Wrong Turn (4 page)

‘I thought he was in the state prison for life.’

‘He was – still is for that matter – but not for long. He got a favorable ruling from the federal appeals court this morning. His release is being arranged as we speak. He’ll be let out on bail awaiting a second trial on the charge that he murdered his third wife, Patty.’ Hunt used the fingers of his right hand to comb strands of his blond hair away from his forehead. ‘Personally, I think we ought to charge him with the homicide of his first wife Melinda, too, this time around; but that decision will happen somewhere above my pay grade.’

‘That’s a real shame, but it was a state crime. What does that have to do with me?’

‘This morning, Phillips’ attorney referred to his client as the rightful, duly elected representative of the citizens of his district to the United States House of Representatives. He vowed to use the courts to regain the seat that was stolen from Phillips after his wrongful conviction.’

‘Sounds like typical defense lawyer B.S. to me,’ Jake said with a shrug.

‘Perhaps,’ Hunt acknowledged, ‘but since he once was, and is now claiming that he still is, an elected federal office-holder, it seems that the federal government ought to have some oversight in this matter. We’d like you to direct the re-investigation, working with the local lead detective in the case.’

‘I can’t just push myself into a case like that; I don’t see any jurisdictional imperative.’

‘The Attorney General has already spoken to your regional director. She has approved of this plan. I wanted to get you on board before I spoke to the trial prosecutor.’

Jake rolled his eyes at the mention of his loathed supervisor. ‘You should have started with that fact. Why did the appeals judge throw it back for a new trial?’

‘He ruled that the statement of his ex-wife – formerly wife number two – was prejudicial and should not have been admitted at his trial. The prosecutor should have never put her on the stand. She’d accused Phillips of trying to kill her by pushing her down the stairway but he’d been acquitted of that charge. I suppose the state thought they needed her statement to demonstrate a pattern of behavior in order to get a conviction; but I cannot understand why the trial judge allowed the admission of that testimony.’

‘So the appeals court is basically saying that he was railroaded in this first trial?’

‘You could put it that way. I assure you that law enforcement and the legal community are united in their belief in Phillips’ guilt, not just in the case of his third’s wife’s death, for which he was convicted; but also in the demise of his first wife Melinda. However, since she was cremated, we can’t even exhume to look for more evidence. The autopsy photos and the report itself contain information that indicates that the cause of death was homicide, according to our experts, but the first pathologist labeled it an accidental death.’

‘I’m still not sure why you need me involved.’

‘This is the Attorney General’s call. From his point of view, the local prosecutor and the local judge both made errors of judgment in this case. He felt it was quite likely that, somewhere along the line, the local cops did, too. He wants an independent party with a strong investigative background to look into the conclusions reached, find any bias or tunnel vision, and set a clear path for a conviction in the second trial.’

‘Alright, I’ll do what I can. But some of the detectives on a local level are very resistant to what they consider FBI interference.’

‘You just let me know if you have any problems. We’ll pressure the district attorney and I’m sure he’ll send that message downhill fast.’

Jake doubted the wisdom of that maneuver. In fact, he was not very keen on the whole plan. ‘Who was the lead on the initial investigation?’

‘A woman named Pierce – Lucinda Pierce. She was a sergeant then, but I believe she’s a lieutenant now.’

Jake closed his eyes and sucked in a sharp breath. This was all he needed.

Will Hunt rose and dropped a file folder on Jake’s desk. ‘Here’s a summary of the case and the contact information for everyone involved.’ He stretched out a hand. ‘We’ll have her report here to you and you can take it from there.’

Jake popped to his feet. ‘No! Don’t do that!’ he shouted.

Hunt dropped his hand and said, ‘Is there a problem?’

‘Excuse me, I mean, I’ve worked with her before on other cases. Don’t order her here. I’ll go to her and brief her on the situation.’

Hunt cocked his head to one side. ‘Really? Making her report to you would set up the lines of command pretty clearly.’

And she’d probably never speak to me again, Jake thought. ‘Trust me on this. I believe I know the best way to handle the situation to ensure her willing cooperation.’

‘Your call. Play the old gal any way you want.’

