Chapter 26 Monroe #2
I looked around the evidence locker before I pulled out my phone.
I began to take pictures of everything to take back to Rose and Bradley.
I had no idea how long this knife had been in this box, but none of the possibilities were good.
If the prosecution had this knife to begin with, then they were withholding evidence and obstructing justice.
If this knife had been placed in this box after Knox’s trial, then someone was trying to wash their hands of the incident while still portraying a facade to the assistant U.S. attorney.
I put my phone away and began stuffing everything back into the box.
I put the knife back at the bottom where I’d found it, then I slid the evidence back onto the shelf.
I walked out of the evidence locker and found the desk empty, which meant the man was probably trying to give me some sort of privacy.
I could only hope he had cut the camera feed into the corner I was sitting in long enough for me to do what I had done.
I walked up to the man’s desk and reached over for a piece of paper and a pen.
I wrote my name and number down, then put ‘IOU’ at the top of it.
Because I did. Had he not let me into that evidence locker, we would’ve never known about the knife.
That blew this entire fucking case wide open and gave us a chance at figuring out who the hell was responsible for killing Blaze.
Especially if we could legally get that knife in our custody.
I ran back out to my car and raced to get us all some coffee. I was trembling with fear. Wondering what Rose and Bradley would do to me. I walked into the office and divvied out the coffees, and that was when Bradley started studying me closely.
“What happened?” he asked.
“What?” Rose asked.
“You guys are going to be upset, but just bear with me,” I said.
“What the hell did you do?” Bradley asked.
“I went back to the police station,” I said.
“Oh. That’s not so bad. Did they turn you away like Bradley?” Rose asked.
“Not exactly.”
I pulled out my phone and started flipping through the photos. Bradley’s eyes were wide as he ripped it from my hand. He emailed himself the photos before sitting at his computer, then he blew them up on the screen for us to zoom in and look.
“What the fuck is that?” Rose asked.
“It’s a knife. And it matches Shepard’s wound perfectly,” I said.
“Go get our copy of the autopsy report,” Bradley said.
Rose ran off into her office and left me alone with the man.
“I should fire you,” he said.
“I’m hoping you won’t,” I said.
“If this blows up in your face, I’ll have to,” he said.
“That’s fine. I can handle that. This was at the bottom of the evidence box. Just sitting there. We have to figure out how long it’s been in there.”
“Was the box unsealed? Or did you have to break the tape?” he asked.
“Unsealed. The man at the desk said he was going to be sealing it today.”
“That means it was probably snuck in after the fact. There’s a good chance the prosecution didn’t have this during the trial.”
“Any way to prove that?” I asked.
“No, which is why I’m coming at it from the other angle. If this was slipped in after the fact, then it means two things. One, someone in that police department is dirty, and two, whoever retired it feels we’re getting too close.”
“Okay. I’ve got the autopsy report, but I’ve also pulled a few other files,” Rose said.
“What other files?” I asked.
“I recognize the measurements on that knife. I’ve practically memorized them. A couple of years ago, The Dead Souls had a string of people in their club who were attacked and killed. Some survived, but most of them died. All within the span of a year, and all of them unsolved,” Rose said.
“Why unsolved?” I asked.
“We couldn’t find the murder weapon. Ever.
It was all circumstantial and all the leads we had led to dead ends.
But each wound was the same. Four inches deep and one and a half inches wide with a partially serrated edge.
But The Dead Souls were adamant it was The Black Saddles. Every single time,” Rose said.
I looked over Bradley’s shoulders at the knife on his screen. The first two inches of the blade was a smooth blade before the last two inches were serrated. It was exactly four inches long and just shy of one and a half inches wide.
“Holy shit,” Bradley said.
“This is the murder weapon from all those crimes, isn’t it?” I asked.
“I think the prosecution had this the entire time. But they knew if they presented it, then it would land their clients in hot water for the rest of these crimes we had on file,” Rose said.
“Why didn’t this come up in trial?” I asked.
“No murder weapon,” Bradley said. “Can’t connect crimes if there’s no murder weapon.”
“This is all so…”
“I know. We didn’t expect to be bringing you in on this kind of case. We’ll tolerate your questions for now,” Rose said.
I giggled somewhat hysterically as I turned towards the window.
My mind was racing, trying to put the pieces into their proper places.
I closed my eyes and saw the knife. Knox’s boot.
The autopsy report. I combed through every piece of evidence I saw in that box before Rose’s words echoed off the corners of my mind.
“You said The Dead Souls were adamant it was The Black Saddles.”
“Yes,” Rose said.
“Does that mean one of The Black Saddles killed their own?” I asked.
I whipped around as Bradley slowly turned my way. His eyes connected with mine as Rose looked me up and down. It was a logical question. A logical conclusion based on what Rose had said.
“We have to get that knife in our custody,” Bradley said.
“We’ll need a warrant from a judge,” Rose said.
“I have no connections like that around here yet,” I said. “If anything, I owe too many favors.”
“How do you think we made our connections?” Rose asked.
“Go down to the courthouse and do whatever you did on that officer in the evidence locker. You’ll owe favors for awhile, but eventually the tide will swing in your favor,” Bradley asked.
Were they serious? Did they actually expect me to try and throw myself at a judge?
But then, another thought crossed my mind.
“What?” Rose asked. “What’s that look?”
“You need a warrant? I’ll get you a warrant,” I said.
Then I grabbed my coffee and raced out the door.
I had a meeting with a certain Latin Cobra to arrange.