvoune Hope seated behind a battered metal desk that looked like it had been used to block a year's worth of slap shots from an NHL hockey team. She seemed implausibly young. Pippi Longstocking with a law degree. But that was only until you bothered to look deep into her blue-green eyes. They were tired, angry eyes that had seen enough misery to fill a prison.
    "Truit Joseph Hickman confessed to killing his mother," she said after I told her why I was there.
    "Miscarriage of justice," I said.
    "Yep. We get a lot of that around here. John Dillinger, John Gotti, and A l Capone. They all got fucked by the system, too." A cynic. So young and her soul was already poisoned by her experiences.
    "Take a look at some of this," I said, and pushed the folder I'd compiled across the desk at her.
    Yvonne Hope didn't open it. "Lemme guess, rubber hoses in the I-room, right?"
    "You shorten your last name from 'Hopeless'?"
    "Don't be a smart-ass. I've been on this job for almost two years now. The average for P . D .'s in this meat house is eighteen months. The burnout rate is through the roof. You wanta know why?"
    "Not really."
    "I'll tell you anyway. Because just about everybody I represent is a scumbag liar. Including this guy." She tapped her short, chewed-nail ring finger on my folder. "I have baby-rapists and child molesters as clients. I have to try and get deals for people you wouldn't waste a bullet on. My job is to ignore the crime and save the criminal. It can warp you. Tru Hickman killed his mother. He copped to it. Now he's up in Corcoran and it's worse than he thought so he's had a change of heart. Next case. You got any idea how often I see that?"
    "Listen, Yvonne. Can I call you that?"
    "Vonnie."
    I'm not some