Inwardly Jake winced at the lawyer’s choice of words; but he clapped the other man on the back and led him to the door. He watched until the other man turned a corner and disappeared from view.

He had immediate regrets. Why did I volunteer to tell her? Maybe I should have let them handle it and then apologized for their boorishness later. Jake kicked his trash can and sent it wobbling across the room. He slammed his foot into it again and realized his mistake in an instant. A not-quite-empty take-out coffee cup slung its contents on the beige carpet. He uprighted the waste receptacle and pulled a used paper towel out of it to dab at the mess on the floor. The stain had already set into the fibers, making him want to kick the can again. Instead, he lifted it and placed it by his desk.

He felt as if nothing was going his way lately. He’d badgered every field office across the country in the hunt for Mack Rogers but there was no sign of the man anywhere. Every time he spoke to Lucinda, she asked for an update on the progress. He’d grown tired of having absolutely nothing to report. Right now, he’d settle for any lead he could pursue even if it ended in a dead end. At least it would be something to do – something to make him feel as if there were hope for resolution and a chance at getting a violent predator off the streets.

Now, this. He knew she would not take it well – not now, with Mack Rogers still on the loose. He’d lost count of the times she’d said that getting the FBI into the case was a big mistake. He’d remind her that she hadn’t had any luck finding the suspected serial killer either. She’d snap back that FBI headquarters was not keeping her in the loop and accuse him of holding back information, too. He hadn’t, but he did understand her frustration; there were times when he thought the profilers were keeping things from him, too.

During the next hour, he’d called Lucinda’s cell at least four times and each call went straight to voicemail. He had to admit he was relieved the first time he failed to reach her, but his anxiety rose with each attempt, in anticipation of the challenging conversation ahead. He knew a lot of his dread was personal. Although he and Lucinda continued to grow closer, she always held a piece of herself back and her reluctance to make even the lightest commitment left him permanently uncertain of where he stood with her.

He left messages of escalating urgency and wondered why she’d had her phone turned off for so long. Was she caught up in vital pursuit of evidence in a new homicide case? Or had she been dragged, kicking and screaming, into another mind-numbing round of departmental politics?

L
ucinda left the captain’s office and trudged upstairs to meet with the district attorney. His office was three stories up and the elevator would have been quicker but she was in no hurry to get there. The captain told Michael Reed that he’d look in the files and send the lead investigator in the case up to his office. She hadn’t been in charge of the case; she wasn’t even in Homicide at the time, only temporarily assigned to assist Lieutenant John Boswell in the investigation. She was, though, as close to a lead detective as Reed was going to get since Boswell was dead.

When she walked into Reed’s office, he bolted to his feet, put his hands on his hips and asked, ‘How did this happen?’

‘Martha Sherman, sir?’ Lucinda asked.

‘What else, Pierce? Did you screw up something else, too? Where did you go wrong in the investigation into Emily Sherman’s murder?’

‘I do not know, sir. I—’ Lucinda began.

‘You do not know? You are the lead investigator and you do not know? You arrested and charged a woman with a murder she did not commit and “I don’t know” is the best answer you can give?’

‘Sir, I wasn’t the lead—’

‘I don’t want your lame excuses, Pierce. I want answers. I want to know what went wrong and how it went wrong. If you can’t give me more than “I don’t know”, what am I supposed to tell reporters? They’d skewer me if I repeated that. I need more. But if you can’t give it to me, then I’m going to have to say, “I don’t know” and if you force me to do that, I’m going to have to add a “but”. I’m going to have to say, “But, I’ve called for the immediate dismissal of Lieutenant Lucinda Pierce from the police force of this fine community.” Is that clear?’

Lucinda spoke through a clenched jaw. ‘It certainly is, sir. As I was trying to say, I intend to pull all the files on the case and follow every step of Lieutenant John Boswell’s investigation to find out where we went wrong on this case.’

‘Don’t be blaming someone else. Finger pointing is not an attractive characteristic – not in anyone. Particularly not in someone like you who is always convinced she’s right in each and every situation.’

Lucinda’s hands clenched up into tight fists by her side. She pressed her teeth together with more force and squeezed her eyelids tight. She simply did not trust herself to respond. His assessment of her was unfair and undeserved. Or was it? Was the Sherman case symptomatic or an anomaly? Did she lock into theories prematurely and ignore evidence that did not fit into her preconceived notions? She never thought that about herself before, but now she wasn’t sure.

