Page 46 of Justice Delayed

“I’ll have to thank them.” Her heart clenched at the reminder of how sweet the support of family could be—and what her own family refused to offer. The laughter, inside jokes, and affection between the Trents and Brogan during last night’s dinner had only increased the ache in her own heart for what she had missed. “Will they be back soon?”

Brogan shook his head. “They have tickets to a concert at Wolf Trap and took a picnic to enjoy the grounds ahead of time.”

“That sounds lovely.” She’d been wanting to attend a concert at the popular local indoor/outdoor theater, but her work schedule didn’t afford many free nights, nor did her bank account allow for the price of a ticket.

He tapped the box, redirecting her attention. “Apparently, there was a bit of a tiff between the Fairfax County Police Department and the FBI around the time of Jesse’s disappearance, so the county only shared the bare minimum with the feds on the case.”

“The FBI files were incomplete?” That didn’t sound right.

“The agency only had summaries of the county’s interviews, so I don’t know if any agent asked the police for more or not.”

“Doesn’t that seem strange to you?” Melender set her coffee down, then reached in and plucked a thick folder from the stack.

Brogan shrugged. “I don’t think we should read too much into it. The FBI focused on the kidnapping aspect, but once you were arrested, their investigation didn’t continue with as much force.”

“I guess when you have a suspect in custody, there’s not much incentive to look for additional suspects.” Melender eyed the label on the folder.Jared Thompson. Inside, the heading on the first piece of paper read:Fairfax County Police Interview with Jared Thompson.Her hand shook, but she steadied her grip. After all this time, she would finally discover what her cousin had to say about the night of Jesse’s disappearance. His testimony at her trial hadn’t tallied with what she’d remembered from that night.

Brogan slid a yellow legal pad and pen across the table to her. “Jot down anything that doesn’t jibe with what you remember about the event and the days that followed. I’ll write down notes that don’t seem to match up with the trial transcript.”

She picked up the interview transcript and read.

Jared Quentin Thompson, age 19, attends Northern Virginia Community College

Resident address: 23014 Crescent Moon Drive, McLean, Virginia

Mother: Sandra Evans Thompson of San Jose, California

Father: Quentin L. Thompson of McLean, Virginia

Siblings: half-sister Jillian, half-brother Jesse

Location: Fairfax County Police Station in McLean, Virginia

Present: Detective Mark Livingston, Detective Richard Delaney

Livingston:Walk us through last night.

Jared:You want me to start when Jesse went missing?

Delaney:You know when that was?”

Jared:Nah, man.

Delaney:Where were you last night?

Jared:At home.

Livingston: All night?

Jared:Define night.

Livingston: Your stepmother states that you came home around 1 a.m.

Jared: Yeah, I meant, I wasn’t in the house when he went missing.

Livingston: How do you know you weren’t in the house when he went missing?

Jared: Ah, man, don’t try to trip me up. You know who my father is?

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