Chapter 36
Eric underestimated him. So did the four deputies standing between A.C. Dover and the witness box. He launched himself over the small railing separating the gallery from the center of the courtroom and arced through the air, trying to get his hands around Jenna Rodney’s neck.
“You killed me!” he shouted. “You stupid witch, you killed us both! Shut up! I told you to shut up! Liar. She’s a liar.”
Three deputies wrestled Dover to the ground. He spat at them. He arched his back but was quickly immobilized.
“I didn’t do this,” Jenna said from the witness box. “Whatever he tells you. I had nothing to do with this! I didn’t know. I swear. I didn’t know. Mrs. Loomis, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. He promised me nobody would get hurt.”
Addison Quick had turned to stone. He stood with his mouth gaping open, staring at A.C. Dover as the deputies dragged him to his feet and hauled him in cuffs right past the jury and out of the courtroom.
Castor banged his gavel. Everyone in the courtroom had leapt to their feet, including the twelve members of the jury. In the witness box, Jenna Rodney collapsed into tears.
It was easy to envision what had happened the morning A.C. Dover killed Tom Loomis after that. Two hours later, in a cold interrogation room, Jenna Rodney agreed to cooperate.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” she said through hysterical tears. “He promised me nothing bad would happen. It was just supposed to be money. He said they were going to kill him. There are people he owed money to. Bookies. It was fifty thousand dollars and they were going to kill him.”
Sharon DePaul sat across from her in the interrogation room. Jenna backed her chair against the wall as the camera above her recorded every word she said. Beside her, Addison Quick took notes.
“He was only supposed to come in after the Loomises left and take the jewelry out of the box in the closet. That was it. Tom wouldn’t have even realized it was gone.
Katy didn’t even know he kept it in there.
They were all things he bought for some other woman he had been engaged to a million years ago.
She never wore that stuff. Some of it belonged to Tom’s late mother. ”
Eric and Jeanie went to the police station to observe Jenna’s interview. I went with Katy to expedite her release. Joe and Emma arrived shortly after to take her home.
Home. Not the one she shared with Tom. She could never face going there again. In a few weeks, Jeanie would arrange to have a company clean it out and get it ready to list. In the meantime, Emma would let Katy stay with her.
I got to the station just as Jenna was finishing up her statement. Eric sat next to Jeanie, watching Jenna through the one-way glass. Sharon DePaul and Addison Quick did the questioning.
“Are they going to charge her?” I asked Eric.
“Technically,” he said, “they could get her for aiding and abetting. Accessory after the fact. But she’s been pretty consistent that she didn’t know A.C.
would kill anybody. She claims she didn’t realize he had until well after she went home that morning.
She found his bloody clothes stuffed in a garbage can. ”
“How could she not know?” I asked.
“He was supposed to be in and out before anyone knew he was there,” Jeanie said.
“And he was supposed to come after they’d both left.
She has no idea why he showed up at four in the morning.
Jenna’s reactions that morning when she got to the house were genuine.
She actually thought Katy killed Tom and that she walked in on something. ”
“A.C.’s not talking so far,” Eric said. “Not to the cops. But Jenna says he talked plenty to her after the fact. Once she realized what he’d done, he threatened to kill her too if she told anyone. So far, she’s been pretty convincing on that.”
“Do not tell me she gets away scot-free,” I said.
“She’ll plead out,” Jeanie said.
“He said Tom started to wake up,” Jenna said behind the glass.
“Jenna,” Sharon said. “You have to help me understand this. I don’t buy it that Katy Loomis slept through all of this.”
“She’s still at it,” I said. “Unbelievable.”
“I wasn’t there!” Jenna wailed. She had probably said that many times up until that point.
“I only know what A.C. told me. He said he walked in and the jewelry box wasn’t where I said it would be.
I don’t know how he could have missed it.
But he went to Tom’s nightstand and started to open it.
He must have made a noise or something. Tom opened his eyes.
Aaron panicked. He said Tom started to sit up and made a lunge for him.
Aaron reacted. He told me it happened so fast. He slit Tom’s throat.
He told me he went on autopilot. Like he didn’t know what he was doing.
He just reacted. He promised me Tom died quickly and didn’t feel any pain. ”
“Oh, he felt pain,” Eric muttered. “He just lost blood so fast he couldn’t have been conscious for very long.”
“And Katy? Why not kill her too?” Sharon asked.
Jenna shrugged. “A.C. swore she never woke up. Or he didn’t stick around long enough to wait for her to.
