Chapter Ten #2
“There had to be,” Rory said, frustration taking away her ability to restrain herself. “Austin brought the basket to the cottage for us before we arrived that night. His prints must have been on the door and were certainly on the basket—at the very least.”
The attorney’s entire face furrowed this time as he seemed to mull over her words. “Perhaps they ruled him out since he was your brother and had an alibi. He and your aunt had dinner together that evening, I believe.”
“They did, yes,” Chance agreed. “But the invasion into White Cottage didn’t happen until hours later.”
Tension rippled through Rory. What was he saying? She stared at his profile, waiting for him to explain.
“I’m not implying,” Chance went on, “that Austin had anything to do with what happened. My point is that if they missed his prints or left them out of evidence, then that’s another failure on their part.
Due diligence requires that they consider all avenues, particularly ones for which they have evidence. ”
Patterson cleared his throat. “I see your point. Obviously, the detective failed to do all that he should have.”
“It rained that night,” Rory spoke up, needing to move on from even the most remote notion that her brother was involved.
“The rain was never brought up. There may have been footprints around the house that were overlooked.” Tire prints weren’t likely since the street and the parking area were all paved.
Patterson nodded slowly. “I can look into that.”
Outrage lashed through Rory. Why hadn’t he looked into it before? She wished she had been able to talk to Leonard today. He might have known about that too, but anything else he might have discovered never made it to Rory or into the appeal.
“There’s one other thing,” Chance said then. “The autopsy report makes no mention of Taser marks on the victim’s body.”
Patterson eyebrows reared up. “What Taser mark? There was never any mention of a Taser at trial.” He looked to Rory. “Have you remembered something you didn’t mention before?”
She shook her head. “No. Mr. Rader found the discrepancy in the autopsy report. Apparently no one else noticed.”
Her words hit the mark. Red climbed up the attorney’s throat and spread across his face. His jaw worked for a moment before he was able to speak. “I’ll need to review the report to refresh my memory.”
Rory wanted to demand why he hadn’t already refreshed his memory.
“You’ll see the mark in the photos.” Chance gestured to his neck. “About here on the right side. Whoever used the Taser was likely right-handed.”
Patterson grabbed a pen and made a note of what he’d just been told.
“What sort of follow up are you doing on the undisclosed fibers?” Chance inquired.
The attorney seemed to draw himself up slightly straighter. “I’ve asked for the full forensic report.”
“You haven’t received it yet?” The surprise in Chance’s voice was clear. “Have you requested a sample to send to an outside lab?”
Patterson held up a hand. “One moment.” He picked up the phone on his desk and punched a button. “Reba, can you step into my office for a moment?” He cleared his throat again. “We’ll get the ball rolling on that.”
Rory exchanged a look with Chance. This was either incompetence or indifference. She wasn’t sure which one was worse, but she couldn’t afford either.
Reba hustled into the office. She glanced around at the parties seated. “Yes, sir?”
Patterson peered up at her with a questioning look that was obviously exaggerated. “Have we received the forensic report on those fibers related to Rory’s case?”
It was the blink…the blank expression and the three-second delay in her response that gave Rory the answer. They hadn’t asked for the report. Or, at the very least, had not followed up on the request.
“We have not, no. But I’ll get in touch with the DA’s office right now and find out what the holdup is,” she assured her boss, then hurried back to her desk, closing the door behind her.
“Do you plan,” Chance said, drawing the attorney’s attention back to him, “to re-interview any of the character witnesses?”
“Oh, yes.” He nodded adamantly. “We’re lining those up already. I’ll be sure to pass along whatever we find.”
Rory couldn’t take the lies and the excuses anymore. She stood. “Well, thank you, Mr. Patterson. I look forward to hearing from you sooner rather than later.”
She marched out of his office, her fury barely in check. Chance followed. As difficult as it was, she somehow managed to hold back the words she wanted to shout until they were in the car.
“Does he really believe,” she exclaimed, her back against the seat, her attention focused on the office front window only a dozen or so feet away, “that I won’t notice his disregard for my situation? His total lack of interest in how this goes?”
Chance reached for the hand she had braced on the console. He gave it a squeeze. “What you need is a new attorney.”
She closed her eyes. How on earth was she supposed to make that happen? She had no money for a new attorney, and the process for being assigned a court-ordered one would eat up valuable time. Time they might not have. “I can’t…” She blinked back the burn of damned tears.
“If you’re in agreement, the agency will have someone take over the case,” he assured her. “You and I are not going to worry about anything except finding the evidence we need to make sure this never goes back to trial.”
Rory almost wept with relief. “That would mean the world to me.”
He nodded. “Done.”
She drew in a deep breath, let it go. “So what do we do now?” She turned to him and held on tightly to his hand.
“Now we go see someone who worked with Pete. Whoever you believe may have known about any work-related issues. We need to rule that scenario out so we can focus on the next one.”
Rory nodded. “I know just the guy to talk to.” She waited until he’d backed from the parking slot. “What’s the next one? I mean, after we talk to Pete’s work friend?”
He met her gaze, held it for three beats. “The possibility that someone close to Pete wanted him out of the way.”