“What’s it about?”
“Last Christmas, Kincaid was held hostage by a gunman at the hospital morgue and apparently saved the lives of the other hostages, then helped catch a mercy killer. The crime blog pulled from articles and an interview with an unnamed source, but according to him, no one figured it out until Kincaid came along and put disparate information together. And then I was talking to a friend of mine in Texas—”
“Texas? I thought you hated the South.”
“I didn’t go down to visit him, good God, I used the phone. He was privy to the details of Operation Heatwave, which was a multiagency sting in the greater San Antonio area. Took down wanted felons, bail jumpers, et cetera. Kincaid was part of it—not only part of it, but word is she went undercover to rescue a group of orphaned boys who were being used by the cartels as mules. He wasn’t positive about the details—he thinks they might have been foster kids, because shortly after Heatwave was over, details came out about a corrupt social worker and he suspects there was a connection. But without making inquiries, we won’t know the truth. But I did find out one fact.”
“Tell me,” Max said, watching the door closely. The last thing she wanted was Lucy walking into the room while she was talking about it.
“She solved the murder of Harper Worthington.”
“The husband of that corrupt congresswoman? Who was caught taking bribes but then was killed or something?” Max hated politics, and she hadn’t followed the case considering it was Texas.
“She was murdered by the cartels she was laundering money for.”
“I hate politics.”
“Which is why you don’t remember the case. But it was huge. And your pal Kincaid was in the middle of it.”
“As a rookie.”
“Apparently.”
The door opened and Max said, “I have to go, can you get that information on Sharpe? I sent you everything I have.”
“I’ll call in Debbie.”
“Is she the one who likes baseball?”
“That’s Trinity. Debbie is the best fact-checker we have and adopts every stray animal on the planet.”
“I owe her.”
“Buy her a year supply of dog and cat food and I think she’d be happy.” Ben hung up.
“All good?” Max asked Lucy.
“Dillon is calling Nelia.” Lucy was distracted. She glanced out the window to where David was still on his phone.
“That doesn’t really answer my question,” Max said. “You look troubled.”
“Let’s say we get everything we want—proof that Danielle Sharpe was in each city at the time of the murders. That she worked with one of the parents. That she lost her son. Even if we can prove that her husband was having an affair, none of that proves that she’s the killer. We have no physical evidence. We don’t have probable cause for a search warrant. We have some circumstantial evidence that doesn’t really mean anything, except to us. She gets a good lawyer, we don’t even get to talk to her.”
“Then we’ll talk to her before she even knows she’s a suspect.”
“I can’t. I’m a federal agent, if I go and talk to her I’m going to be tipping my hand. And if I lie about who I am, then anything I learn can be thrown out.”
“I can talk to her. I’m a reporter. Believe me, I’m used to pulling information out of people who don’t want to talk.”
“Maybe,” Lucy said, but she didn’t seem happy about it.
“This is my job, and I usually don’t work with a cop for this exact reason—you can’t do what I can do.”
David walked back inside. “In a word, yes. Danielle Sharpe was interviewed by Santa Barbara PD. She worked for the same law firm as Doug Porter, joined six months after she left San Diego. She was interviewed not because she was a suspect, but because she was Porter’s personal legal secretary and was required to turn over certain documents and calendars. She’s also the one who told the police about the affair—though she didn’t call it that. She said he was out with a client and gave the name and location. According to Porter’s brother-in-law—the cop I’ve been talking to—Porter was surprised she knew the information, but she said she thought Porter was working off-book for a client, against the policy of the law office. She claimed she didn’t know he was cheating on his wife.”
“She knew because she stalked him,” Max said, glancing at Lucy for confirmation.
Lucy nodded. “That’s exactly right.”
“Why didn’t he know?” Max asked. “Porter admitted he didn’t know she had the information.”
“Because his son was dead,” David said. “He wasn’t thinking about anything else but his son and his family.”
“David’s right,” Lucy said. “Unless the police had a reason to draw his attention to his assistant, he wouldn’t have thought about it. David, I really would like to talk to Chris Donovan’s mother.”
“I haven’t attempted to contact her,” David said.
“My staff did,” Max said, “and she blew us off. But I have her contact information.”
“She knows this woman, I’m positive.”
“Danielle worked with the fathers.”
“Chris’s father worked in computers. His mother is an attorney, right? Private practice?”
Max confirmed. “She and her partner worked in tax law.”
“Partner?” Lucy asked.
“Yes,” Max flipped through her binder of background information. “Sandra Gillogley.”
“We talk to her, then. Are they still partners?”
“Yes.”
“There’s loyalty there, especially since they have a small office. Okay, I think the primary goal is to confirm that Danielle Sharpe worked there when Chris Donovan was murdered, then ask about the circumstances of employment.”
“As if we’re looking to hire her?” Max asked.
“Yes.”
“I’ll do it,” David said.
“Why you?” Max countered.
“Because you’re too damn nosy and you’ll make a lawyer nervous,” David said. “I know exactly what information you need.”
“It’s Saturday,” Max said. “She’s not going to be in the office. What’s your excuse calling her at home?”
“I don’t need one. We have her cell phone number. It’s what we pay that research staff of yours for.”
David sat down at the desk, wrote some notes, and dialed. He put his finger to his lips, then put his phone on speaker.
“Hello.”
“Sandra Gillogley, please.”
“This is Sandra. Who’s this?”
“David Kane, assistant to Mr. Revere at Sterling Revere Hopewell in Menlo Park.”
Max was impressed. David had used her family’s law firm.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Kane?”
“I’m calling regarding a résumé that has come across my desk. I’m fact-checking details.”
“Go ahead.”
“Did Ms. Danielle Sharpe work for your firm from 2011 through 2013?”
“Yes, she did. July of ’11 through December of ’13.”
“Under her duties she listed legal secretary responsibilities as well as light office work, preparation of filings, and the like.”
“Correct.”
“What was the workload of your office? Light, moderate, heavy?”
“Light, though during tax season extremely heavy.”
“Was Ms. Sharpe capable if handling the variety of workloads?”
“Mostly.”