Robbie’s face took on a pained expression. “Sort of. It’s about the Rothenberg case more generally, but—yeah. All right. Let’s start with Rizzo. Jenny, I need to know. Are you making any progress in moving him out of the chief’s job?”
“Hard to say. Jake Goodwin getting hit by that TV truck has some folks on the town council questioning Rizzo’s priorities. But is it enough to get him voted out? Probably not without real proof of misconduct. Have you found anything we can use?” Jenny asked.
“It’s possible that Rizzo raided the overtime fund to pay for his outside-expert reports,” Robbie said.
“It’s possible, or he did?”
“I have a strong suspicion, but I can’t prove it yet. I don’t have the password to the accounts,” Robbie said.
“Who does?”
“Pam Grimaldi used to. Now it’s just Rizzo and his personal secretary, and she’s loyal to him.”
“Well, if we could prove Rizzo used overtime funds to pay for outside experts, and that’s why he didn’t have the money for traffic enforcement the day of Kate Eastman’s funeral, then yes, I could go to the council with that. People are upset enough about the impact on the soccer season that it could turn the tide. But if we can’t prove that? Do you have anything else?”
“I may be able to document problems with his handling of the Eastman case. Detective Charles came to me with concerns that Rizzo is suppressing evidence, just like that lawyer said in the press conference. Rizzo knew that it was Rothenberg’s own blood on the shirt, and he kept it quiet because it didn’t jibe with his theory of the case. He also knew based on phone records that the victim was having an affair with Dr. Saxman, but he did nothing about it.”
“A lot of people knew about that affair, Robbie. I knew, and I didn’t call the police.”
“You’re not the one trying to lock up the victim’s husband for murder and throw away the key, are you?”
“True,” Jenny said.
“Also, they got a call to the tip line days ago saying that evidence of the murder was hidden in Saxman’s car. Keisha wanted to get a warrant to follow up on that tip, and Rizzo’s been dragging his feet. She had to threaten to go over his head to you to get him to agree.”
“What evidence is in Ethan’s car?” Jenny asked, shocked.
“We don’t know yet. Because of the delay, they only got the warrant this afternoon.”
“Jesus,” Jenny whispered, going pale in the half-light.
Jenny had never believed that Griff would hurt Kate. But Ethan? That seemed more plausible given that the man was a known liar and cheat. How horrible for Aubrey if it was true, and for their children. And how dangerous for Jenny. Aubrey was unstable enough already. If things got worse for her, it was impossible to say how she might react, what she might say about Kate and their shared past, or to whom.
“If I was running the department,” Robbie said, “I would have searched that car the minute the tip came in, and maybe we’d have a different guy locked up by now. It’s dereliction of duty on Rizzo’s part if you ask me.”
“This case is such a minefield, Robbie. I don’t know what the answer is, but I’m not convinced that going after Dr. Saxman is a good idea, or even that it’s the right moment to get Rizzo fired.”
“Indecisiveness doesn’t suit you, Jenny,” Robbie said, an edge to his voice.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You need to make up your mind. I didn’t want to have to do this, but you’re leaving me no choice. Wait here, I have to show you something.”
Robbie got out and walked over to his own car, his footsteps echoing eerily in the empty garage. He came back carrying a bulky manila envelope, and placed it on the console between them. Something in his expression made her nervous.
“What’s in it?” Jenny asked.
“Open it and see,” he said.
Jenny turned on the task light. She opened the bulky envelope, reached in, and pulled out a second envelope, this one clear plastic, sealed with evidence tape. The label on it said that the item had been recovered by Officer Robert Womack at 9:30 P.M. the night before at a location described as “fence near bridge over Belle River, approx. 1 mi from River Road boat-launch parking lot.” Inside the plastic envelope was Tim’s favorite cap—the ratty, old Healy Construction cap that Jenny had been trying to get him to throw away for years. She turned the envelope over and examined the inside of the cap through the plastic to make sure. The initials “T.J.H.” were written on the label in faded permanent marker, right where she knew they would be.
“Why do you have Tim’s hat?”
“Because I found it, in a place it shouldn’t have been,” Robbie said.
“This says you found it at the bridge. Are you trying to imply something from this?” Jenny asked. She was beginning to feel nauseous, because the implication was clear.
“From the beginning I thought the victim probably went into the river from the bridge, not from the boat launch like Rizzo was saying. So I raised the idea with him, and he laughed me out of the room, which naturally pissed me off. I decided to prove him wrong. It was an ego thing on my part, frankly. Yesterday, on my own time, I went out to the bridge for a look-see. And I found Tim’s hat hooked on the fence, where you’d push it down to climb over. The ground had been disturbed there pretty recently.”
“I’m not sure where you’re going with this, Robbie,” Jenny said, though of course she knew, and it terrified her.
“When I first heard about this case—when I heard who the victim was, and how the body was found in the river—naturally I thought about Lucas Arsenault’s death and how the Arsenault family always blamed Kate. Look, Jen, I love Tim, and I can’t believe he would hurt anybody. I’m sure there’s some other explanation. But Tim had a motive. We both know he has anger-management issues. And this cap proves he was there recently. I’m not saying I think he did it. I’m just saying that somebody like Rizzo—who we know is capable of accusing someone on thin evidence, who has issues with you personally because he doesn’t like being told what to do—well, that’s not the guy you want in charge of the police department at a moment like this.”
“The fact that you found this cap at the bridge—if that’s even true—means nothing,” Jenny began, her voice shaking. “Tim could have been there for a million reasons. It was just Lucas’s birthday, and Tim is sentimental. He was probably there to throw flowers in the water or something. If you’re implying Tim had anything to do with Kate’s death—”
“No.”
“—then you can get out of my car right now.”
Robbie held up his hands. “Calm down. I said, I’m not implying that.”
“It sure sounds like you are. We both know you want the chief’s job, Robbie. And we both know this little stunt is intended to blackmail me into helping you get it.”
“Blackmail? Never. I’m trying to help out an old friend. And just so you know, I’m not making this up, Jenny. I have pictures of the cap stuck on the fence where I found it. I can show you on my phone.”