Page 30 of Maddy's Justice

“Well, let me see it,” Jefferson said to Maddy.

She held out her hand while Jefferson scrutinized the ring.

“Very nice. At least he’s not a cheap lawyer,” Jefferson said.

“He got it at a pawn shop,” Carvelli said.

“He did not!” Maddy almost howled. “He got it from a friend of Connie.”

“Oh, perfect. Has it cooled down enough to touch?” Jefferson asked.

“Stop it. Both of you. Besides, it’s legitimate,” Maddy scolded them.

“Sort of, mostly” Carvelli said.

“Here’s Grady,” Jefferson said then waved the young man in.

“We looked hard for these two women for three or four weeks with absolutely no luck,” the young black detective told them. “Went over their homes with a fine-tooth comb. Nothing. No sign of violence. Most of their clothing was gone and no luggage found. It looks like they simply packed up and took off.”

“Who reported them missing?” Carvelli asked even though he knew.

“Boyfriends. The boyfriends knew each other. The women were friends from work and the four of them casually socialized.

“We checked out the boyfriends and they were both clean. Good jobs, no criminal history. No reason to suspect them.

“We interviewed family, friends, work colleagues. Nothing. No indication of anything. They just packed up and left.”

Carvelli looked at Jefferson and said, “Your people did a good job but I’m not buying it. My, ah, friend has been unable to find even a trace of them.”

“Friend?” Wilson asked.

“Carvelli has a world class hacker in his pocket,” Jefferson explained.

“And he couldn’t find anything?” Wilson asked.

“Nothing and it doesn’t make sense,” Carvelli answered.

“They could be off the grid,” Jefferson said.

“Yeah, but why?” Maddy asked. “Why would two, intelligent, successful lawyers just drop out of society?”

“They’re dead, Owen,” Carvelli said. “There’s no other explanation.”

“I think so, too,” Wilson said. “But we found no evidence at all. Nothing.”

“Can we get a copy of this?” Carvelli asked referring to the file.

“Are you saying we did a half-ass job and now you’re gonna look into it?” an obviously annoyed Wilson asked.

“I’m saying you guys did an excellent job which is why I think they’re dead. Somebody, professionals, murdered them and made it look like they ran off. You’re not buying it and neither do we.”

“Why are you looking into this?” Jefferson asked.

Carvelli and Maddy looked at each other, then Maddy said, “Marc has a case that this may be relevant to. We don’t know yet. Grady, you guys did good. You’ll be the first to know if we turn up anything.”

“Okay.”

“Here,” Jefferson said holding a manila folder. “I already made a copy for you.”

---