After an awkward minute of silence, Reed asked, ‘Can’t think of a snappy comeback, Pierce?’

‘When will Martha Sherman be released?’

‘Changing the subject work better for you? Well, her release is not a foregone conclusion. We have to schedule a court date before that can be considered. I haven’t gotten around to that yet.’

‘I would think, sir, that that would be a priority.’

‘Oh, would you? Well, I suppose you didn’t have to listen to the howling claims of injustice pouring out of Andrew Sherman, like I did this morning. He is convinced she should remain behind bars. He is certain that she is involved – that she’s either an accomplice of Mack Rogers or she killed Emily all by herself and garnered a favor from Rogers, allowing her to put his daughter’s body down in the basement of Rogers’ house.’

Lucinda stared at him. What a ridiculous allegation. That woman should be released immediately. ‘And you’re taking Andrew Sherman’s wacky theories seriously?’

‘I have to.’

‘Oh, that’s right. He’s a major contributor, isn’t he?’

‘He’s one of the citizens I was elected to serve, Pierce. My oath of office does mean something, you know.’

‘Oh, please, Reed. Your political pandering is as transparent as your glossy ambition. You wouldn’t adopt this attitude for just any citizen – only one with deep pockets and a willingness to dig into them.’

‘You,’ Reed shouted, pointing an index finger at her face. ‘You better get me some answers and get them quick. I am not going to lay down on the sacrificial altar for you.’

‘You’ve never taken a bullet for anyone, Reed, unless you knew it was in your best interests. You sicken me!’ Lucinda spun on her heels, grabbed his door and slammed it as she walked out. As she passed the desk outside of his office, she saw a wide-eyed look of horror on the face of Reed’s secretary, Cindy, and hoped he didn’t take it all out on her. If he did, she’d have to add Cindy to the long list of people to whom she needed to apologize; a roster of names that seemed to grow every day.

As she waited for the elevator, she turned on her iPhone. Stepping inside, the cell pinged at her several times. Four calls from Jake. I guess he’s heard about the identification, she thought. She certainly didn’t want to talk to him – or anyone – right now; but knew he’d keep calling if she didn’t.

She punched in his number as she walked into her office and slumped into the chair at her desk.

‘Special Agent in Charge Jake Lovett,’ he answered.

‘Did you call to gloat, Special Agent?’ she snapped back.

‘Gloat? Why would I gloat?’

‘Don’t play dumb with me. You all are in charge of the Mack Rogers case. I know you’ve heard about the latest body identification.’

‘Yeah. What about it?’

‘Are you telling me the name meant nothing to you? Do you want me to believe that you don’t know how this is impacting my job?’

‘Lucinda, I swear to you, all I know right now is that I am very confused.’

‘If you didn’t know, then why the hell were you calling me this morning?’

‘I wasn’t calling about the Mack Rogers case at all, I swear.’

‘Really? Then, why did you call?’

‘It’s about another case.’

‘Which case?’

‘It’s complicated. Can we please sort out one case at a time?’

Lucinda sighed as a surge of regret climbed into her throat. ‘I’m sorry, Jake. I just had an ugly encounter with the DA over the body identification and I took it out on you. I was out of line.’

‘What’s the problem?’

Lucinda gave a synopsis of the case that led to Martha Sherman’s wrongful conviction. ‘And now the DA is stalling about Martha’s release from prison when we should be turning everything upside down to get her out of there as quickly as possible.’

‘It’s political, isn’t it?’

‘Oh, yeah. Andrew Sherman, Emily’s father and Martha’s former husband, is a major contributor to Reed’s campaign. He’s still insisting that Martha was involved in Emily’s murder.’

‘That sounds like a real stretch to me.’

‘Tell me about it,’ Lucinda said with a sigh. ‘So, what case did prompt your phone calls?’

‘Remember US Representative Chris Phillips?’

‘I’ll never forget that bastard,’ Lucinda said. ‘Oh, no, Jake, don’t tell me that – oh, please, please don’t say his appeal was successful.’