Page 41 of Nothing Left

"Well," she said. "We needed proof, and we have it. And now, we go to the police again. This time, Delgado will have to listen. He must drop the charges he's planning because there's no way a judge and jury will find her guilty. Surely?"

***

Ten minutes later, Juliette was back in the same office, facing the station commander for the second time that day.

She'd expected that Delgado would be surprised and motivated into action by the shocking news she brought. But to her frustration, it seemed that he still had doubts.

"That is one person's opinion, surely?" he frowned. "The corpse had been deceased for nearly two days by the time those cuts were tested. What if the flesh shrank while the body was in the refrigerator? What if the time in the refrigeration room affected the look and size of those cuts?"

Now, Juliette glared at him. "Are you a pathologist?" she pressured him.

He shrugged. "No. I am not a pathologist, as you know. But I am an experienced policeman, and I have seen more surprising things than this proven true."

Juliette took a deep, angry breath. "Are you really intent on pursuing a witch hunt against this American woman in the face of evidence proving that there is another killer out there? We should be hunting for him!"

"Hunting for whom? You barely have a description. There are no identifying characteristics we can use. Any thief will sell jewelry using a fake passport. The necklace could have been lost at another time."

"You really think this?" Juliette asked.

Delgado shrugged. "I am telling you what a jury will think. A jury who believes strongly that this was a crime of passion, and that the American woman fought, while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and stabbed her friend."

"And do you believe that?" Juliette glared at him.

Now, he let out a deep sigh, and for the first time, she saw a flicker of understanding from behind the hard and uncompromising mask. "I believe there is a chance that it might be someone else. But look at it from my point of view, please, Agent. If I free the American woman, Heather Andrew, we are then left with nobody. We will have an unsolved case and a furious public who believes we acted irresponsibly in releasing her. That will be a catastrophe. There are already political tensions at play in the police department." He dropped his voice. "You think I am a bad man, that I am inefficient, not doing my job? Wait until you see the person they would like to put in my place, the favorite of one of the politicians? They are waiting for a reason. This will be their excuse." He sighed, suddenly looking much older than his years.

"I understand," Juliette said, making a note to tell Wyatt in detail all about what he'd said during the impassioned explanation. She actually thought that Wyatt had gotten some of it from the tone alone and the look on her partner's face.

"Please. Bring me the killer. And we will release the American suspect. But without that, we have no choice but to go ahead." Again, he lowered his voice. "We could have laid those charges this morning. I did not. I waited. I gave you a chance. We are only doing it this evening, after eight p.m. That is as long as I can delay it. So - that is the time you have."

Juliette understood him perfectly. This policeman was operating in an adversarial climate. She would not have made the same decisions - but at the same time, she acknowledged he was doing all he could.

"If there's any news on this case - anything at all - I need to know about it immediately. Any other suspects were arrested in the area. Any related crimes. Commander, promise me this - that you'll tell me. Don't make my job impossible just because yours is."

She stared at him for a few moments. He was the first to look down.

"I will do my best," he said.

But as she left, Juliette wasn't convinced that he would. She was worried that the friction within the department might already be sabotaging this case.

Any delay might mean the difference between success and failure.

As Juliette walked out, her mind was racing, setting aside the feeling of helplessness and frustration and allowing a stern resolve to replace it.

“What was that all about?” Wyatt muttered as soon as the door had closed.

“He’s refusing to drop the charges. There’s tension in the department, and if he releases Heather without an alternative suspect, then it’s going to backfire on him and allow the people working against him to have a reason for firing him. I’m not getting it exactly right, but that’s the gist.”

"I picked up that he was getting very emotional about something," Wyatt agreed. "I guess politics can interfere anywhere, worldwide. We're just unlucky that it's now affecting things here in this way. I think it's a very misguided decision to let an innocent person go down for a crime just for the sake of your job. But I'll put my personal feelings aside. Tell me what you think we should do?" he asked.

She turned to Wyatt. She'd suddenly had an idea.

"We've just heard that the department has internal conflict, and communication is poor - either deliberately or unintentionally."

"So what I'm thinking is this. What if the killer has already struck again? What if he did it in a different town, or the case went to a different precinct, and we just don't know about it yet?"

Wyatt's eyes widened. "I guess that's a solid idea," he said.

"I think it's worth exploring. And that's what the three of us need to do now. Let's sit down and take a look at all the records we have. Call them up and go through them one by one, and see if there is any mention, anything at all, that points to a related crime. Because this killer could already have struck again, but we just don’t know it yet."

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