IN THE WARDEN'S office, the phone receiver remained in its cradle. The government-issued cell phone rested on the warden's desk as well.349Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk05ta2bens
No, this was a call the warden, Dellanoy, would take on his private cell phone.
"You know why I'm calling, don't you?" the man said to Dellanoy.
"I believe I do." Dellanoy had the Internet open on his computer, to the lead story by the Times correspondent in Paris, Stanley Pucci. The headline alone said it all: BARTON: "I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I FIND THE KILLER."
A defiant Mischa Barton, proclaiming her innocence to The New York Times and vowing to prove it at her appeal.
"How could you let this happen?!" the man demanded.
"I cannot keep reporters away," Dellanoy whispered into his cell phone. "And I cannot control what she says to them."
"You're the goddamn warden, Dellanoy. You control everything. So control her!"
Dellanoy looked at the photos on his ego wall, a shot of him receiving an award for distinguished service from the Minister of Justice and Liberty. He saw his reflection in the glass and looked away.
"We have tried," he said. "She is---exceptionally resistant to persuasion."
" 'Exceptionally resistant'?" The man scoffed. "Then he will be exceptionally persuasive."
"I will---evaluate our methods. Perhaps....."
"Perhaps," the man said, "there is an alternative to a confession. So that we'd never hear from Mischa Barton again?"
Dellanoy paused a beat. The thought had crossed his mind, of course. "But now?" he said to the man. "After she just gave this----defiant statement to the press? It would be more than just a coincidence if something happened to her own. And a suicide would be impossible to believe."
The man was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. The bitch undoubtedly knows that," he said. "That's probably why she said those things to the reporter. To insulate herself."
"Maybe so," Dellanoy conceded. "She is smart."
"Well, you'll just have to be smarter, Dellanoy, won't you?"
Dellanoy exhaled slowly. "There are still two months remaining before her appeal."349Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0Hh8zEQUx
"I don't have two months, Dellanoy! And neither do you. Get this done right way. I want that confession yesterday. And if you can't do that, then take care of the problem the other way."349Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeuIGhw72nX
The line went dead. Dellanoy pinched the bridge of his nose. Mischa hadn't cracked yet, hadn't confessed and dropped her appeal. And he was running out of time.349Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cyY2c0rjx
But surely he could think of something.349Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOtJNbVMf9
