Page 79 of Exposed

“Good thinking,” Mary said, looking over. “Again, I should’ve thought of that.”

“It’s just experience, Mary. Nothing else,” Bennie said after a moment, and Mary looked away, touched. She took a few steps forward, then Bennie caught up with her, and both women looked around, taking in the surroundings. The secondary parking lot was completely out of the action. The driving range and tennis courts were way back beyond the other cars, and ahead to the right was the clubhouse in the distance.

Mary turned around and looked up at the metal stanchions that held covered lights, which were located in each aisle of the regular parking lot. “I’m looking for the security cameras.”

Bennie turned around, squinting at the covered lights. “I think they’re hidden in the lighting fixture. But you can see how the range wouldn’t cover the far end of this lot, the secondary lot.”

“Right, but it would get the entrance to the primary lot.” Mary turned back again to the bushes. “Let’s go look there. I’m dying to see what’s on the other side.”

“Me too. We can measure later.” Bennie followed Mary and they fell into stride, walking across the parking lot, into the grass, and stopping at the fringe of the bushes, which automatically felt cooler.

“What kind of bushes are these?” Mary took out her phone and started taking pictures. The bushes were well established and had grown together, making a perfect screen from the parking lot. The photos would be for their own use back at the office, and she’d have to take some better ones later, for trial exhibits. Though she prayed it wouldn’t get that far.

“We used to call them sticker bushes.” Bennie reached in her purse and pulled out the measuring tape. “I want to see how wide this thicket is.”

“Agree, I’ll come with. You don’t have to go it alone.” Mary plunged into the thickets, turning sideways so she didn’t disturb it completely. She felt little thorns scratch her legs, and catch her suit jacket, but she kept going. Bennie did the same thing two bushes away, measuring at the same time, and they arrived at the far side of the bushes at roughly the same time.

“Six feet!” Bennie called out, retracting the measuring tape. “These bushes are six feet wide. That’s quite a barrier.”

“And then there’s these trees.” Mary looked up, and the oaks were tall, leafed almost all the way down the trunk. There was a grove of them, and the underbrush was thick with weeds andtangled overgrowth. She made her way through the trees, and so did Bennie on the other side, and both women went forward until they cleared the woods.

They found themselves standing on unmowed grass that bordered what appeared to be a service road that led to a metal gate, which stood propped open. Outside the gate was a street, situated perpendicular to the service road, and traffic traveled on the street, which appeared to be public.

“That’s good news,” Bennie said, shielding her eyes from the sun.

“Agree.” Mary squinted, then moved diagonally to get a parallax view and see the end of the service road. “Goes right off the property. It’s like a service entrance.”

“Nice. We’ll double-check it after we leave.”

“Could you see this road on Google Maps?”

“Yes.”

“So the killer could’ve looked on Google Maps and seen the road too. At this time of year, he would’ve known the bushes and trees provided cover. He doesn’t have to have come in a car, parked in any lot, or be a member of the club.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“And given that most people knew of Todd’s habits, it broadens the possibilities of who is the killer.”

“Agree.” Bennie nodded. “I think this would play very well for us before a jury. They have the video of Simon’s car, but they can’t argue that the access is restricted by the gatehouse or main entrance. All we need to do is raise reasonable doubt.”

“Yes. Not that we want to get that far.”

“Understood. By the way, I measured and it’s about thirty feet of trees. It’s the perfect place to lie in wait for someone. And assuming the killer drove here, the bushes would hide his car too. Todd wouldn’t see him coming.”

“Right,” Mary said, heartened.

“Let’s go measure the lot and take some pictures.”

“You know what I’m doing after that, don’t you? I’m going to call Detective Lindenhurst and tell him about the service road. He must have noticed it, but I want him to know that we know. I’m going to be a bug in his ear. Call him every day and tell him something that favors the defense.”

“Right.” Bennie smiled. “You learned from the master.”

Mary laughed, though she wasn’t sure Bennie was kidding.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Bennie took her place beside the easel in the conference room, which she had converted into a war room, her favorite décor. She felt like their defense was getting into gear, her favorite thing. And she had a fresh cup of coffee, her favorite drink. All of her favorites were coming together, and she was in her element, fighting for an innocent defendant in a murder case.

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