Gone-Girl-by-Gillian-Flynn

NICK DUNNE
SEVEN DAYS GONE
It was time. At exactly eight a.m. Central, nine a.m. New York time, I picked
up my phone. My wife was definitely pregnant. I was definitely the prime –
only – suspect. I was going to get a lawyer, today, and he was going to be the
very lawyer I didn’t want and absolutely needed.
Tanner Bolt. A grim necessity. Flip around any of the legal networks, the
true-crime shows, and Tanner Bolt’s spray-tanned face would pop up,
indignant and concerned on behalf of whatever freak-show client he was
representing. He became famous at thirty-four for representing Cody Olsen, a
Chicago restaurateur accused of strangling his very pregnant wife and
dumping her body in a landfill. Corpse dogs detected the scent of a dead body
inside the trunk of Cody’s Mercedes; a search of his laptop revealed that
someone had printed out a map to the nearest landfill the morning Cody’s
wife went missing. A no-brainer. By the time Tanner Bolt was done, everyone
– the police department, two West Side Chicago gang members, a disgruntled
club bouncer – was implicated except Cody Olsen, who walked out of the
courtroom and bought cocktails all around.
In the decade since, Tanner Bolt had become known as the Hubby Hawk –
his specialty was swooping down in high-profile cases to represent men
accused of murdering their wives. He was successful over half the time,
which wasn’t bad, considering the cases were usually damning, the accused
extremely unlikable – cheaters, narcissists, sociopaths. Tanner Bolt’s other
nickname was Dickhead Defender.
I had a two p.m. appointment.
‘This is Marybeth Elliott. Please leave a message, and I will return promptly
…’ she said in voice just like Amy’s. Amy, who would not return promptly.
I was speeding to the airport to fly to New York and meet with Tanner
Bolt. When I’d asked Boney’s permission to leave town, she seemed amused:
Cops don’t really do that. That’s just on TV.
‘Hi, Marybeth, it’s Nick again. I’m anxious to talk to you. I wanted to tell
you … uh, I truly didn’t know about the pregnancy, I’m just as shocked as
you must be … uh, also I’m hiring an attorney, just so you know. I think even
Rand had suggested it. So anyway … you know how bad I am on messages. I
hope you call me back.’