“So you can vouch for him?”
“Absolutely. First Joe Brighton left. He said he’d spoken his mind and was washing his hands of the whole thing. Then Walker said it was late and he was tired and that it’s a free country, so Lara had the right to speak out if she wanted. Nathan Oliver kept pacing, saying he had to get going with the communications he’d need to issue if she did make some kind of statement. Walker said that was it for the night, we all needed to sleep.”
“Thank you for trying to help me,” she said.
As she sat there, the door opened. Matt came in with a small, slim man carrying a briefcase. “This is over,” the other man said. “Ellery, we’re getting you processed out. You’re free to go.”
Ellery Manheim looked almost as stunned as he had when he’d first seen the tongue in his drawer.
Meg glanced at Matt, who nodded.
The attorney came forward and dropped a stack of papers on the table between Manheim and Meg.
“Affidavits,” the attorney said. “Sworn statements from eye witnesses showing that Ellery Manheim couldn’t possibly have committed the murders. He has positive and proven alibis for the nights Genie Gonzales and Karen Grant disappeared. Ellery, you’ve been framed. And we don’t even have to go to court to prove your innocence. All charges are being dropped.”
*
The rest of the afternoon was crammed with press conferences.
Matt was required to take part in one; he and other officers spoke with the DC mayor, telling the press that yes, the tongues had been sliced from the mouths of the dead women and all of them had now been found. Yes, Ellery Manheim had been arrested—and then cleared. What had originally appeared to be the case of a deranged serial killer might actually be a campaign to oust Congressman Walker. Police and federal agencies had withheld the information about the tongues to prevent that knowledge from compromising the investigation. It continued to be an active case that was being pursued by every law officer on the northeastern coast.
Matt was satisfied with the conference; he believed in honesty with the public, only holding back when it mattered. But once information got out—as it did after the arrest and release of Ellery Manheim—it was best to make sure that it was fact and not rumor.
He and Meg watched as Walker held a press conference himself that day. He proclaimed that he’d still be speaking in Gettysburg. He was all the more determined, he said, to see that his platform, so similar to the moderate platform put forward by the late Congressman Hubbard, was heard and understood by the American people.
Later that afternoon, Krewe members gathered around the table in the large meeting room at their office. Everything had changed so swiftly. Matt reflected that he’d predicted a long day, but nothing like this.
Meg sat beside him, and they listened as Angela used her whiteboard to point out where they were with the case. “We know that Ellery Manheim couldn’t have killed two of the women. His lawyer was smart enough to provide sworn statements and videotaped interviews. The surveillance at Congressman Walker’s house proved that Ellery was still in the house at five o’clock every night. Will Chan has gone over the surveillance footage himself. It wasn’t tampered with in any way. We don’t know exactly what day and time Cathy Crighton disappeared, so we can’t prove who was where when. But considering the fact that Dr. Wong has stated the murders are all by the same killer—and Kat has corroborated this—there was no reason for the judge to do anything other than clear Ellery Manheim.”
“I do agree with Dr. Wong’s findings,” Kat said. “Same killer.”
“That leaves us with two theories to follow,” Matt began. “The first is that someone with training in espionage and assassination is trying to oust Congressman Walker. Or, and more likely in my opinion, someone—or more than one someone—in Congressman Walker’s retinue is responsible. Some kind of conspiracy, perhaps. But Walker’s given the authorities complete freedom to search his home, his offices and everywhere else imaginable. Including his cars,” he added.
“The techs still have the cars,” Logan Raintree said. “So far, no sign of blood or any indication that any of them was used in a kidnapping or murder. We’re working every angle, we’re investigating every argument Walker’s had in Congress, every person who might have a grievance against him. They’re handling a lot of that from the main offices at Quantico. We’ll be doing some of that, too, but we’re concentrating on Walker’s circle. We’re not alone on this case. We have the assistance and cooperation of the Capitol police.”
There was silence for a minute; they all knew that Walker had enemies. But Lara Mayhew had disappeared after a meeting with Walker and his aides, not with any of his known enemies.