Chapter Forty-Seven #2
“I think that’s a good idea,” Spencer said.
“And I can tell that Elena is tenacious and probably the type to want to move up the ladder. If she had proven not only Diego Perez’s innocence, but also found the real killer, that would have definitely made the higher-ups in the DA’s office take notice. ”
“And maybe the wrong people too,” Maya said. “Like a senator. You know him better than anyone, Spencer: Do you think he could have done this? Or would he have paid someone to kill his own daughter?”
“I want to say no, but if there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, it’s that people do things you don’t expect or think aren’t possible if they’re pushed to a breaking point,” Spencer said.
“I hate to admit it, but I do think Dale had a temper, and I know he was frustrated with Sydney. We would meet every now and then for a beer and compare notes on Josh and Sydney. Miles too. I felt for Dale, because both of his kids were dealing with addiction. We were both exasperated. But to actually murder your own daughter? I guess I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. I was constantly worried Josh was going to kill himself with an overdose or an accident or who knows what, but I can’t imagine killing him.
And Josh also mentioned to me the other day that Sydney told him her father slapped them all around. ”
“I wonder if this was a crime of passion, so to speak. In the moment? An overreaction?” Maya said.
“Maybe Dale confronted Sydney and asked her to stop. From what I’ve heard about her, she had spunk and wouldn’t have listened.
Maybe her dad needed her to change her behavior because of his Senate race and she mouthed off.
He decided to teach her a lesson and that lesson went too far. ”
“I guess anything is possible,” Spencer said. “I saw who the prosecutor was. He was quickly promoted to a judge after this case but recently died in a boating accident on Lake Michigan. I saw it in the paper.”
“That’s convenient,” Lucas said. “Does the accident correlate with Elena’s visit to the prison to speak with Perez or with her asking for some evidence in the case?”
“Hold on a second,” Spencer said, pulling out his phone. He typed for a few minutes and then said, “I found the news article. It happened right after Elena visited Perez at the Pontiac prison.”
“Just a bit suspicious,” Pops said, peering over his reading glasses on the tip of his nose. He flipped through some more papers and then hesitated.
“Pops, what is it?” Maya asked.
“I just saw the name of the lead detective. It’s Tony Lancaster. Isn’t he one of the senator’s security details?”
“I think so… Lucas, did you catch the names of the two guys who came and helped last night?”
Lucas pulled out his memo book and flipped it open. “Yes. One of the guys is Tony Lancaster.”
“We need to make our notes and write down everything we can find, like the DNA being lost. Then we need to go speak to the Bradfords. We have a direct connection now to the senator since one of his guys was the detective,” Maya said. She turned to Spencer. “Do you think you can make that happen?”
“Let me see what I can do,” Spencer said. “Laura and Natalia were going shopping. I’d love to have the whole family there to see how they react. I’ll text Natalia and see when they’ll be back.”
“I would love to have each of them in an interrogation room by themselves,” Lucas said.
“I don’t think I can make that happen,” Spencer said.
“Not unless we can find something that truly points to the senator. That would be different. Right now, if you think about it, there’s really not anything.
The only evidence we have points to the fact that Diego Perez is innocent of Sydney’s murder and Josh was framed for both Amber and the gang member’s murders.
But nothing more. We need something solid. ”
“I think if we start by talking to them together, we might be able to get someone to mess up and say something they shouldn’t,” Maya said. “Maybe we need to go there with our own crazy idea.”
“I’m afraid to ask,” Lucas said.
Maya elbowed him. “Wuss. No, what if we said that we believe Josh killed not only Amber, but also Sydney? That we think Elena was onto something with Perez’s innocence? If we play it right, then maybe we can gain their trust and get someone to say something they shouldn’t.”
“It’s worth a try,” Spencer agreed. “I will warn you, though, as a defense attorney, if I were representing the senator, I would make sure this interview never made it in front of a jury.”
“But as an officer, maybe it will give us what we need to get evidence that can be presented to a jury,” Maya countered.
“True. I like the way you think,” Spencer said. “It’s not too late for you to go to law school.”
Juniper let out a little whine, which made Maya laugh. “No offense, but no thanks.”
“Josh always told me that same thing,” Spencer said. He glanced at his phone. “Natalia and Laura are about done shopping. She said they’ll be back at the Airbnb in about an hour and a half.”
“Perfect,” Maya said. “Let’s finish going through this evidence and then plan our questions.”
Juniper lay back down and gave a big sigh.