Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
FBI Field Office
Tacoma, Washington
Allie and Jason had been at it since seven-thirty.
Trial transcripts and case files were spread across the long table in an arrangement that had started organized and devolved into something closer to controlled chaos.
Jason's notes were sharp and detailed despite the shadows under his eyes, and Allie was halfway through a section of witness testimony when the conference room door opened.
Mia breezed in carrying a folder thick enough to warrant both hands. Her face was bright with the unmistakable satisfaction of someone who had accomplished something difficult before nine in the morning.
“Got it!” she announced, setting the folder on the table with a satisfying thud. “Master exhibit list from the Torrino trial. Archives had it pulled and waiting when I showed up.”
“First thing?” Jason asked, rubbing his eyes. He looked like he'd been dragged through the night sideways. His tie was slightly crooked, and his hair lacked its usual precision.
“I called after we hung up last night, Allie.” Mia slid into a chair and opened the folder. “Figured they’d get the message when they got to work this morning. I made sure to let them know we couldn't afford to wait around.”
Marze appeared in the doorway holding four cups in a cardboard carrier. He distributed coffee without ceremony, sliding one toward each of them before settling into his usual seat at the head of the table.
“You look like you got hit by a bus,” Marze said to Jason. His expression showed mild amusement.
“Joey had other plans for my sleep schedule,” Jason muttered. He wrapped both hands around the cup as if it were the only thing keeping him upright. Marze said nothing, but Allie caught the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth. “She was up every two hours. I have no idea what her problem is.”
“Teething?” Mia offered.
“Whatever it is, she's winning.” He took a long drink and winced at the heat. “Victoria told me to stop complaining and go to work.”
Allie almost smiled, but her attention was already drifting toward the document Mia was unfolding across the table.
The master exhibit list was a comprehensive record, pages and pages of entries laid out in columns.
Every one of the four hundred eighty-seven pieces of evidence introduced during the RICO trial was cataloged and numbered sequentially, with a brief description of the item and the name of the attorney who had introduced it.
Allie could feel the investigative momentum shift as the list took shape in front of them, the sense that they were finally looking at something that might answer the question none of them could stop asking.
She started at the top and worked her way down, her finger tracing each line.
Exhibit 1 was a corporate filing. Exhibit 2, a financial summary.
The descriptions blurred together as she scanned, all of it a parade of bank records, phone logs, surveillance photos, forensic reports, and affidavits that told the sprawling story of the government's case against Sal Torrino.
When she reached Exhibit 14, her finger stopped.
The air in the room seemed to contract. She didn't say anything, just flipped ahead, scanning the entries with growing urgency until she found Exhibit 35.
Her pulse ticked higher. She read the entry twice to make sure she wasn't seeing what she wanted to see.
Wiretap authorizations and supporting affidavits for electronic surveillance on Torrino's inner circle.
Judge Vance had signed the authorizations, and Sterling had presented the recorded conversations at trial.
“Here,” she said, pulling the pages closer.
She looked up at the three faces watching her.
“Exhibit 14 is a .38 revolver linked to one of the murders in the case. Sterling introduced it. Exhibit 35 is the wiretap package: authorizations and affidavits. Vance signed off on them, and Sterling presented the recordings.”
Jason leaned forward and studied the page, the fog of exhaustion clearing from his eyes. “Both were described as linchpin evidence in the transcripts I've been reading. They were critical to securing the conviction.”
“And the killer branded Sterling with fourteen and Vance with thirty-five.” Allie let the words settle into the silence.
The numbers that had haunted them since that first crime scene at the cabin, the bold, seared digits that had seemed random or symbolic or personal, now had a context that made them infinitely more terrifying.
They weren't arbitrary. They corresponded exactly to trial exhibits that had been crucial to putting Sal Torrino away.
Marze set his coffee down. “What if the killer thought those exhibits were fabricated?”
Jason turned his pen between his fingers, thinking. “If someone thought the prosecution had built their case on tainted evidence, those might be the pieces that stood out.”
Allie's mind went immediately to the brick building in Seattle's legal district, the wood-paneled office with its view of Elliott Bay.
Leonard Carmichael sitting behind his desk and choosing his words with care.
“Carmichael mentioned irregularities when we interviewed him,” she said.
“He told us certain evidence appeared late in discovery, that there were chain of custody issues his defense team tried to challenge.
Vance denied their motions, but Carmichael was convinced something wasn't right.”
She looked around the table. “What if exhibits 14 and 35 are the specific pieces he was questioning?”
Marze nodded slowly, his expression settling into the hard focus that meant he was already three steps ahead.
“We need the complete evidence custody logs. Every signature, every transfer, and every time those items changed hands. I want to see who handled them and exactly how they moved through the system.”
Mia was already reaching for her phone. “I'll call Archives. Though I should warn you, except for this evidence list, last time it took them almost a week to dig out what we needed.”
“Push them,” Marze said. “Tell them it's urgent.”
“I will.” Mia got up and stepped into the hallway, her phone already at her ear.
Jason tugged at his cuffs. “Anything specific you want us to focus on while we wait for the custody logs?”
“Yes. Assume the remaining members of the Torrino prosecution team are potential targets. Reeves’s team has Sarah Park and Bob Halloway under protection, but we can't rely on security alone.”
“We can't determine a pattern yet,” Allie agreed. “We don't know who might be next. But both of them played significant roles in the prosecution.”
“Which is exactly why I want you two to interview them,” Marze said.
“Both prosecutors. I want to know their specific contributions to the Torrino case, what evidence they personally presented, and whether either of them remembers anything unusual about exhibits 14 or 35. If there were problems with that evidence, I want to know if they noticed it at the time and what they did about it.”
Jason scribbled notes on his legal pad. “We’re on it.”
“Good,” Marze said. “And I want to know if either of them had concerns about the integrity of the evidence that they chose not to raise. People don't always speak up when they should, especially when they're on the winning side of a major prosecution.”
“We'll set up the interviews.” Allie was already thinking about how to approach it, what questions to ask and in what order, how to read the reactions of two attorneys who had spent their careers controlling narratives.
Prosecutors were trained to present information strategically, to reveal only what served their case.
Getting honest answers about potential misconduct in their own prosecution would require a different approach than a standard witness interview.