Page 36 of Nothing Left

And it was surely a positive sign that the guards on duty now were friendlier than the other team. She even got a smile as she, Wyatt, and Sierra hurried up to the security checkpoint and then along the now-familiar route to the cells.

Heather was in the cell, bent over a piece of paper, and as Juliette got closer, she saw there were tears in her eyes. But she thought, from her demeanor, that they might be happy tears. She looked encouraged as if she'd just had some positive news.

"My mom sent a message," she said to Juliette, looking up, sniffing and blinking the tears away. "She sent me a letter and the prison printed it out so that I could read it. My mom says that they all love me and that they believe in me, and that everyone is trying their hardest to get me cleared and out of here. My dad should be here later on this evening. He’s on an airplane now. The FBI helped with that, and I’m so grateful." She gave a big, shaky sigh as she put the letter down and walked over to stand at the front of the cell.

"That's great. I'm so glad to hear that your family's been in touch and that your dad’s on his way," Juliette said.

But now, Heather was frowning. "The only problem is that I can tell, from what they are saying in this letter and from what they’re not saying, that everyone in the world thinks I've done this. When I was in that cell with the other women, they were all saying that the whole country, the whole of Europe, knows I'm a murderess. I mean, how can I ever get past something like that?"

Her obvious anxiety, and the severity of her plight, made Juliette even more motivated to clear the young woman's name.

She answered her with all the confidence she could muster.

"If the killer is found, and there's a strong link to the crime, and the evidence points to him - then yes, you will get past it. You will be cleared, and in fact, you'll find people are very sympathetic that you were wrongly accused and put through such an ordeal. Public opinion can reverse in a flash. You'll get a lot of goodwill coming your way, having been through such a traumatic experience and staying so strong throughout it."

It was interesting, but as they had this conversation, the word 'framed' was starting to surface in Juliette's mind. That was what it felt like. It felt as if Heather had been framed. Because so many details in that crime scene had pointed to her. There was a good reason why the police had arrested her.

Now, she started wondering if the killer had placed those clues deliberately. Perhaps he hadn't just dropped the body in the shower, dropped the knife, and run but had thought about it and planned the scene carefully.

If that was the case, then Heather's fingerprints might have been on the knife before she even woke up. The killer might have made sure of it.

It was time to find out if the task force could take this tenuous theory any further.

"I came here to ask you a question about one of Samantha's belongings," Juliette said.

Heather frowned. "Which one?" she asked.

"I don't know exactly what it was, but it was kept in a blue velvet jewelry box," Juliette said. "It was by her bed, in the nightstand drawer. The box is empty now."

Heather looked aghast. Juliette immediately saw her face change. Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open in concern.

"But that was Samantha’s twenty-first birthday gift!" she said. "That box can't be empty!"

"A gift?" Wyatt asked.

"Yes," Heather insisted. "It's a beautiful pendant, made of rose gold, with an emerald and Samantha's initials on the back of the pendant. It's quite expensive, and it was given to her by her parents."

"She wasn't wearing it at the time of the crime? Did she put it on before you went out to the club?"

Now, Heather's eyes were alight with the certainty of conviction.

"Absolutely not, and I know that for sure. I told her not to wear it when we went out in case it got grabbed off her neck while we were in the club or on the streets. There have been crimes like that in the area, you know, they target good jewelry. I said she shouldn't wear it unless she could keep it covered up when we were out and about, and she agreed with me. It should have been back in its box. There's definitely nowhere else it could be because Samantha treasured it. I can't believe it's not there!" She stared at Juliette anxiously. "Who do you think could possibly have stolen it?"

Juliette took a deep breath.

"It's possible that the killer took it," she said, and Heather's eyes widened.

"This puts a different spin on the whole situation," Wyatt emphasized. "Can you give us a clear description of the jewelry piece?"

"Sure. Of course, I can. I can sketch it for you," she said as Juliette passed her the notepad through the bars under the very watchful eye of the guard.

Heather quickly started drawing, her hand shaking slightly but with a determined tilt to her head. She sketched the pendant in great detail, showing the rose gold chain and the shape of the emerald in the setting. It was a piece of jewelry that clearly would be hard to forget.

When she was finished, she handed the notepad back to Juliette, still looking worried.

"Thank you, Heather," Juliette said. "This is really helpful. We're going to see if we can find out more about what happened to it and whether it's connected to the murder."

Turning away, they hurried out of the prison and hustled back to the car. On the way, Sierra spoke up.

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