“That wasn’t the murder weapon. The gun recovered from Ms. Horan’s room was the murder weapon.”
What?“How do you know?”
“It’s been tested.”
“Was the murder weapon a conventional gun or a ghost gun?”
Detective Kowalski hesitated. “The latter.”
Two ghost guns?Julia couldn’t process it fast enough. “Courtney had nothing to do with the murder of her grandmother. She loved her grandmother. She’s heartbroken that she died.” Julia bore down. “The cops must’ve put it there. They planted it. They’re framing her. That’s the only possible explanation, and it fits everything they’re doing—”
“Why would they frame her?”
“I don’t know, but something really bad is going on here. The cops are in some kind of conspiracy.” Julia controlled herself, but her heart was pounding. “I’m telling you, she wouldn’t have anything to do with her grandmother’s murder. Why would she want her grandmother dead?”
“To inherit money and land, like you.”
Julia felt taken aback. Courtney’s wet eyes flared. They both fell silent a beat.
“Ms. Pritzker, we understand that you inherited an estate in Tuscany when your grandmother died a few years ago. The related case was international news. There was a police conspiracy against you, like you’re claiming here.” Detective Kowalski’s eyes narrowed. “So maybe you’re running the same play. Maybe you gave your friend here some ideas.”
“No.” Julia recoiled, shocked to hear her past used against Courtney. “That’s just not true.”
Detective Kowalski remained impassive. “The Patterson farm is worth money. That’s motive enough.”
Julia swallowed hard, trying not to panic. “She didn’t do it. She would never do such a thing.”
“I didn’t kill my grandmother!” Courtney interjected, newly teary. “I told you Isawthe guy who killed her, he ran out the back door, I chased him to a truck, and he took her basket!”
Julia worried that Courtney was talking too much.
Detective Kowalski frowned. “Ms. Horan, we have your previous statement. We have questions about whether it’s true.”
“It’s true!” Courtney raised her voice.
“Court, please, let me do the talking.” Julia prayed she would clam up.
Detective Kowalski faced Courtney. “You work for a company that sells office equipment, including 3D printers. You printed a gun, went to your grandmother’s house, and shot her. You staged the scene. You concealed the gun on your person. Then you called 911 and fabricated the story about seeing the killer and chasing him to the truck.”
Courtney opened her mouth, but Julia cut her off. “If she did that, why would she call you?”
“To set up the false story. Do you know how many perpetratorscall 911 after they commit a crime? We had a burglary last year, and the perpetrator did that.” Detective Kowalski eyed Courtney, linking his fingers. “In addition, your actions since that day have been consistent with guilt. You breached the perimeter search by the state police. You demanded to know what they were doing and see what they recovered.”
Julia spoke quickly, so Courtney wouldn’t. “I don’t know what’s wrong with that. It was about her grandmother.”
“You met with Chief Glushenko and quizzed him extensively.”
“We asked him what was going on.”
“He told you he had no information, but you wouldn’t let it go.”
“We wanted to know. He was hostile to us, and at the very least, he was passing the buck. She called you several times but you didn’t answer.”
“You didn’t stop at gathering information, though. You obstructed justice.”
“What? How?” Julia asked, increasingly anxious. She was starting to worry that an innocent set of facts could be twisted to make Courtney look guilty.
“You trespassed on Samuel’s property and entered his home. You searched his home and sent his pictures to me. How do we know what evidence you took away, or added? You’ve interfered with the investigation and continued to do so, even after you were told not to by Chief Glushenko.”
