Page 71 of Homecoming

“What can I do for you, Mr. Thomas?”

“Word on the street is that you’re defending your brothers-in-law on murder charges in Maine. Any truth to that?”

“Depends on why you want to know.”

“Really? The famous defense attorney takes on a murder in the family. How’s that not news?”

“It’s not my family. It’s my wife’s family, and I barely know them.”

“So it’s true that two of her brothers have been charged with murder?”

“If I tell you what you want to know, will I be reading some sort of sensationalized version in your paper?”

“I’m not planning to sensationalize anything. I heard you’d caught a new case and that it was family, thus the interest.”

“My wife Kara’s two brothers, Keith and Kirby Ballard, were charged by the Maine State Police with the murder of twenty-one-year-old Tanya Sorenson, a summer resident in town for a bachelorette party. They’re being held at the Bar Harbor jail. We believe the facts of the case, when presented in court, will result in the charges being dropped.”

“I read that there’s an eyewitness who puts the brothers with the victim in the early hours of the morning she was found dead.”

“Keith Ballard was with her during the evening and into the next day. Kirby picked up his brother in town. They offered Ms. Sorenson a ride home, which she declined. She was alive and well when they left her.”

“Are you representing both of them?”

“Just Kirby.”

“Why not the other one?”

“You’d have to ask him that.”

“Ah, I see.”

“You don’t see anything, Mr. Thomas. Please don’t publish half-truths or innuendo. I’ve told you what I can. I hope you’ll be responsible about what you do with it.”

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Torrington.”

“What was that about?” Kara asked when she came to find him.

“A call from theLA Times. Apparently, word’s out that I’m defending your brothers on murder charges.”

His phone rang again with a call from theMount Desert Islander. He turned the phone so Kara could see who it was. “Dan Torrington.”

“This is Elias Young again from theMount Desert Islander.”

“What can I do for you, Mr. Young?”

“I wondered if you might be available for a longer interview to discuss the case against your brothers-in-law and how you plan to proceed with their defense.”

“As much as I’d like to meet with you, I prefer to keep my strategy under wraps until we go to court.”

“Can you confirm that you’re still only representing Kirby Ballard?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Is Matthew Gallagher representing Keith?”

“You’d have to ask him that.”

“Your wife has some history with Mr. Gallagher.”

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