Page 28 of Last Seen Alive
“I appreciate that you must consider the reputation of this department, of your detectives. I was on scene so there can’t be anything that hints at any favoritism, but an innocent man shouldn’t have to pay the price.”
Graves smiled, her lips in a thin strip, making Amanda think of a reptile. “So you’re sitting there, essentially accusing me of lining up the evidence against Hunter, while you are doing the exact same thing—just you are stubbornly convinced he’s innocent. Even when the evidence is indicating otherwise.”
Amanda tightened her grip on her cup, and the plastic lid popped up. She reset it. “There are unanswered questions, and everything seems too… perfect.”
“Now you’ve lost me.”
“I’ve worked a lot of homicide cases, and rarely is everything as it appears. And that’s the case here.”
“Without even giving you a reaction to your insinuation—that I’m some inexperienced rookie—you’re suggesting Hunter was set up to take the fall?”
“Why not?” Amanda volleyed back.
“Why would anyone do that?Whowould?”
“I don’t know yet, but that’s what a thorough investigation would reveal.”
“So you have time to burn following assumptions? A deep desire to prove yourself right and everyone else wrong?” Graves sat back in her chair and swiveled.
“It has nothing to do with that. Do you even know the victim’s true identity yet?” It was taking all her self-control not to lash out at Graves.
“Deb Smith.”
“That’s what her license said. Sure. But that’s not who she’s been physically ID’d as. That would be Claire Hunter.”
“Says the man who killed her.”
Amanda opened her mouth, shut it, her temper flaring. She took a moment to calm down before speaking. “Why would he lie about that? And let’s say it was a woman named Deb Smith, what was her relationship to Logan Hunter?”
“Do you need it spelled out for you, Detective? She was shot in his bed, wearing lingerie.”
Amanda was ready to throw something or hit someone, but she went inward and talked herself back from the ledge.
Silence passed between them for several minutes before Graves spoke.
“I can see that you feel quite strongly about this case,” she said, stalling there as if she expected Amanda to interject something. When Amanda didn’t, Graves went on. “We have a strong enough case against Hunter, but I’d rather have you on our side than see you stand up for the defense. I’m not interested in seeing this department take the hit for that.”
Amanda met her gaze but remained quiet. She had a good feeling and didn’t want to jinx it.
“With that said, I’m reassigning this investigation to you and Detective Stenson,but”—Graves gestured toward her—“you need to keep me in the loop along the way. We’ll discuss and approach this as a team.”
Amanda found it interesting how Graves made it sound like this was her idea, after accusing Amanda mere minutes ago of following assumptions that would waste department time. But whatever allowed her to keep her pride was fine with Amanda, as long as she got the case. She tried not to smile too broadly. “You won’t regret this.”
“Make sure I don’t.”
“In the meantime, though, what about Hunter?”
“As I said, there is evidence against him. Things will proceed with his hearing before a judge.”
That niggled at Amanda, but surely Logan’s lawyer would see him released until trial. And they had time to turn things around well before then. “Have Detectives Ryan and Hudson been informed of your decision?”
There was a flicker in Graves’s eyes, as if she’d picked up on theyourdecision part and how Amanda had given her credit. “They have been. Now, what are your next intended steps? I’m assuming you already have some lined up in your head.”
“We need to confirm the victim’s identity once and for all.” Not that Amanda doubted for one second she was Claire Hunter.
“Good idea. How do you intend to do that?”
She’d have next of kin confirm identity—Claire’s sister. But there was another route she was willing to share with Graves. “Has the gun in the vic’s purse been sent for ballistics testing?”
