She shrugged. “I’m not surprised. Not really. Our esteemed DA and his buddy the chief of police are worried I’ll find something one or both missed.”
Matt chuckled. “No question. It’s a big case. Everyone involved the first go-round will be holding their collective breath to see how it shakes out this time.” He turned his cup around and around between his fingers.
Finley’s instincts stirred. It wasn’t like her friend to hesitate once he started down a particular path. “What is it you’re not saying, Matt?”
She didn’t miss the flash of indecision in his eyes before he spoke.
“You’re certain you’re up to this?” he asked.
It wasn’t necessary for her to demand if he was serious. She felt confident her face reflected precisely that. Even as the shock rattled through her, she couldn’t deny the question was a valid one. Didn’t mean she liked it. Appetite gone, Finley rewrapped the remainder of her sandwich and tossed it into the box.
The truth was, that day in the courtroom last year had been a catastrophe. One that had defined her short career despite all her prior successes. Her mind had gone blank for several seconds, and then the room had come back into focus with a brightness that had hurt her eyes. Pain followed by anger had blazed through her skull. When the judge reminded her that the witness was waiting for her next question, Finley had lost it. All attempts to calm her down had only resulted in fanning the flames. She’d thrown her notes—anything she could grab—at opposing council. The only saving grace was that not a single person present had the wherewithal to video the episode.
Thank God.
“Hey.” Matt placed a hand on hers.
She didn’t draw away. He’d grabbed her hand a thousand times growing up. Whether it was running through the woods or wandering the fairgrounds to scope out the shortest lines at their favorite rides. His touch was familiar and calming. Maybe not so calming just now considering the question he’d felt compelled to ask.
“I’m here for you, not for them,” he said as if he’d read her mind. Probably had. “We shouldn’t even be having this conversation, but I can’t not tell you, Fin.”
“Tell me what specifically? That my dependability in a stressful situation is unreliable?” He needed to spell it out.
He released her hand, scrubbed his own over his smooth jaw. “This is more than concern for whether you can handle the stress. It feels like they’re using what happened to mount some sort of distraction.” He shrugged. “One designed to pull you away from your work with Jack. With the Legard case, I mean.”
This gave her pause. Matt was far too logical and too pragmatic to contrive conspiracy theories. “What kind of distraction?”
“You may not have heard, but Detective Wellman shot himself yesterday afternoon. The official cause of death hasn’t been released—”
“Shot himself?” The news jarred her. She gave her head a shake. “As in accidentally?” Why on earth would he have done so otherwise? Wait. No. Either way, this didn’t make sense. She had to be missing something.
“As in, he stuck his service revolver in his mouth and pulled the trigger.”
Finley blinked at the violent image his words conjured. “Why?”
“Don’t know. The chief pointed out that his wife died a couple years ago.”
“Two years is a long time to wait to join your partner in death,” Finley argued. Wellman had talked about his wife often. “Besides, he has—had—two sons who have kids. They visit him all the time. Why would he check out like that? Did he leave a note?”
“If he did, it hasn’t been found yet.”
It wasn’t like this sort of thing didn’t happen. Cops weren’t immune. But . . . Finley thought of the voice mail. “He called me yesterday, but I missed him. I tried calling him back and got his voice mail.”
Why would he call her if he’d planned to take his life? To apologize for not solving Derrick’s case? Had he learned something new he wanted to share before . . . ? She doubted he would take the time to update her if he was contemplating suicide.
“He called you?” Matt frowned, took a moment to absorb her news. “I don’t have any idea why he would have called you, or any other details about his death.” He searched her gaze a moment. “It’s the chief’s reaction to Wellman’s death that has me worried. He reassigned Derrick’s case first thing this morning.”