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“Let me know when you’re ready. I mean to meet Samantha.”
“Okay. Maybe I need to switch my MO and stay single for a while.”
“Why? That never works. Just be yourself and let the world adapt.”
He barked out a laugh, finally relaxing. “Goodbye, Laura.”
“Bye, Dan.”
He walked away, looking at her as she closed the door. She had never loved Dan. It had been sport and nothing more, fun with a super nice guy on her terms. He didn’t love her either, but Dan was deluded into thinking he was in love with every woman he’d been with. It just wasn’t true.
***
District Attorney Alison sat at her desk across from Henry and Samantha. They’d just given her everything they were able to gather on Shelly Markham, including color videos from two cameras, one at the drugstore and one at the marina park. Both showed a female whom they identified as Shelly in a dark hoodie, sometimes with the hood up, looking like the same person who had planted the gun at Laura’s house, and sometimes with it down, the light shining on her auburn hair, her dark glasses not hiding her identity. In the video from the marina parking lot, Alan’s car was front and center. Lily’s might be behind the pine trees to the left. There were two people in Alan’s car, sometimes close together, sometimes not.
They also played the wiretap recordings for Alison, and although it wasn’t nice to call someone a skank or to wish them dead, it wasn’t illegal.
“I don’t know, you guys. It’s compelling, but I doubt a grand jury would indict anyone with this evidence. It’s just not enough. I think she killed Lily and set up Alan. But she did such a good job. I’m sorry. I have to say no.”
“Are you going to go ahead and prosecute Alan?” Henry asked, incredulous.
“Yes. You did such a good job, Henry. What choice do I have? I have the murder weapon covered with his prints, a T-shirt with her lipstick and saliva and his semen, videos of them together, her parents’ testimony.”
“What about the video just showing Shelly with the timestamp of the night Lily was murdered?”
“What about it?”
“It shows she was there,” Henry pointed out.
“Where’s the intent?”
“She told Laura Long she knew about the affair and was livid about it.”
“No. It’s not enough. I’ll see if the judge will allow us to use the evidence in cross-examining Shelly.”
“You’re going to put her on the stand?”
“Especially with all this new evidence, the defense will probably call her as a witness. You did a great job, you two, but it’s not enough to indict someone on a murder charge. It might cast enough reasonable doubt on the case against Alan that they’ll get a not-guilty verdict. It won’t be good for me, but I don’t want an innocent man to go to jail, either.”
“What do we do now?” Henry asked.
“Get her in here for questioning,” Alison replied.
“Ugh, poor Laura,” Samantha groaned. “There goes her cover.”
“She’s tough,” Henry said. “She wants to be a PI, and getting called out is the consequence.”
Chapter 11
Thanksgiving week began in chaos for the residents of Sea View. The first stumbling block was a turkey shortage. Every cook responsible for the holiday dinner converged on Organic Bonanza Monday morning, even Sandra Benson.
“What the hell is she doing in here?”
Pam’s sister, an ex-nun whom they still called Sister Mary, head of the deli department, whispered to Pam when they saw Sandra staring at a display heaped with frozen turkeys in the poultry department.
“I’m not sure! I didn’t think Sandra ate, let alone cooked. I’ll find out.”
“Your food will be packaged for you when you’re done sleuthing,” Mary hissed when Pam pushed her cart away from the deli case, waving Mary off.
