Page 12 of The System

“Next to the guest room where you’re letting your ex-girlfriend sleep,” Ada pointed out.

“It’s the Nick May case,” Dylan blurted out. “We’ve made an arrest.”

“Nick May? That murder you’ve been working for years?” Carina asked.

“Yes. We found his wife, Marin. She’s being extradited from Florida, and you’ve just been assigned her case.”

“Domestic dispute or something, right?” Carina asked, trying to refresh her memory about the case Dylan had told her about before over dinner.

“Yes. Two domestic violence complaints by her before the murder that didn’t go anywhere. Fingerprints and DNA found, but we couldn’t match the DNA for sure until now.”

“You have her DNA?” Carina asked.

“Yes. Long story.”

“Tell her,” Ada suggested. “It’s an interesting one.”

Dylan sat down and leaned forward in her chair.

“She has a twin sister whom she doesn’t know about. They’re identical.”

“Who does?”

“Marin May. Her sister’s name is Kieran Hart. Seems on the up and up. She put her DNA into one of those websites, and I was trying for a familial match. So, I found her, thinking she was Marin on the run, but she’s not. She was adopted. They found her and Marin separately in an alley by a church.”

“Safe-haven baby?”

“Sounds like. Anyway, one was adopted. The other grew up in the system. We got Kieran’s DNA first, which matches her identical twin, so we now have Marin’s, too.”

“But she lived there. You’d have her DNA all over that house. That won’t do anything for the case,” Carina argued.

“We also have it on the murder weapon, so she pulled the trigger, at least, because there was skin found where it would’ve grabbed someone who’s inexperienced at firing a gun. Plus, we have it on the board. It’s touch DNA, which isn’t great, I know, but the wood didn’t burn up in the fire, and that was used to–”

“Hit him, right?”

“Pieces of wood were found in the back of his head, yeah,” Dylan replied.

“Okay. Well, I know what the defense attorney would say. We’ve got twins with the same DNA. The other one could’ve done it to help her sister escape. Plus, skin on the trigger doesn’t mean she pulled it on him. She could’ve just as easily been at a shooting range or practicing with the gun unloaded.”

“The twins didn’t know the other existed. Technically, Marin still doesn’t know about Kieran, but Kieran only just found out. And I think you can handle the whole gun thing. You’re very good at your job.”

“Thank you,” Carina replied, not shying away from the compliment, regardless of the fact that it was only used to sweeten her taking the case. “And you’ve met with her?”

“Yes. And I believe her, too,” Dylan shared. “I’ve got nothing showing up anywhere that says they knew of each other. I also talked to Kieran again just yesterday and asked if I could review her financials. Not only did she volunteer without hesitation, but there was nothing; no indication that she might have helped Marin financially. Besides, we only have Marin’s prints in the house, so while twins have the same DNA, their prints are still different.”

“But since most of the house burned down in the fire, I can already see the defense suggesting that this Kieran’s prints could’ve been there; they just happened to burn, or she wore gloves for the crime.”

“Well, like I said, you’re an amazing attorney, so I’m sure you could prove to them that that wasn’t the case,” Dylan replied. “You could even put her on the stand; get her alibi out there.”

“For eight years ago?” Carina asked. “Isn’t that when this happened? I doubt she remembers where she was or what she was doing. We’ll just have to see, I guess. This is a weird one, huh?”

“You can say that,” Dylan agreed. “I feel like Kieran’s world just turned upside down.”

“Dylan invited her to dinner, too,” Ada said.

“You did?”

“Not tonight. The other day at the diner. I was waiting for Ada, and I called Kieran and left a message. It was more if she needed to talk to someone. Not that I understand what she’s going through, exactly… but her sister was missing, technically. I happen to know a thing or two about that. And we’d just found her.”

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