Chapter Nine #3
“She did or at least didn’t want to take the chance that he was bluffing.”
“He wouldn’t have let the child go.”
“I know that and so did she. She said she went into the building knowing that he intended to kill her before she could tell anyone where he was. But she couldn’t allow him to kill the child.
So she went in knowing she might not come out.
Her story goes that he shot at her as soon as he saw her walk through the back door.
She was wearing a vest under her jacket, so she kept moving and he shot her arm.
She returned fire, hitting him in the arm that wasn’t holding the child.
He dropped his gun, she pocketed it. He wouldn’t let the child go.
Held her around the throat. She told him that the cops knew where he was and that there was no way out.
That’s when he set the house on fire. She’d smelled gasoline as soon as she’d entered the house and had been afraid that he’d burn it all down.
He was an arsonist, after all. He dropped the match and the place went up so fast. He grabbed the child and ran.
She gave chase and snatched the kid out of his arms. The child was screaming in fear by this point and the fire was loud.
He attacked her, trying to get the kid back and to stop her from escaping.
She shot him again and got away. Right after that famous photo was taken, she told the first responders exactly where he was and that she’d disarmed him.
By the time the firefighters got to him, he was dead.
She’d shot him in the leg and hit an artery. He bled out.”
“But she wasn’t charged.”
“No. The physical evidence supported her story and the child was able to corroborate as well. That’s not why I called you.
The home belonged to the jumper’s ex-girlfriend.
Cathy Martinelli. She and the jumper had an on-again-off-again love-hate thing going on for years.
They’d fight, break up, get back together.
The ex-girlfriend threatened Randolph publicly.
Said it was Randolph’s fault that she lost her house and her boyfriend.
Said if the cops didn’t arrest her, and I quote, ‘I’ll take you out myself.
’ She was found murdered two weeks later, in the jumper’s apartment. Knocked out and then strangled.”
Just like Dianne. “I see,” he murmured, because he didn’t know what else to say. “That was the homicide she was suspected of committing?”
“It was.”
“Why? Solely because of the threat or was there physical evidence?”
“Ms. Randolph’s hair was found on the carpet next to the body. Just a single strand of hair.”
What the hell? No. No way. But…
Her fingerprints were found on Dianne’s murder weapon. He’d believed her explanation, that she’d handled it the day before. He’d believed her alibi, too.
“She wasn’t charged, though,” he said, relieved his voice was level.
“No, she’d been in the apartment. Bounty hunters can enter the fugitive’s residence without a warrant.
The landlord let them in. This was hours before the hostage was taken, so the SFPD wasn’t involved yet.
Ms. Randolph was fortunate. She had an airtight alibi for the time of the arsonist’s ex-girlfriend’s murder.
Randolph was in Phoenix in the ER getting a CAT scan because a fugitive’s crazy girlfriend jumped off a roof and took her down as she and another hunter approached the property where they were hiding. ”
“I hadn’t heard about that,” Ronan said. “Have you solved the ex-girlfriend’s homicide?”
“Not yet. It’s gone cold.”
And suddenly, so was Ronan. He didn’t like the shiver that was racing down his spine. “Why tell me now?”
“Because she’s involved again in the murder of someone while searching for a fugitive. I figured you should know.”
“But you knew she hadn’t done that crime.”
“She didn’t, but she could have paid someone to do it. She has the money. We looked at her finances but didn’t find anything. She was entirely cooperative, even when her boss tried to make her stop.”
“That sounds familiar.”
“Yeah, it’s never a good day when I have to cross swords with Lambert, but Randolph was cooperative all the way through.
She even voluntarily provided her DNA when we asked.
We cleared her because we couldn’t find any evidence to show that she’d planned the woman’s murder or paid someone else to do it, and she had that unshakable alibi.
I wasn’t convinced of her innocence back then, but I couldn’t prove her guilt.
Anyway, do with this what you like, but now you know the whole story. ”
“Thank you, Lieutenant. I appreciate it. Have a good day.” Ronan ended the call but didn’t get up. The spring in his step was gone.
This wasn’t the first time Elle had been involved with a murder. Not the first time there’d been physical evidence tying her to the crime.
She hadn’t mentioned this to him. Hadn’t told him her DNA had been present at another murder scene. It made him wonder what else she hadn’t told him.
And he wasn’t sure what to do about that.