Chapter Eight
After leaving Amara in good hands with Lindsey, Sam made her way back to the pit and found Hope and Captain Malone waiting for her, looking grim.
“What’s wrong?”
“Our new U.S. Attorney McDermott ordered us to release Amara’s parents,” Hope said.
“What? Why?”
“She said Amara’s statement isn’t enough on its own to proceed with prosecution.”
“The fuck it isn’t! It’s more than enough.”
“She wants physical evidence in addition to the testimony.”
“What about the fingerprints?”
“Funny story,” Hope said with an expression that indicated it was anything but. “Louis Bingham suffered third-degree burns, and his fingerprints are mostly gone.”
“Motherfucker,” Sam muttered. “What about the fact that they never reported him missing?”
“She said the defense would say it was because they’d argued and they figured he’d run away. Jurors with teenagers would totally buy that argument.”
Sam didn’t agree, but she wasn’t the one who needed to be convinced. “Crime Scene will process the house shortly.”
“What’re the odds they’ll find evidence of a six-year-old crime?” Hope asked.
“If we release them, we’re signing Amara’s death warrant. It may not be today or tomorrow, but they’ll find her and shut her up.”
“That’s my fear as well.”
Sam looked to the captain. “What can we do?”
“Let’s take it to the chief.”
“I need to make one quick call, and then I’ll be right with you.
” Sam went into her office to contact Animal Control about picking up Amara’s cat and delivering it to her at Lindsey’s house, along with addresses for both houses and the door code at the Bingham house.
“Please make sure your officers aren’t followed to Dr. McNamara’s house.
We don’t want anyone to know where Amara is staying. ”
“Got it. We’ll take care of it.
“Thank you.”
A knot of stress tightened in Sam’s stomach as she walked with Hope and the captain to the chief’s suite.
There was no way they could let Louis and Thelma go, knowing what they’d done to King.
After fifteen years of listening to interviews and “stories” that were both real and fictional, Sam knew the truth when she heard it.
She’d go so far as to stake her reputation on the fact that Amara had told the truth.
The chief’s admin, Helen, greeted them. “He just finished a meeting, so go ahead in.”
“Thank you, Helen,” Sam said.
Malone gave a quick knock on the way into the chief’s inner sanctum.
Chief Joseph Farnsworth, known to Sam and her sisters as Uncle Joe growing up, was bent over a stack of files. He glanced up at them. “What’s up, citizens? And why the long faces?”
“We have a situation,” Malone said.
“No way, really?”
Normally, Sam would be amused by the chief’s witty sarcasm, but she was too afraid of the implications for Amara to find anything funny until she was certain they could keep the people who’d killed King behind bars where they belonged.
Hope explained that the new USA wanted suspects released in a case they all felt strongly about. “I shouldn’t even be involved in this conversation, but like Captain Malone and Lieutenant Holland, I’ve rarely heard a more compelling witness statement than the one provided by Amara Robinson.”
“Do we have anything else tying the parents to the murder?”
“Other than they didn’t report his ‘disappearance’ to the police, we don’t,” Sam said. “We immediately arrested them after receiving Amara’s report.”
“We have full confidence that we can build a case based entirely on her statement,” Malone said. “The judge agreed when the arrest warrant was issued for the parents. To release them now would be to put known killers back on the street and would endanger Amara’s life.”
The chief’s expression was pained. “I see both sides of this, guys. On the one hand, I trust the three of you and your judgment implicitly, but I do see where USA McDermott is coming from. It would help to have more to go on if we’re charging them with capital murder.”
“We’ll need some time to get more,” Sam said, “and in the meantime, we want the parents held. We have enough to charge them. Even if we have to drop the charges later, I’d rather we not take a chance letting them go.”
“We’d be risking a hefty lawsuit if we charge them with murder and can’t make the case,” the chief reminded her.
“We’re not in the business of releasing murderers, sir.”
“I’m aware, Lieutenant, and I empathize with your position, but in light of this department’s recent rough patch, the last thing I need is a murder case going sideways.
I’ll talk to USA McDermott and tell her I’m giving you and your team twenty-four hours to come up with additional evidence tying these people to the murder of their son.
If we fail to come up with anything else, we’ll release them reluctantly, as we feel the daughter’s testimony is extremely compelling. ”
“Thank you, sir.” They had twenty-four hours to produce additional evidence in a six-year-old murder. Having that coincide with the disaster unfolding at the White House would make for an interesting day.
