Rory lowered into one of the chairs, Chance chose the one next to her. He turned his face to hers and spoke for her ears only. “Frankly, I’m surprised he wasn’t at the prison when you were released.”
The fact was that beyond the notification she was being released, she hadn’t heard from Gerry. “I suppose the situation complicates things for him.”
Her gaze settled on the clerk’s desk once more. This still felt like a strange time for Leonard to be away. Rory had been released because of his find. Why wouldn’t he want to be here reveling in his big win? Maybe Patterson had fired him.
Reba breezed back into the room. “Go on in, y’all.” That broad smile rested on Rory once more. “He’s excited to see you, Rory.”
She fixed her lips into an answering smile and thanked the woman.
Gerry Patterson stood behind his desk, wearing his own big smile. He lifted his arms in welcome like a reverend would for his congregation. “Come in, come in,” he said. “Rory, this must be Mr. Chance Rader from the Colby Agency.”
Chance reached across the desk and offered his hand. “Good to meet you, sir.”
Patterson shook his hand firmly, then gestured for them to sit. “Your brother,” he said to Rory, “explained that the Colby Agency would be assisting us this go around.” He sent a nod in Chance’s direction as he resumed his seat behind the cluttered desk. “We’re sure glad to have you. This is a delicate situation for all concerned.”
“Well,” Chance said, “my agency and I hope to help change that. We’ve already determined a number of holes in the investigation. Frankly, I’m surprised the case got to trial so quickly considering the minimal evidence against your client.”
“Well, her prints were on the knife,” Patterson reminded him. “There was no evidence found to suggest anyone else was ever in the cottage.”
Fury spread through Rory so fast she barely remained seated. She clenched her jaw to prevent shouting at the man. Chance would handle this with far more diplomacy than she could possibly summon given the attorney’s attitude.
“What about the basket of food?” Chance queried. “There were no prints other than Rory’s and her husband’s found on it?”
“Basket?” He frowned as if he wasn’t sure what Chance meant.
“There was a basket,” Rory explained, barely stifling her outrage, “packed the way you would a picnic basket with the bread, cheeses and champagne.”
Patterson frowned. “Oh, yes. I remember. Well, obviously there were no other prints found. The report said as much.”
“Obviously,” Chance said, drawing Patterson’s attention to him, “the report was wrong.” He held the man’s gaze without speaking long enough for Patterson to finally realize what he was getting at.
“Are you suggesting there may have been prints that were overlooked?”
“There had to be,” Rory said, frustration taking away her ability to restrain herself. “Austin brought the basket to the cottage for us before we arrived that night. His prints must have been on the door and were certainly on the basket—at the very least.”
The attorney’s entire face furrowed this time as he seemed to mull over her words. “Perhaps they ruled him out since he was your brother and had an alibi. He and your aunt had dinner together that evening, I believe.”
“They did, yes,” Chance agreed. “But the invasion into White Cottage didn’t happen until hours later.”
Tension rippled through Rory. What was he saying? She stared at his profile, waiting for him to explain.
“I’m not implying,” Chance went on, “that Austin had anything to do with what happened. My point is that if they missed his prints or left them out of evidence, then that’s another failure on their part. Due diligence requires that they consider all avenues, particularly ones for which they have evidence.”
Patterson cleared his throat. “I see your point. Obviously, the detective failed to do all that he should have.”
“It rained that night,” Rory spoke up, needing to move on from even the most remote notion that her brother was involved. “The rain was never brought up. There may have been footprints around the house that were overlooked.” Tire prints weren’t likely since the street and the parking area were all paved.
Patterson nodded slowly. “I can look into that.”
Outrage lashed through Rory. Why hadn’t he looked into it before? She wished she had been able to talk to Leonard today. He might have known about that too, but anything else he might have discovered never made it to Rory or into the appeal.
“There’s one other thing,” Chance said then. “The autopsy report makes no mention of Taser marks on the victim’s body.”
Patterson eyebrows reared up. “What Taser mark? There was never any mention of a Taser at trial.” He looked to Rory. “Have you remembered something you didn’t mention before?”
She shook her head. “No. Mr. Rader found the discrepancy in the autopsy report. Apparently no one else noticed.”
Her words hit the mark. Red climbed up the attorney’s throat and spread across his face. His jaw worked for a moment before he was able to speak. “I’ll need to review the report to refresh my memory.”
