Page 43 of Everything She Feared

“Where is the necklace?” Pierce asked. “I didn’t see it in her room.”

“Katie has it.”

“Katie Harmon? The girl she babysat—the girl who was here for the sleepover, the night before?”

“Katie, yes. Anna loved Katie,” Lynora said. “Katie liked the necklace so she gave it to her.”

“Did you see Anna give her the necklace? Was it at the sleepover?”

“No, she didn’t give it to her here.”

“Where did she give it to her?”

“On the bus, on the way to the park,” Lynora said.

“That’s what Katie told us,” Chuck said.

“And Katie wore it to the funeral.”

“She wore it to the funeral?” Pierce said.

“To let us know how much—” Lynora began to cry “—how much she loved her, too.”

As Chuck comforted Lynora, several thoughts shot through Pierce. The first was realizing the consequences of her mistake of not getting Katie to empty her pockets at the park. Katie could’ve had the necklace in her pocket when she first interviewed her.

Katie never mentioned receiving the necklace from Anna on the bus. Why? I asked what she and Anna talked about on the bus, yet Katie said nothing about the necklace. Why? There were no witnesses, no cameras, just Anna and Katie at the cliff, and now Katie has Anna’s necklace.

Benton was behind the wheel. They drove several blocks from the Shaws’ house without speaking, but Pierce couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Why’re you hampering me on this, Carl?”

Eyes forward, he didn’t answer.

Pierce stared at him, noticing the veins in his neck had risen.

“From the get-go you’ve been determined to clear this as an accident,” she said. “You seem intent on not letting me do a proper investigation.”

She continued staring, waiting for an answer.

“Because...it’s just not there, Kim,” he said. “We’re intruding on the family’s grief, wasting everyone’s time, when there’s no point. The girl died taking a selfie. The ME said her injuries were consistent with a fall. So, it was a tragic accident.”

“Are you dismissing what else the ME told us?” Pierce said. “She said Anna Shaw could’ve jumped, or could’ve been pushed off the cliff?”

“Follow the evidence and the facts, Kim. They point to a fall.”

“But we’re not done looking for evidence.”

“You’re making a rookie mistake, trying to build a case that isn’t there.”

“We still have a lot of unanswered questions.”

Pierce turned away from him, letting out a slow silent breath.

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