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“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.”
Josie said, “Did Anya ever talk to you about why she ruled the death an accident?”
“Yeah, we talked about it.”
“Did she tell you that her boss, Garrick Wolfe, wanted her to list the manner of death as accidental?”
“She ran all her cases by him.”
Noah said, “Did she mention to you that Garrick had implied that if she ruled Jana’s death an accident, he might be able to keep Vance from bothering her again?”
Cyrus didn’t respond.
Josie said, “If you thought that Anya made a selfish decision when she decided to list the manner of Jana Melburn’s death as accidental in exchange for her own safety and in doing so, inadvertently set Mathias Tobin on the path to your daughter, wouldn’t you want to get back at her?”
Cyrus tapped against the pages on his desk. “I’d like you to sign this statement now so you all can get the hell out of my office.”
Noah pressed on, “Where were you on Friday between six thirtya.m. and ninep.m.?”
Josie said, “And on Saturday from ninep.m. until fivea.m. Sunday morning?”
“I was home. On Friday, I had the day off. I spent it packing up some of my daughter’s things. On Saturday night, I was doing some housework and then I went to bed. Alone. I don’t have an alibi for either of your murders. Happy? As to this absurd suggestion you are making that I went out and killed a couple of young women to somehow get back at Anya for her work on the Melburn case, you know as well as I do that if evidence surfaced at any time to prove that Mathias killed Jana, the manner of death could be changed. Sure, we couldn’t go out looking for that evidence because of the accidental ruling, but that didn’t have to be the end of it. There was just never enough there. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you the damn file—as long as you promise not to share what we’ve got with Trinity Payne.”
Josie said, “My sister already has most, if not all, of what’s in that file.”
Cyrus raised a brow. “That’s not possible.”
Noah laughed.
Josie said, “You’ve met her. You think it’s not possible for her to get what she wants?”
“How?”
“A source,” Josie said.
He stepped back and walked a small circle behind his desk chair. “A source, huh?” he mumbled. “Let me guess. Hallie Kent.”
Now it was Josie’s turn to stay silent. Although Josie had interviewed Hallie as part of her investigation into the Sharon Eddy murder, the exchange of reports, documents, and information had been between Hallie and Trinity. It was up to Trinity to decide whether or not to disclose the identity of a source.
Cyrus huffed. “You don’t have to confirm it. I already know it was her. Did she tell you how she got the stuff? The truth?” He looked at each one of them but when they gave no response, he went on. “Yeah, okay. Why would she? Hallie used to work here. In the records department. She got fired for illegally copying material from that file. One of the other clerks in the department, Bella Crooke, caught her doing it and turned her in. Bella was about to retire. She was training Hallie to take over her position and that’s when she caught her.”
Josie bit back the desire to tell him that he was right—although Hallie’s story about Bella Crooke’s role had been much different. Instead, she asked, “Does Bella still work here?”
“She retired last year. If you want to talk to her, I’ll call her. I’m sure she’d be happy to come in and verify what actually happened and the fact that Hallie is a damn liar. I guess Hallie wouldn’t have been able to win the trust of Trinity Payne if she admitted to that. I knew Jana was her foster sister. Well, she always referred to Jana as her daughter. I knew she had an interest in the case. I understood her desire to know what was in the file—I probably would have done the same in her position, but I never thought she’d turn that stuff over to the press, especially after getting fired for taking it.”
“Well, it’s out there now,” Josie said. “I’ve seen the reports. It’s a lot. Maybe everything.”
The vein in his temple started to throb again. “Goddamn Hallie Kent.”
Noah said, “I get firing someone for making copies of case files, but why don’t you want Trinity Payne to have the contents of the file? It seems like everyone knows everything there is to know already.”
The Chief said, “He doesn’t want the press to get the file because it will show the complete incompetence of this police department.”
“No, not us,” said Cyrus. “Anya.”
“What are you saying?” asked Josie.
“I’m saying that if the contents of that file are made public—especially in something like the format of Trinity Payne’s show—Anya will get crucified. It won’t matter that there was never enough evidence to rule it a homicide. The public made up their minds a long time ago—in the complete absence of evidence of foul play, mind you—that Jana Melburn was murdered. The entire town has always believed that, and because Mathias Tobin saw her last, he must have done it. The public doesn’t understand that you need more than conjecture to prove a homicide case. They’ll look at what’s in that file—what they don’t yet know is in that file—and they’ll blame Anya.”