“If you could,” Hope said tentatively, “encourage USA McDermott to listen to Amara’s statement. I was unable to convince her that it would be worth her time. But if you could refrain from mentioning I told you that…”
“Understood,” the chief said. “I’ll find a way to bring it up with her.”
“Thank you, sir.”
They returned to Sam’s office, closing the door for a private discussion before they brought in the rest of the team.
“Where do we even begin?” Sam asked when she was seated behind her desk.
“Let’s get everyone involved—Crime Scene, ME, IT, your team,” Malone said.
“Full-court press. Interview King Robinson’s friends, the neighbors, teachers, coaches, anyone who knew him.
We’ll have Crime Scene take the house apart.
I’ve already requested warrants for the parents’ phones and other devices.
I’ll ask the judge to expedite them in light of our time limit. ”
“Did your warrant include work computers and phones?” Hope asked.
“Yes,” Malone said. “I always make the requests comprehensive, so we don’t have to go back for more leeway later.”
“All right,” Sam said. “Let’s summon the troops and get on it. We’re on the clock.” She picked up the phone to ask IT Lieutenant Archelotta to come to an emergency meeting and to bring his outstanding Sergeant Walters with him.
“What’s this about?” Archie asked.
“I’ll brief everyone in ten in the conference room.”
“We’ll be there.”
“Haggerty is on his way in,” Malone said of the Crime Scene lieutenant.
“We’re going to need Amara to give us a list of King’s friends, as well as the other people in his life, and where we’d find them today,” Hope said.
“How do we get that from her without tipping her off to trouble in the case?” Sam asked.
“Tell her it’s routine,” Malone said. “Filling in the blanks.”
“Yeah.” Sam hated the thought of adding to Amara’s trauma in any way, but she’d do whatever it took to get justice for King—and for his sister. “I want to know if the Department of Child and Family Services had a file on these people.”
“Amara would know that,” Malone said.
“I guess I’ll have to ask her,” Sam said.
“It’d be easier to get the info from her than to get a warrant in the time we have.”
“If she can give us the name of a caseworker, that’d be a good place to start,” Hope said.
Sam picked up her desk phone to call Lindsey.
“Hey.”
“Don’t take her home yet.” Sam updated Lindsey on the development with McDermott and how Amara would need to be interviewed again shortly.
“She actually ordered them released?” Lindsey asked, keeping her voice down.
“She did.”
“Jeez. I’ll pull everything we have on the case and make copies for the team.”
“Do you think Morganthau would come in?” Sam asked.
“I bet he’d love to be summoned.”
“I’ll call him. Thanks, Linds.”
“I’ll be over shortly.”
Sam put down the desk phone, found Dr. Norman Morganthau’s number in her contacts and placed the call.
“Isn’t this a lovely surprise on a random Monday? To what do I owe the honor, Lieutenant?”
“I need your help, Doc.”
“What can I do?”
“Do you recall doing an autopsy six years ago for a thirteen-year-old boy named—”
“King Robinson?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“I remember that case vividly. It was never solved, as I recall.”
“It wasn’t, until today.” Sam gave him the overview of the day’s events, ending with their twenty-four-hour deadline to produce more evidence tying the parents to King’s murder.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said softly. “It was the parents.”
“What do you remember about them?”
“The mom was hysterical the entire time. The stepfather was supportive of her and asked a lot of questions about next steps and what they could do to help. It never occurred to me that it was them. They put on a good show.”
“Is there any chance you’re available to come in for a meeting today? We need all the help we can get, and since you worked directly on the case, we’d love your input.”
“I can be there within the hour. I’ll leave right away.”
“Thanks, Doc. I appreciate it.”
“Thanks for calling. It’s always nice to feel needed.”
“I’ll see you soon.” Sam ended the call and pulled up the initial report on King’s case.
Detectives Dugal and Moran had investigated, and their narrative detailed all the same steps Sam would’ve taken in the investigation.
The one thing she wanted to know was why they hadn’t searched King’s home for evidence.
She got up and walked to Malone’s office. “I want to talk to Dugal and Moran.”
“I’m one step ahead of you—I have calls out to both of them. I’ve asked them to come in as soon as possible to help with a cold case if they can.”
“Do you think we’ll hear from them?”
“I hope so. They were two of the good guys back in the day.”
“Why didn’t they bring Crime Scene into the house?”
“That’s one thing I have on my list to ask them. It’s possible they requested it, and it was denied due to budgetary constraints.”
“That actually happened?”
