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She nodded.
“They just found the fingerprint because they decided to run everything again for fingerprints because Kent’s brother Darrin is now the mayor of Sutter Creek. He’s got an axe to grind to find out who murdered his brother. It has been a cold case for the past fifteen years because no one really liked the guy, and there weren’t any obvious leads on who did it.”
“That’s stupid,” she whispered. “And no one liked Kent because we all knew he was not a good person. I can tell everyone that firsthand.”
“It may be, but that is how this whole ball got rolling.” I straightened and stepped back from Imogen. “Darrin doesn’t want the only cold case in Sutter Creek to be his brother. I can’t blame the guy, but he’s got it all wrong.”
“Kent was an asshole who deserved to die,” Imogen spat.
“Not wrong again, Imogen. You know, if you wouldn’t have killed him, I would have done it myself when you told me what happened.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “So, I told my lawyer what happened that day.”
“You told her what happened?” Imogen gasped. “Why haven’t the police arrested me yet?”
“Because I told her what happened but didn’t mention any names. Plus, I’m sure she’s got some client-lawyer confidentiality thing that keeps her from sending me further up the river.” I paced back and forth in front of the couch. “She’s going to use my story to explain what happened, but having you telling the same story is just going to make my case stronger.”
“But if I tell the story, I will be arrested just like you.”
“Not if Pam can prove it was all self-defense.”
“She can prove it because itwasself-defense. If I wouldn’t have killed Kent, he would have killed me.”
“Babe, I know,” I reassured her. “The problem is we don’t have any evidence in our favor since it has been fifteen years. You had bruises and whatnot on your body back then, but all of that is gone now.”
Imogen chewed on her bottom lip. “What if there were pictures and evidence from back then?”
I stopped in my tracks and stared at Imogen. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, there should be pictures and medical records.”
That was exactly what we needed. If we could prove that Imogen was assaulted and raped, it would more than prove that killing Kent was self-defense. I might still do some time for helping to cover it up, but I could handle that.
I could not handle Imogen or I going to prison for the rest of our lives for the murder of Kent because the asshole deserved it.
“Did you report the rape to the police?” I asked.
Imogen shook her head. “No, but I did go to the hospital when I got to San Diego. While my grandma was more accepting of taking care of me, she does have some of the heartless ways my mom does. She made me go to the doctor to prove that I had been raped and to make sure I wasn’t pregnant. That first month after I moved there was hell because I was waiting for that pregnancy test to be positive. I about wept when I got my period.”
I never even thought that there could have been a possibility of Imogen being pregnant. I could tack that onto the list of things I could feel guilty about for not talking to her for fifteen years. “But didn’t the hospital report the rape?”
“Well, they should have, but since my grandma worked there, she swept it under the rug. That report somehow didn’t make it to the police.” Imogen sighed and rolled her eyes. “I was glad about it back then, but now I kind of wished it would have been reported to prove Kent was a rapist.”
Dammit. If there had been a police report about the rape, it could have helped prove that Kent was killed in self-defense. “Do you remember what hospital you went to? Maybe they might have files on it even if it wasn’t reported to the police.”
“I mean, yeah. It’s where my grandma worked until she retired.”
Finding those files might be a wild goose chase because there was a good possibility that her grandma had destroyed everything. “Did your grandma know everything?
Imogen shook her head. “No. I just told her I was attacked walking home and had no idea who the guy was. She tried to convince me to tell the police, but I told her I would run away before I did that.”
“Well, you told her half of the story, then.” Imogen had been attacked while walking home, but she knew who it was and then killed him.
“She suspected there was more to the story, but she never pressed me for it.”
“Do you still talk to your grandma?”
Imogen nodded. “Yeah. She lives in a nursing home in San Diego but is still sharp as a tack. I don’t want to tell her what is happening, though. She put up with a lot with me when I moved in with her.”
“She could be the missing piece we need, Imogen.” I had been worried that Imogen wouldn’t be able to help me, but she was giving me a little bit of hope. Though if she didn’t want to talk to her grandma about this, I might have come here for nothing.
