Chapter 3

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Harry ogled the man’s middle-aged face from across the room. A thin line of coal-dark stubble grazed the man’s jaw line. The man’s determined eyes darted from Harry to the conversation with the gentleman to his right, then back at Harry.

Harry reached for his third glass of champagne from a tray carried by a passing waiter. Harry almost dropped the glass because he was looking at the handsome man.

Harry’s friend, Sam Wilson, had invited a handful of his close friends to his home to celebrate Harry’s win in the case of Enrique Fernando. Fernando, a thirty-five-year old Hispanic, was accused of murdering his mother-in-law in the suburban town of Manning, New York, Harry’s home turf. Fernando was suspected of having stolen thousands of dollars’ worth of expensive jewelry, then pawning them in order to nurse a cocaine fix.