Page 144 of Everything She Feared

All conversations stopped.

Detective Sergeant Art Acker’s eyes went round to the faces of the people at the meeting room table, then to those standing against the walls.

“This will be quick,” he said.

Everyone was there: Pierce, Benton, Grotowski, Tilden and several others under Acker’s command. Soft coughs, pen-tapping and throat-clearing rippled as Acker’s jaw tensed.

“By now, you all know what’s happened on Shaw. The fallout from the leak to the press shot up the chain and they tore me a new one.”

Acker placed his hands on his hips.

“We’ve taken calls from Katie Harmon’s attorney, from Anna Shaw’s parents, the prosecutor and the media,” he said. “This does not help our investigation. We don’t know who put it out there, could be anybody. But if we find out, there will be hell to pay. You got that?”

When Acker looked around at the group again, some people shifted in their chairs or where they stood.

“Nothing is a lock on this case,” he said. “No matter what some may think, we’re not done.”

Acker let his message sink in.

“Alright, get back to work.”

Pierce, Benton and the others returned to their desks.

“Why would someone leak?” Benton said.

“I don’t know, Carl.”

Pierce studied files on her computer while Benton threw his question to the other detectives who’d resumed working at their desks.

“Lyle? Larry? Any thoughts?”

Grotowski shook his head.

“No idea,” Lyle said. “Could be anybody.”

Benton leaned closer to Pierce and changed the subject.

“Kim, don’t you think Katie was acting strange when we were getting her prints?”

“You mean, what she said?”

“Yeah, but more the way she said it—you all think I made Anna fall. And the way the lawyer had her clam up. It seemed odd.”

“Maybe, Carl, but we have to follow the evidence.”

Benton’s phone rang and he answered it.

Pierce continued checking messages for anything from forensics on prints. Kelly Jensen had said she was determined to recover something from the rock. If that happened, and they could compare it to Katie Harmon, then that could nail it.We’ve covered everything, haven’t we? Unless we missed a key piece with the boyfriend, or Anna’s phone, or an element unseen or not pursued.

Jensen and her team had also indicated that they were not likely to get any usable latents for Marilyn Hamilton, the birdwatcher. Something about their visit to Hamilton’s apartment still bothered Pierce, but she couldn’t identify it.

She left that thought, then noticed a couple of forms she’d completed for HR and opened her drawer for her stapler. She spotted the paper stock photo from the picture frame she’d bought at Walmart. The one of the little girl with the bright umbrella and raincoat.

Why’s that still there? I should put it in the recycling.

Before she moved it, Benton ended his call.

“Hey, Kim, Martin at the front desk says a psychologist is here to see us.”

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