She pointed the controller, and the big-screen TV at the far end of the living room came to life.
What appeared on the screen was the corner of someone’s lawn. The scene was unwavering, as if the camera were on a tripod. There was nothing else on-screen besides the yard—no people, no clues, not even any other houses. Just a lawn and a hedge, a sidewalk, and beyond that a little slice of street. At the edge of the screen, a curtain. Viewed through a window. A lawn and nothing moving.
So why was it so important?
Allison squinted at the date in the corner. It read 12/13.
The day Katie disappeared.
The back of her neck tingled. It was like watching a movie, waiting for the killer to jump out of his hiding place. Allison half expected to see Katie appear, walking Jalape?o, or maybe being hustled into the back of a windowless van.
But twenty seconds ticked by, thirty, and nothing changed. Nicole huffed impatiently. Cassidy took a sip from her glass. The lawn was a rich dark green, except in the corner centered in the camera. That part was patchy, more brown than green.
“This guy decided to videotape his lawn,” Cassidy said. “He was sure that when his neighbor came home from work at 4:00 p.m. she let her dog out and let it—encouraged it, in fact—to poop on his lawn. So he set this up with an auto timer.”
“And?” Allison prompted.
“And here’s his proof. It’s why he sent it to us.”
A pretty young woman with a spaniel on a leash walked into the frame. She was bundled up in a long black down coat, but her legs were bare and she wore high-heeled pumps. No sound. But Allison could see her lips moving, see her bending down, and Allison knew she was urging the dog to hurry. Finally, it squatted and did its business. And then she pulled it out of the camera’s view. As she did, she nearly collided with a man rushing down the sidewalk. He wasn’t out for a jog, not in a suit and a heavy overcoat. His face was twisted, his eyes wild, his mouth open as if he were panting.
Senator Fairview. Running in a panic.
“Where is this?” Allison said sharply. “And what direction was he coming from?”
“Northwest Portland,” Cassidy said. “And one block behind him is one of the entrances to Forest Park.”
Allison thought of how Fairview had danced around, never telling them the truth. There was no way he could deny this videotape.
“Give it to me.” She held out her hand. “I’m taking this to the grand jury so they can indict him.”
Cassidy walked to the player, popped out the tape, and handed it over.
As Allison’s hand closed on it, Nicole narrowed her eyes.
“That was easy. That’s gotta be a big scoop. And you’re just giving it up?”
Allison was about to defend Cassidy when she realized the other woman wasn’t saying anything.
“Is this a duplicate?” Nic demanded.
Cassidy took a sip from her glass before replying. “It’s not a dup.” Another sip. “The dup’s actually at work. That’s the original.”
Nicole wagged her finger threateningly. “You’re not thinking of airing this!”
“Hey, it’s my scoop.” Cassidy’s voice was mild. “I’m the one who found this tape, not you.”
“I need to get ahead of Fairview on this, Cassidy,” Allison said. “Every step of the way, he has misled us. All of us. Well, he can’t with this. Not if we don’t tip our hands. This is the evidence I need to get the grand jury to indict him. This guy’s as slippery as a seal. With this tape, I can finally pin him down.”
“I need the tape just as much as you do. If I don’t keep coming up with scoops, the station is going to pull me off this story. They keep pressuring me to let Madeline McCormick take over the coverage.”
Cassidy scrubbed her face with her free hand. She looked like an overtired child.
“Even though I’m the one who broke the story. I’m the one who made this story happen.”
Allison knew she had the subpoena power to force Cassidy to turn over the tape to the grand jury. But the reality was that red tape would make it nearly impossible. The Department of Justice would have to green-light the idea, and by that time it would be too late. The station would air the tape now and claim freedom of the press later. The best she could do was to work out a deal.
“Cassidy—this is about a murder. Isn’t that more important than ratings? I’m begging you—you have to hold on to this until after we arrest him. Once that happens, I’ll give you a twenty-four-hour window before we give it to anybody else.”
There was a long pause.
“Forty-eight,” Cassidy said finally. “I need it to be forty-eight. With forty-eight I can tell the management and Maddy to take a flying leap.”
Allison gritted her teeth. She didn’t have many options. “Okay. Forty-eight. But you have to promise me it won’t run until after he’s arrested.”