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“Management has a source and I did an interview and I am not telling you with whom,” she said, setting down her beer mug hard on the table. “But the point is, you can hold your head up, Linds, because you told me nothing. Okay? That’s the truth.”
I’m several years older than Cindy, and we’ve had a big sister, little sister thing since she crashed my crime scene a few years back and then helped me close the case.
It’s hard to be friends with reporters when you’re a cop. Their rationalized “public’s need to know” gives bad guys the heads-up and messes up jury pools.
You can’t truly trust reporters.
On the other hand, I love Cindy, and I trusted her 99 percent of the time. She sat across from me in her snow-white silk sweater, blond curls bouncing like mattress springs, her two overlapping front teeth making her pretty features look even prettier. She looked totally innocent of my accusation, and she was holding her ground.
“Okay,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Okay and I’m sorry?”
“Okay. I’m sorry.”
“Good. You’re forgiven. So, can you tell me what’s happening on this case?”
“You’re a funny girl, Cindy,” I said, laughing and waving my hand so that Yuki and Claire could see us from the doorway.
Claire was so far along in her pregnancy she couldn’t fit in the booth anymore. I got up, moved a chair to the head of the table for Claire, as Yuki slipped in beside Cindy. Lorraine took our orders, and as soon as
she’d left us, Yuki said to Cindy, “Whatever I say, even if it’s in the public domain, it’s off the record.”
Claire and I cracked up.
“What a pain. See, people think it’s actually an advantage that I know you guys,” Cindy said, sighing dramatically.
“The hearing to suppress Junie Moon’s confession? It went great,” Yuki told us. “Since Junie had been Mirandized when she confessed, the judge says it’s admissible.”
“Excellent,” I said, letting out my breath. “A break for the good guys.”
“Yuki, you’re trying her for a murder and you don’t have a body?” Claire asked.
“It’s a circumstantial case, but circumstantial cases are won all the time,” Yuki said. “Look, I’d be happier with physical evidence. I’d be happier if Ricky Malcolm made any kind of a corroborating statement.
“But the powers that be are piling on the pressure. Plus, we can win.”
Yuki stopped to gulp down some beer, then carried on.
“The jury is going to believe Junie’s confession. They’re going to believe her, and they’re going to hold her responsible for Michael Campion’s death.”
Chapter 16
I WAS AT MY DESK in the squad room the next day when Rich came in after lunch smelling of garbage.
“Tough morning in Jackson?”
“Yeah, but I think the sheriff’s digging for his fifteen minutes of fame before the Feds take over the search. He’s got it under control.”
I pinched my nose as Rich pulled out his chair, folded his long legs under his side of the desk, and opened his container of coffee.
“Phone records show that yes, Junie did call Malcolm at 11:21 on the night Michael went missing. And she called him every night at about that time.”
“Girl stays in touch with her boyfriend.”
“And Clapper called,” I told my partner. “The prints on the knife are Malcolm’s.”
“Yeah? That’s excellent!”
