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“How did Tony take you leaving early?” Jo asked.
Lopez scrunched her nose in a half-grimace. “He’ll get over it. They’re having an all-nightZombicidemarathon tonight, and he’ll probably sleep until four tomorrow before heading home. He’ll barely even notice I’m gone.”
But Jo detected traces of tension as Lopez set her Rockstar down on Jo’s desk, cracked it open, then took a gulp. Tony was far less happy about it than she was letting on.
“Nothing like that first sip of the day,” Arnett said, eyebrows drawn together.
Lopez waved him off scornfully. “Took one to get me out of bed and another to make it through the drive. Last night was aVampire: The Masquerademarathon.”
“Well. I’m surprised you were able to break away from The Kindred to come help us,” Arnett said.
Lopez choked on the second gulp of Rockstar she’d been taking and gaped at him.
He raised his eyebrows at her. “I know things.”
Jo laughed. “I didn’t realize how serious you and Tony got about the board games, I thought you were more of the video game set. Either way I’m grateful you were able to break away.”
Lopez started to reply, then gasped and pointed at Jo’s desk. “Is that half a Sal’s meatball grinder? I’d kill or die for half a Sal’s meatball grinder right now.”
Jo shoved her forgotten sandwich toward her. “A far lesser sacrifice than you just made. Tuck in while we catch you up.”
Lopez ate, perched on the edge of Jo’s desk as she listened, then swallowed the last bite and crumpled the sandwich wrapper. “So, from what I’m hearing, we already have several suspects with strong motives: the ex-husband, the neighbor, the newbie prosecutor, and possibly this Huertas guy. There’s also this mystery boyfriend we need to find. But I agree that the killing style smells suspiciously like disgruntled defendant.” She tossed the wrapper into Jo’s garbage can.
“We’re waiting to hear back from Marzillo, and from the officers canvassing the area,” Jo said, and tapped on the stack of files. “In the meantime we have to deep-dive these suspects’ lives, starting with Huertas, and identify any suspicious defendants she’s prosecuted recently. While we’re doing that, can you start digging into Sandra herself? Her work and personal email accounts, phone records, financials, anything and everything? I know you could probably use a nap, but time is of the essence here. Until we bring someone in, the message we’re sending to every criminal out there is it’s okay to take out members of law enforcement.”
“I can sleep when I’m dead. Her work stuff is easy-peasy with the access info Hanson gave you. And I’ll have her personal stuff cracked before I finish this Rockstar.” She took another large gulp, accentuating her point, and winked. “Trust and believe I won’t rest until we have this bastard.”
CHAPTERELEVEN
Jo eliminated Huertas almost immediately. Not only had the charges against him been dropped, he now lived in Wisconsin and had a solid alibi, as did his alleged confederate.
After that, the work was slow going. In theory, every case a prosecutor won made them an enemy, and there weren’t many ways to easily narrow down the field. Even those in prison couldn’t automatically be ruled out, since many criminals still had reach that extended far outside their cells. The process became an exercise in educated guesswork; Jo ignored for the moment anyone who’d received a sentence of under a year and repeat criminals whose sentences were more of the same, assuming both sets would be least likely to hold the intense sort of grudge needed for Sandra’s murder. She paid close attention to red flags, especially those who had personal circumstances that might put a different spin on their incarceration. Then, after making a few calls out to confidential informants asking them for any information they could gather, she began verifying alibis one at a time.
She didn’t realize how late it was until her stomach growled, and she looked up to see the sun had set. As she checked the time, a call came through from Marzillo. She put it on speakerphone.
“Jo. Just wanted to let you know that the diving team is still working. It’ll probably take them until tomorrow morning at least. So far they haven’t found anything except a very aggressive snapping turtle. One of their divers had to go to the ER.”
“Snapping turtles are no joke,” Arnett said.
“The grid search is almost done, and, in the meantime, Sweeney found something interesting when she was processing those trees you told her to check out.”
“The ones where the killer possibly stood?” Jo asked.
“Yes. She had the stroke of genius to try luminol. She found a small smudge of possible blood.”
Jo sat up in her chair. “Where? At the base or higher up?”
“About shoulder height. But don’t get too excited just yet. It might not even be blood, and even if it is it may have been left by a deer or a bear. Even an injured squirrel.”
“Consider my expectations managed,” Jo said.
“Also, the ME confirmed the only injury Sandra sustained was the bullet to the head. Caliber of the bullet is a twenty-two. That’s all I have for now; I’ll call back when I know more.”
“Thanks,” Jo said, and hung up.
“Good to have a clear-cut cause of death,” Arnett said.
“Yes.” Jo fingered her diamond necklace.
