“But there’s no physical evidence,” Sean said. “And no witnesses.”
Fallon took a sip of her Diet Coke. She considered her words. “It’s rare that a prosecution has everything. You know that it’s not like television, and, without a confession, most murderers would walk. Here we have a sophisticated perp who won’t confess, so we have to go where the evidence leads. And it leads only one place: Malik Montgomery.”
“Like I said on our call, it just doesn’t make sense how someone so smart would be dumb enough to leave Abby’s phone at his house and turned on so it could be traced. Or how he would erase the video except for parts incriminating himself.”
“My experience has been that even smart people do incredibly stupid things in the stress of covering up their crimes.” It was a fair but unsatisfying answer.
“Did you look into my daughter’s e-mail account?”
Fallon’s lips tightened. “We’re looking into it, Sean. But one step at a time. And you’re forgetting we have other evidence. Today we need to focus on the motion to suppress…”
“What other evidence?”
Fallon let out a breath. “Like that Abby visited the Supreme Court Police office the day she was killed. She reported that a law clerk had threatened her and she wanted to know what could be done about it without ruining his career. We have a police report showing she was there that afternoon.”
This knocked Sean back in his seat. That night at the Supreme Court when they searched for Abby the chief of the court’s police hadn’t mentioned this. He probably didn’t know. Some low-level officer probably interviewed Abby and the report wasn’t taken seriously until after she was killed.
“That’s pretty damn important. Why hadn’t someone told me this sooner?”
Fallon put her hand on Sean’s arm. In a soft voice, she said, “I know this is terrible. I cannot imagine what you’re going through. But Sean, Malik Montgomery murdered your daughter. Can we count on your help tomorrow?”
Sean hesitated, then nodded. The group made their stiff good-byes. As he left, Sean noticed Fallon and her hound-faced colleague meet eyes. They were concerned.
In the hallway, he saw Carl Martinez, the chief of the Supreme Court Police. He was probably there about the hearing as well. Sean felt a surge of anger that the court’s police could’ve possibly prevented Abby’s murder.
“Sean,” the chief said, walking over. “It’s good to see you. How are you holding up?”
Sean gave a been better tilt of the head. His jaw tightened as he debated whether to bring up Abby’s report to the Supreme Court Police.
The chief said, “It’s hard not to lose your faith in everything when you lose a child. When someone takes them from you.” There was something about the chief’s tone, the look in his eyes. There was a knowing melancholy to it.
“You know?” Sean heard himself ask. He wasn’t one to seek comfort in others and had shut down even the thought of attending a parent support group. But at this moment, he wanted to speak with someone who knew. Someone who may have the answers on how to survive the After.
The chief studied Sean. “Hit-and-run,” he said after a long moment.
“Does it ever get better?” Sean asked.
The chief took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Patti Fallon, who must have heard them talking, stepped into the hallway. “We’re ready for you, Carlos…”
“I’ll be just a second,” he said.
Fallon hesitated, but ducked back into the room.
The police chief contemplated Sean’s question another couple of seconds. “The only thing that helped me was getting the son of a bitch who did it.” The chief then looked deep into Sean’s eyes and said, “And, you can trust me on one thing: tomorrow we’re gonna get the bastard who killed your daughter.”
The chief then did something unsettling. Something that explained why he hadn’t mentioned Abby coming to the police office to complain about a law clerk. Something that explained how this new piece of highly incriminating evidence against Malik suddenly surfaced. The chief looked Sean in the eyes. And he winked.
CHAPTER 70