Page 122 of Everything She Feared

“Sorry for the delay,” Wong said.

“No problem,” Acker said. “We’re good to go. Kim, if you will?”

“Just a quick update,” Pierce said. “We interviewed the two people recorded on the parking lot video, who were leaving the park at the time of Anna Shaw’s death. Here’s a refresher.”

Pierce replayed the video, showing the man walking to his Camry.

“Gilbert Croft, seventy-nine, from Issaquah. Widowed, retired Boeing worker. He was at the park for a walk. Heard nothing, saw nothing. He seems weak, almost forgetful. We’re looking to cross him off.”

“We found no criminal history for him,” Benton said.

The video then showed the woman walking to her Ford.

“Marilyn Hamilton, sixty, semi-retired transcriptionist who lives alone in town. Birdwatching is her hobby. She said she was at the park looking for meadowlarks and bluebirds. Heard nothing but birds. No criminal history. We’re ready to cross her off, too.”

“We’re waiting on our forensic people who’re endeavoring to get Hamilton’s and Croft’s prints and run them,” Benton said.

“How did you obtain them?” Wong asked.

“Shared our laptop and tablet during the interviews,” Benton said.

“Alright.” Wong made a note. “So, it appears we’re on the verge of eliminating Hamilton and Croft. We’ve eliminated John James Smith, and we have nothing beyond circumstance for a case against the boyfriend, Tanner Bishop. So, where are we elsewhere?”

“Larry, Lyle?” Acker said.

“Regrouped with the North Precinct with divers to search again for Shaw’s phone,” Tilden said. “We looked on the bank and in the water. Negative.”

“It’s possible an animal took it,” said Oscar Neale, the commander from the North Precinct. “We’ll go at it again, farther downriver.”

“We ran Sara Harmon’s background again through all the databases,” Grotowski said. “Nothing. Also checked with SPD. No complaint history on Harmon’s house. To be thorough, we’ll try some other avenues.”

Grotowski paged through his notes. “And, we’ve gone back through all statements from the Sunny Days kids and the supervisors. We recanvassed and ran background on every person in the park when deputies first responded.”

“And?” Wong asked.

“No change, nothing emerged,” Grotowski said.

“And the time gap?” Wong asked.

“We checked it again,” Grotowski said. “We still put it at approximately four to six or seven minutes.”

“So, the only person we can put on the cliff with Anna Shaw is Katie Harmon,” Wong said, then raised another aspect. “Where are we with getting prints from that rock with Shaw’s blood and hair traces that the ME identified as a weapon?”

“Forensics says it’s a long shot, but they’re still working on it,” Pierce said. “They’re consulting with other agencies on new techniques.”

Wong flipped through notes on her legal pad.

“And have we established that a nine-year-old girl, like Katie Harmon, can lift a six-pound rock, carry it about seven yards to the cliff, lift it up, then drop it like a weapon on Anna Shaw?”

“We’re still working on that,” Grotowski said.

“Anything else to update?” Wong asked.

“That’s it for now,” Pierce said.

Wong paged through her notes, tapping her pen on her pad.

“Heidi, it looks clear,” Benton started, “that Katie Harmon was the only person with Anna Shaw when she fell. The rock is a weapon and Katie came out of it with Shaw’s gold necklace.”

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