Unintended Consequences - By Marti Green

Chapter

31





Mickey Conklin had expected Detective Cannon’s visit. Janine had asked him whether he’d ever had Stacy’s fingerprints taken. He’d forgotten all about it. They’d been walking through the mall and saw a sign that read, “Help Us Help Your Child.” He went to the booth to see what it was about. A registry of children’s fingerprints, in case anything happened to them. A surefire way to identify your child. He thought it was a good idea at the time.

“I’m really embarrassed to be asking you about this,” Cannon said. He was sitting on a couch in Mickey’s living room, a cup of coffee in his hand. “That investigator from New York keeps pushing me, and, well, I’m just here to get him off my back.”

“It’s fine. I’m glad you’re doing your job. I don’t mind you checking it out. I’d forgotten all about it. But I don’t get it. How could the fingerprints on some letter match Stacy’s?”

“It wasn’t Stacy’s fingerprints. Let me explain. Everybody has a unique set of markers on their fingerprints. A couple of those markers matched Stacy’s but not all. Sometimes that means it’s a close relative of Stacy’s.”

“You mean me or Janine?”

“That’s what the investigator is saying. But I’m sure it’s just a mistake.”

“How does that happen?”

Cannon put down the cup of coffee and leaned toward Mickey. “I wish I could tell you the feds were infallible, but they make errors just like anyone else. And remember, it was just a partial match. Maybe a few of the markers were the same and they called it Stacy’s, but it could just as easily have belonged to someone else.”

Mickey nodded. “Well, I hope they get it straightened out.”

Cannon coughed and squirmed in his seat. “Listen. I hate to ask you this, but I wouldn’t be doing my job otherwise. Do you remember where you were the day after that investigator visited you?”

Mickey thought for a moment. “Wait, let me check my appointments.” He pulled out his smartphone and scrolled to his appointment calendar. “Do you have the exact date?”

“April 15. Tax day.”

“Here it is. I was on the road that day. I called on a couple of accounts in Cleveland.”

“I’ll just need those names.”

Mickey laughed. “It’s a good thing I wasn’t carrying on an affair. You could really get me in trouble if you checked and I wasn’t there.”

“Ah, Mickey, you know I’m not trying to cause you problems. Look, with my schedule, I probably won’t even get to this for a few weeks. If then. I just had to ask.”

“Don’t worry, Hank. You’ve been great to our family. We really appreciate it.”

Cannon took out a notepad to write down the people Mickey had seen on his trip and then searched through his pockets for a pen. “Now, this is embarrassing. I don’t have anything to write with. Can I borrow a pen?”

“Sure,” Mickey said. He walked into the kitchen and came back with a pen. Cannon wrote down the names Mickey gave him and then stood up to leave. As Mickey walked him to the door, he asked, “So what’s happening with that guy on death row? The one the investigator is working for?”

“Oh, it’s going to be over for him soon. His time is up.”