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“No,” Banks said. “That’s why it was dismissed as irrelevant—or should I say, my sergeant told me that it probably wouldn’t get me anywhere.”
Amanda strongly disagreed. Every lead in a homicide investigation had to be seen through until it either produced the next step or hit a dead end. “When was it?”
“During the day.”
“The day she was murdered?”
Banks didn’t say anything, but Amanda heard him sigh.
“That day? And you didn’t pursue the lead?”
Banks remained silent, probably tired of defending his boss, and hopefully feeling shame for so easily backing down himself.
“Did this neighbor talk to the man?”
“She said ‘hi’ to him and asked if she could help him. He told her that he was Casey-Anne’s uncle, in town visiting. The neighbor lady accepted that and went back into her apartment, but she said the man gave her the creeps.”
Amanda bit her tongue so as not to jump down the detective’s throat—an eyewitness saw a man outside the vic’s apartment who gave her the creeps on the day of the murder, no less, and that still wasn’t a lead worth pursuing?
She wanted to throttle something. “I think we both know—”
“It wasn’t her uncle? Yeah.”
“Uncle” was probably there for the bracelet—assuming Amanda’s earlier speculation held merit. The more she could gather about this guy the better. “Did this neighbor have anything else to offer about this ‘uncle’ guy? What he looked or sounded like?”
“She said that he had a bit of a lisp and a very slight limp.”
The gunman in the Happy Time surveillance video favored the left knee—a coincidence or had “Uncle” returned to kill Palmer?
“What about hair color, eyes
, height?”
“Strong and lean, black hair, and he was short for a guy. If I remember only about five ten.”
That height would also fit with the perp who’d assaulted Palmer. “What was he wearing?”
“Jeans and a black sweater.”
“A hoodie?” She just thought she’d ask.
“She didn’t say that.”
“Okay, you’ve given me a lot. Thanks for all your help.”
“I hope you find her justice, and if there’s anything else I can help you with on this end, I’m just a call away.”
“Actually… Back closer to when this happened and after the murder of Jackson Webb, did you speak with anyone from Prince William County PD?”
“I did. Can’t remember the detective I spoke to now, but it was a man.”
“Detective Dennis Bishop sound familiar?”
“Yeah, I think that’s it.”
“Did you tell him about this “uncle” guy?”
“I did, but he didn’t seem too interested. Told me he had no eyewitnesses for his case, and unless I got somewhere with “Uncle,” he didn’t think it was related to the murders.”
