Page 57 of Only Girl Alive

“If we do that, we’ll be out of a job. I for one could use a simple gambling debt and murder with a side of money laundering.” She popped the gummy bear into her mouth. She was back in work mode.

They smiled and some of the tension eased.

“Can you review what I have?” Ray asked, and turned the laptop in Eve’s direction.

She made a small change to the probable cause statement and made the outside description of the Walls’ home clearer. Ray and Collin went to Eve’s room and moved the printer back into the van. They needed it set up for the next day. They printed the warrant and returned to Clyde’s room. Eve signed so it was ready to fax if Tamm came through.

The call came in five minutes later.

“He’s new, he’s Mormon but not fundamentalist. I think he’s a good bet and I have a home number.”

How Tamm managed it, she didn’t know.

Judge Nelson didn’t answer the phone so Eve left a message, hoping he would get back to her quickly. If not, she would try again in the morning.

The call came through as soon as she’d finished the thought.

“Detective Bennet,” she answered. “Thank you for calling me back,” she said after he gave his name. “I wouldn’t have called, your honor, if it wasn’t important.”

“What do you have for me?” he asked, his tone neither accommodating nor angry.

Eve told him everything. She outlined the interference from the church and her belief they were covering the crime because it was committed by a child. The judge listened without interruption.

“Is there another possibility?” he asked when she finished.

“Someone coerced her. Either the evidence holds up with additional information or it won’t. The warrant is crucial.”

“Send it and if everything is there, I’ll sign.”

“Thank you, your honor.”

“You’ll need to get it to the courthouse within twenty-four hours for the official time stamp. I’m high on discretion in my office so make sure you deliver it to my personal secretary. I can’t promise word won’t get out, but you have a better chance this way.”

She appreciated the heads-up.

“We’re doing a grid search from the Walls’ home to the murder scene at noon tomorrow. They’ll possibly figure it out when they see the route.” They discussed a few more particulars before the call ended.

Finally, Eve caught a break in this godforsaken county.

The warrant was electronically signed an hour later and Eve sent it to the printer.

Tamm answered before Eve heard the phone ring on her end.

“Thank you, you came through again. We’re serving the warrant in the morning and then doing an involved grid search. Could you work another miracle and see if a team from the lab could meet us at noon?”

“Consider it done. You need sleep. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“Thank you.” They disconnected and Eve looked at her team. “Whether we find something at the Walls’ home or not, we need to track the route Hannah would have taken. I’m not sure she went to the Walls’ at all, or that she’s been there since we arrived. It hasn’t rained and if she made the walk, maybe we can locate a print. We’ll stop at the Tanners’ and measure the boots in the entry room and I think I remember a pair of shoes in her closet.” Collin nodded his head in the affirmative that they were still there. “That will give us an approximate size.”

“Lucky we all love grid searches,” Ray said with a groan.

“Stop your whining,” Clyde told him.

Ray was joking. They all hated the monotony of grid searches and there was a lot of ground to cover. It would be easier with the added bodies from the state lab if Tamm could pull it off. Not that Eve doubted her. The woman could rule the world if she set her mind to it.

She knew her next statement would not go over well.

“I need to borrow a gun.”

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