“Far too often. Perhaps because the body was found elsewhere, they might’ve been told to focus on the park and not on the house.”
“Which played right into the killers’ hands. It’s so weird to be investigating a murder where we know who did it, but we have to prove it.”
“It’s a different day at the office, that’s for sure.”
Freddie came to the captain’s door. “We have a report of a deceased man by Dupont Circle who might’ve been pushed out of a moving vehicle.”
Sam glanced at the captain for guidance.
“Send Gonzales and Green as point and the others to canvass. I need you two here to work on our deadline.”
“Should I pass that on to them?” Freddie asked.
“I’ll do it,” Sam said.
She walked with him to the pit and passed along the captain’s orders. “Get back here as soon as you can. We need all hands on deck with the Robinson case. We have twenty-four hours to prove the parents did it, or we have to release them.”
“What’s that about?” Gonzo asked.
“Our new USA has arrived.”
“Oh shit.”
“Well said. We heard she’d be tough, so it’s not really a surprise.”
“I listened to Amara’s statement,” Gonzo said. “There’s no doubt a jury would believe her.”
“Agreed, but I’m not the one we need to convince. Go on out and work this new scene and get back as soon as possible. Ask Lindsey to send Byron and keep me posted on the details.”
“Will do.”
Sam wanted Lindsey on the Robinson case.
“Freddie, will you please set up the recording of Amara’s statement to play in the conference room?”
“Yep.”
“I’m going to talk to Amara for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
She went to the morgue and sat down with Amara. “Can you give me a list of King’s closest friends and where we might find them now?”
“They’re all in college.”
“Anyone local?”
She gave Sam the names of two boys who’d gone to George Mason in Northern Virginia. “Was Child and Family Services ever involved with your family?”
“Not that I know of. Would I have known?”
“You would’ve met with social workers asking questions about what went on in your home.”
“No, there was nothing like that.”
“All right. Thank you for the additional info.” To Lindsey, she said, “Hang tight for a bit.”
“Will do.”
Sam returned to the pit as Archie and Walters arrived from upstairs. She welcomed them to the conference room, where Freddie had Amara’s statement ready to go on the screen at the front of the room.
Sam glanced at Archie while they waited for the others, looking for an indication of how he was doing.
His new girlfriend had been assaulted by a former colleague, Dylan Offenbach, and had been recovering from her injuries at Archie’s home.
He was grappling with feelings of guilt over how his job had led to her attack.
Sam worried about her close friend and colleague concluding that the job wasn’t worth the risk to his loved ones.
Since his expression gave nothing away, she said, “How’s Harlowe? ”
“Better. She’s hoping to get back to work next week.”
“And you?”
He shrugged. “Day to day.”
Sam wanted to dig deeper, to offer support, to be the good friend to him that he always was to her, but this wasn’t the time. “I’m here if you need me.”
“I know. Thank you.”
Lindsey came in, carrying a stack of stapled autopsy reports that she distributed around the table.
Lieutenant Haggerty arrived and took a seat.
When Malone entered the room with the chief, everyone sat up a little straighter. The chief had that effect.
“Thank you all for being here,” Sam said. “We’re waiting for Dr. Morganthau, the former chief medical examiner, who’s on the way in from Annapolis, but until he arrives, let me give you a high-level review of what’s going on.”
Before she could proceed, a white-haired man wearing the look of a cop appeared at the door. “I’m Detective Moran. Retired, that is. I got a call asking me to come in.”
Sam went to greet him with a handshake. “Thank you so much for coming. We appreciate it.”
“Of course. The captain said it was about one of my old cases?”
“That’s right. This is my partner, Detective Cruz, Chief Medical Examiner Lindsey McNamara, IT Lieutenant Archelotta and IT Sergeant Walters. I believe you know Captain Malone and Chief Farnsworth.”
“I do.” Moran went around the table to shake hands with both men. “It’s good to see you both and to meet the rest of you. I’ve followed your impressive work, Lieutenant.”
“Thank you, Detective Moran. Please have a seat.”
“Are you in touch with Dugal?” Malone asked.
“Christmas cards and the like. He’s in Galveston and spends every waking minute fishing.”
“Sounds like a dream,” Malone said wistfully.
He and the chief had privately vowed to stay on the job for as long as Sam was the first lady, because they thought her father would’ve wanted them to be there for her during this unprecedented time in all their lives.
Hearing Malone had prostate cancer had left Sam reeling and not at all sure she wanted him postponing his retirement for her.
When she got the chance, she’d mention that to him.