Page 83 of The Inmate
My mouth falls open. They found Dawn’s blood and hair in mytrunk? I can’t even begin to explain that one.
“Not to mention,” he goes on. Oh my God, there’smore? “Your boyfriend’s statement is extremely damaging. That’s going to be a hard one to rip apart.”
“Is it really that bad?” I ask. “I mean, yes, we weren’t together that night.”
“And you lied about it.”
I wince. “Yes, I did. But have youseenthat detective? He’s terrifying. And I didn’t make a statement under oath. I just didn’t have an alibi for that night. There are plenty of people who don’t have an alibi for Monday night.”
Ferguson gives me a funny look. “That’s not all your boyfriend said.”
“This completely isn’t fair.” I squeeze my right hand into a fist. “Santoro was harassing Caleb. He found him and forced him to say a bunch of things he probably didn’t mean.”
“No, that’s not what happened at all. Caleb McCullough came to the station voluntarily. He told them he wanted to make a statement, and they recorded it. I saw the transcript.”
I blink at him, wondering if I heard him right. “Calebaskedto make a statement?”
“That’s right.”
“But…” My thoughts won’t stop racing. This doesn’t sound right. “What did he say?”
“It’s, uh… not good.” Ferguson rifles through the pile of papers in front of him until I want to rip them out of his hands. “He said that you pressured him into lying about being together that night. He said that he left your house at around nine-thirty after you asked him to leave. Apparently, you told him you had somewhere to be.”
“What?” I cry. “That’s ridiculous! That’s a complete lie.”
“Well, that’s what he said. He also said that you and Dawn didn’t get along. That you were constantly picking on her. That the two of you hated each other.”
My head is spinning. Caleb said that about me? Why would he say that? He barely knew Dawn, and he wasn’t even around work that much. And even if he did think I was bullying Dawn, why would he say that to the police? That’s a pretty awful thing to say about your girlfriend.
“As you can see,” Ferguson says, “they have a strong case against you. But there is some good news.”
“Like what?” I choke out. At this rate, I’m looking at life in prison.
“Well,” he says, “they don’t have a dead body.”
My head snaps up. “What? I don’t understand. The detective said they found Dawn’s body.”Beaten to death.
“Actually…” He shuffles through the papers in front of him again. “They were having trouble identifying the body because she was beaten so badly and her teeth were destroyed, so dental records couldn’t be used. But DNA testing has now revealed that it was not Dawn Schiff.”
My head is spinning. Another girl about the same age turned up dead right in our neighborhood? It seems like a big coincidence, but I suppose a good number of people are murdered in big cities, and some percentage of them are going to be young women. “So… she might not even be dead?”
He gives me a look. Based on the amount of blood on the floor of her house, plus the blood in my car, and the fact that she has not resurfaced all point to the fact that she is almost certainly dead. And I am still very much the prime suspect.
“Can I be convicted of murder if there’s no body?” I ask.
“It’s harder, but still possible. I think you have a good chance of getting bail.”
That would be great news if I had any chance of being able to afford the bail. “But what about a conviction?” I press him.
He hesitates. “These are some really serious charges, Ms. Farrell. And the DA has a super strong case, like I said. Given the circumstances, your best bet is to confess and take a plea bargain.”
“Confess!” I cry. “But I didn’t do anything!”
Ferguson flashes me a skeptical look. “You know, we have that attorney-client confidentiality thingy. It’s better if you tell me the truth, so I can help you. I’m not allowed to tell anyone, so you should be honest with me.”
“I didn’t,” I insist. “I swear.”
Ferguson frowns. He might be young, but apparently five months of defending criminals have already made him jaded. “Fine,” he says. “But either way, it might be worth taking a plea bargain. Go to prison for a few years, then you’ll be out. If we take a chance and go to trial, especially if the body surfaces, you’ll be looking at life in prison.”
