Page 96 of Everything She Feared

“What?” Benton said.

“Bishop has been terminated and will make restitution to the auto dealer on terms acceptable to all parties.”

“Can we knock the charge down to taking a vehicle without permission?” Acker said.

“Smith won’t support it,” Wong said. “I’m sorry. And after looking at everything, you definitely don’t have enough for a murder case against Bishop.”

“Hold on,” Benton said, sitting straighter, jabbing the table with his forefinger. “None of this takes away from Bishop’s admission to pursuing Anna Shaw to the park to confront her in the moments before her death. We have the video.”

“And we have the rock with Shaw’s blood and hair,” Pierce said.

“Again, circumstantial,” Wong said.

“Bishop admitted to being an emotional powder keg,” Benton said.

“But it doesn’t erase the cracks in the case,” Wong said. “We have no conclusive trace evidence putting Bishop on the cliff.”

“The video puts him in the park,” Pierce said.

“But not on the cliff. His defense will flip the video to their advantage, saying it proves that Bishop turned away, left the park, as he’s stated. And that his denial is supported by the fact none of the statements we have from the group, including from Katie Harmon, put Bishop at the cliff. You have nothing to even raise the possibility he stepped out of the truck. You’ve got nothing from his phone or other devices that builds a case. And there’s the gap.”

“The gap?” Acker repeated.

“Katie left Anna to run deeper into the park for help, returning with the supervisors to see Anna Shaw had fallen. You estimate the total time to be four to six minutes or seven, thus creating a gap in time when no one was with Anna.”

“Right,” Benton said. “Just a few minutes.”

“The defense will stress that a lot can happen in that time. They’ll point to the faulty cameras in the parking lot, state that someone else could’ve arrived or been in the park within that time.”

Wong clicked on her laptop, reviewing files.

“For example, you haven’t ruled out other possibilities, such as Marilyn Hamilton and Gilbert Croft, who were identified on security camera footage as being in the park.”

“Focus Woman and Camry Man,” Benton said.

“Who?” Wong said.

“Their vehicles,” Pierce said. “Hamilton and Croft are on our list, but Smith and Tanner became priorities.”

“And,” Wong said, “you haven’t ruled out Katie Harmon.”

“Not yet,” Pierce said. “As you suggested, we’re endeavoring to eliminate all other possibilities before we concentrate on her.”

Wong looked at the detectives.

“Keep doing that. You’re doing good work, guys,” she said. “You just need to keep nailing down every loose end.”

They stepped into Acker’s office for a post-meeting huddle.

“These things are never smooth.” Acker cursed to himself, undid his collar button and loosened his tie, then turned to Grotowski and Tilden.

“Lyle, get in touch with North Precinct. We need to make another search for Anna Shaw’s phone at the scene.”

“Again?” Tilden said.

“Again,” Acker said. “And, guys, before we go back to looking hard at the Harmon girl, let’s chase down the two others on the footage, Hamilton and Croft. We haven’t spoken with them yet.”

“Sure,” Pierce said.

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