Page 30 of Dead Air
"She loved you." Rachel paused at the front door. "Whatever happened between you those final weeks, she never stopped caring."
The comment sparked alarm. "What do you mean 'between us'?"
Rachel's expression shifted to something unreadable. "Sisters know things, Detective. Even when they're not explicitly told."
"Rachel—"
"I need to get Ellie." Rachel opened the door, ending the conversation. "Let yourself out."
Lawson stood alone in the entryway after Rachel departed. Monica smiled from every wall—immortalized in moments of joy now overshadowed by her violent end. The weight of broken promises pressed down on Lawson's shoulders.
She'd failed both sisters. Failed to protect Monica. Failed to deliver justice to Rachel. Failed to honor the vows made beside a flag-draped coffin.
The journal felt heavy in her pocket as she walked to her car. Monica's last written words revealed a partner who had deliberately excluded her from a crucial meeting. A partner who feared someone inside the department. A partner who died protecting secrets Lawson still couldn't access.
What hadn't Monica told her? What evidence had she uncovered that made isolation seem safer than partnership? What threat loomed so large that Monica would face it alone rather than endanger Lawson?
The car's interior had become an oven during her visit. She cranked the air conditioning and sat with the journal open on her lap. Reading each entry chronologically might reveal what Monica discovered in those final weeks. What connections she made that others missed.
Her phone chimed as she pulled away from the curb. Notification from Dead Air Podcast appearing on her screen:New Episode Available: "Silence in Savannah - Episode Three: The Floodlight"
dead air episode 3:
"The Floodlight"
[Electronic theme music fades in, then quiets under narration]
LEAH BLACKWELL:Welcome back to Dead Air. I'm Leah Blackwell.
In our previous episodes, we explored Detective Monica Landry's unsolved murder and the complex relationship with her partner, Detective Erin Lawson. Today, we focus on a crucial piece of physical evidence that raises troubling questions about what really happened that night: the floodlight.
[Brief pause]
LEAH:Let's revisit the scene. The old paper mill warehouse on Savannah's eastern industrial edge. Abandoned for seven years. No electricity. No security. The perfect location for a meeting that needed to remain off the record.
LEAH:According to Detective Lawson's statement, she arrived at the warehouse at approximately 11:00 p.m. to meet Detective Landry. They took cover behind her vehicle when shots were fired from the warehouse. As they attempted to reach the loading dock for better cover, a powerful industrial floodlight suddenly activated, momentarily blinding Detective Lawson. When her vision cleared, Detective Landry had already been shot.
LEAH:The floodlight detail appears in the initial police report, the medical examiner's findings, and Detective Lawson's formal statement. But here's the problem—that floodlight shouldn't have worked at all.
[Sound of rustling papers]
LEAH:I spoke with Rachel Banks, Detective Landry's sister, about this inconsistency:
[Audio clip from interview]RACHEL:The detectives never explained it. I specifically asked how a light could work in an abandoned building. They said it was probably battery-powered, brought by the shooter. But then why wasn't it taken as evidence? Why wasn't it fingerprinted? None of it made sense.
LEAH:Rachel's questions are valid. If the shooter brought the light, it would have been a crucial piece of evidence. Yet crime scene photographs show no light fixture entered into evidence, only mounting brackets where such a light would have been attached.
[Music intensifies]
LEAH:But the floodlight is just one of many pieces of evidence that mysteriously disappeared after Monica Landry's death. According to department sources, key files from the Rafferty case went missing within days of Detective Landry's murder.
SPD SOURCE (voice disguised):Monica kept detailed notes on the Rafferty investigation in a separate file. Personal observations, connections that weren't ready for the official record yet. That file vanished from her desk the day after she died. When Detective Lawson asked about it, she was told it never existed.
LEAH:Rachel Banks confirmed her sister maintained extensive personal records:
[Audio clip from interview]RACHEL:Monica documented everything. She had this blue notebook she carried everywhere. She would never go anywhere without it. Never.
LEAH:That notebook remains unaccounted for. Not listed in evidence. Not returned with her personal effects. Just gone—along with whatever information it contained about the Rafferty case and the corruption Monica believed she'd uncovered.