He ran out of there. He told me he doesn’t remember dropping the knife.
I swear. When I called 911 … when I talked to you that first day, I thought Katy was guilty.
I couldn’t believe A.C. was capable of something like this. ”
“But she knew when she took the stand,” I muttered. “She knew every day after that first one. She told him where to find the key.”
“She did more than that,” Eric said. “You were right that Tom told Jenna about it early on when she started working for him. She claims she never had to use it and had almost forgotten about it until A.C. convinced her to go along with this scheme. Jenna took the key from the brick and gave it to him. She claims she didn’t ask any other questions after she told him when the Loomises would be out of the house. ”
“He wore gloves, a mask, a ski cap,” Jeanie said. “The whole burglar kit.”
“Which is why there were no prints or other physical evidence of him being there,” I said.
“Maybe twenty minutes ago, Jenna told Sharon where she could find the clothes A.C. was wearing. Jenna kept them as an insurance policy. Can you believe that? She buried them in a plastic bag under some rose bushes at her mother’s house.
There’s a crew out digging them up as we speak. This is locked, Cass.”
“I can’t listen to it anymore,” Jeanie said. “I’ll head over to Emma’s. See if I can get some dinner down her and Katy.”
My own stomach started to growl. Ever vigilant, Eric grabbed me by the hand. “Come on,” he said. “There’s nothing else we can do here. It’s time to let Sharon and Addison do their jobs.”
We walked out of there. Eric left word that if DePaul needed to talk to either one of us, she’d know where to find us.
As I approached my car, I noticed another car parked behind it, boxing me in. Tallon Shipley sat behind the wheel.
“Cass,” Eric said.
“It’s okay,” I told him. “I’ll meet you at home.” Eric gave Tallon a withering look, then split off to walk to his own car.
Slowly, I walked up to Tallon’s windshield.
“Talk about pulling a rabbit out of a hat,” she said. “I have to admit, I’m kicking myself that I didn’t figure it out first. An obituary?”
I nodded.
“That was a hell of a risk though,” she said. “Those initials could have been a coincidence.”
I spun my keys around my finger. “They could have.”
“But you knew your client was innocent this whole time,” Tallon said, not bothering to mask her sarcasm.
“I knew how to do my job, that’s all. Which is more than I can say for Detective DePaul on this one.”
She let out a whistle. “Best lawyer in town. I have to admit. Up until a couple of hours ago, I thought she did it. And I thought your brother was involved. I happen to think I’m a pretty good judge of character. Because I think that’s what you thought too.”
I stayed silent. Tallon waited a moment, then put her phone on the dashboard. Not surprisingly, she’d been recording our conversation. She reached over and hit the stop button.
“Ten minutes,” she said. “On the record. No gimmicks. No gotchas. Just you telling your story about how you solved it. It’ll make a hell of a final episode.”
“I have a feeling you’ve got something planned for that already. The world still doesn’t know who you really are. You’re the story, Tallon. I’m not.”
She laughed. “I had to at least ask. I tip my hat to you, Cass. That was some impressive investigative work you did.” The sarcasm left her voice. She extended her hand to shake mine.
“Thank you,” I said, accepting her hand. “Yours was impressive too. Lissa Daughtry? The nurse at the hospital?”
Tallon smiled. “How’d you figure that out?”
“It’s a small town,” I said. “We’re all only about three degrees of separation here at most. You told me you were good at your job. I can see that. I can’t say I like the way you went about it. Dragging my family into it was unnecessary.”
“Really? Seems to me they’re the ones who dragged you. I’m starting to think being an only child has its perks.”
This got a genuine laugh out of me. Tallon reached into her glove box and pulled out a business card. She handed it to me. “In case you ripped up the last one. I wouldn’t mind working with you someday. I’d love to have you as a friend of the show. My legal pundit.”
Not in a million years, I thought. But I meant what I said. This woman was good at her job. She was also someone I’d rather have as an ally than an enemy. Or at least declare a neutral truce.
“Good luck with your show,” I said. “I’m just glad Tom Loomis’s killer will get the justice he deserves. That’s all I ever wanted.”
Her expression grew serious. “Me too. You may not believe that, but it’s true.”
I reached inside my back seat and came back with a business card. “I think I do believe it,” I said. “In a weird way, we’ve been on the same side this whole time.”
I handed her my card. She took it with a smile, then put her car in reverse and merged back into the street.