Page 33 of Shadow of Justice
“I know,” I said, reaching for Bree’s hand.
“You have to make him pay,” she said. “If Jamie really killed Ellie, then wormed his way into her family like that … well, there’s no punishment too harsh for him. I mean that. I just wish I could have seen it twenty years ago.”
I saw Gus’s face harden to stone across the table. I knew the same thought would torture him until the grave.
12
“This is accurate,” I said, my eyes scanning the forensic report in front of me. “They’re sure?”
“They’re sure,” Gus said. “The lab geeks were excited by this one. There’s all kinds of stuff in there about wear patterns. The type of metal. But yeah. They’re sure. The earring Jamie Simmons had in that box is the mate to the one found with Ellie’s remains. There’s even some stuff in there about the photographs of her wearing them. Again, the wear patterns are a match. It’ll hold up.”
“It’ll hold up past a suppression hearing,” I said. “At least I hope. I’m still gonna have a fight convincing a jury of all this. I just need somebody on the stand that can get through the science of it without boring them to death. But this is good, Gus. This is … I don’t even know what this is. We can’t tell the family. We can’t let this get out. We’ve had enough leaks.”
“It won’t come from my office,” he said. “Still waiting on some labs. The lock of hair Simmons had in his possession didn’t have roots attached. So DNA’s a no go. But Ellie Luke dyed her hair. They’re working on matching the coloring to what Ellie used. There were also two pubic hairs embedded into the threads of the underwear Simmons had in that drawer. Thosedidhave roots attached. We might get a hit off them.”
“But we don’t know when he got those,” I said. “We don’t know if Ellie was wearing them the night she died or if he collected them later when he was at her house. At best, we can prove he was obsessed with her.”
“You can prove he knew where her body was and went treasure hunting off it, Mara.” Gus’s whole posture reminded me of a cobra about to strike. He puffed his chest out, shoulders back. I knew he didn’t want to hear what I had to say. But I had to think like a prosecutor. It only mattered what I could prove in court.
“This is good,” I said. “Let me know when you have the rest of the labs back. But I’m confident in the charging document. Hojo’s going to sign off on aggravated murder. We’ll go from there.”
Gus’s shoulders relaxed. I knew that was what he wanted to hear. I didn’t say the rest of it. Though I was confident in what to charge Jamie Simmons with, I was far less confident about what I could convict him of.
“You’ll know what I know as soon as I know it,” Gus said. “Tell Hojo he’s doing a good job.”
“So are you,” I said. Gus didn’t answer. I knew he carried too much guilt about not zeroing in on Simmons sooner. For now, there was no point trying to convince him otherwise. That would take time.
“I’ll be in touch,” he said, then turned on his heel. He nearly ran into Caro as she stood in the doorway. They exchanged brief pleasantries, but whatever Caro wanted, she clearly didn’t want Gus to hear it. She waited until he’d disappeared down the hall, then turned to me.
“Mara,” she said. “Bennett Cutler is in the conference room. He wants a few minutes with you.”
Cutler? What the hell was Simmons’s defense lawyer doing here already? Thank God Caro had the presence of mind to get him out of sight before Gus saw him.
“Simmons hasn’t even been arraigned yet,” I muttered. “He can’t possibly be here begging for some plea deal.”
“He was pretty adamant about seeing you,” she said. “As if you’ve got nothing better to do.”
“It’s okay,” I said, hoping it was.
“You want him where he is or should I walk him back here?”
“I’ll go to the conference room. I don’t want him getting too comfortable.”
I grabbed a pad of paper and pen, then walked down the hall. Cutler stood in front of the book shelves, perusing our collection. He smiled when I walked in and declined Caro’s offer of refreshments.
“I won’t take up too much of your time,” Cutler said. “I have another appointment.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t make one with me,” I said.
“Didn’t think I needed one. I can’t imagine you’ve got anything more pressing than Ellie Luke’s case.”
“That’s pretty presumptuous of you, Mr. Cutler,” Caro snapped.
“It’s okay,” I whispered to her.
“You’ve got fifteen minutes,” Caro said. “Ms. Brent is due in court.” She closed the door behind her and gave me a sharp look. God bless her for having my back.
“What’s this about, then?” I asked.
