Now Finley was even more confused. Wouldn’t all Wellman’s cases be reassigned? Chief of Police Lawrence’s personal interest in the reassignment was likely because he and the DA were friends of the Judge, and she wanted the case closed. Wellman had told Finley how her mother pushed him about the case.
“You’ve lost me. What does Wellman’s death and the new case assignment have to do with the chief and my involvement in the Legard case?”
“Lawrence gave specific instructions regarding Derrick’s case. He wants it dissected,” Matt explained, “starting with any role you played in what happened that night. He wants this new detective to get deep under your skin. His words, Fin. He wants you pressured.”
“Wait.” Finley held up her hands. She had to have heard that one part wrong. “What the hell does that mean, the role I played?”
“He didn’t clarify the statement.” Matt leaned slightly forward as if what he had to say next was particularly important. “But given the two cases—Derrick’s and Legard’s—came up in the same conversation as did the emphasis on your supposed role, there must be a connection. I don’t recall all this concern for how Derrick’s case was being handled months ago or even last week. Do you?”
When she moved her head side to side in a no, he went on. “There’s a motive here, Fin, and I think it’s about keeping you in check.”
Anger fired in her, burning away the confusion. “You’re right. The chief didn’t just wake up this morning with a one-year-old unsolved homicide on his mind. This is unquestionably about the Legard case.”
“Whatever the goal, you need to watch your back,” Matt warned. “You may want to consider speaking to the Judge. Maybe she knows what’s going on, maybe she doesn’t, but she needs to know that you know.”
The Judge would be fully informed. Finley had no doubt about that part. Not to mention, the Judge and Detective Wellman had attended church together when they were kids. According to Finley’s dad, the Judge considered Wellman a stellar detective. She would already be aware of all this.
Had the chief expressed his concerns to the Judge and briefed her on his plan for Derrick’s case? Or . . . was this her plan?
Who the hell knew?
“As grateful as I am for the heads-up,” Finley said, “I can’t have that conversation with the Judge. Our relationship doesn’t work that way anymore.” Before he could counter, she asked, “Who’s the new detective on the case?”
If the chief wanted the case dissected, the new guy would want to repeat all the interviews. Go over all the reports and lack of evidence. Finley wasn’t looking forward to walking that road again, but if it helped prove the truth, she would walk across broken glass. But it wouldn’t. Throwing her story at another detective wasn’t going to change the steps he or she chose to take either. Especially a new detective who would want to impress the boss.
The chief and the DA were convinced Finley’s theory about the man who had her husband killed was just another facet of her breakdown. So she’d stopped trying to convince them.
“Eric Houser,” Matt said. “He’s new to Metro. Word is, he’s top notch.”
“Fresh eyes can’t hurt,” she offered less than enthusiastically.
“We both know what they’re doing, Fin.”
They wanted her off the Legard case. What better way than to attack her credibility?
“The shooting at the convenience store was mentioned as well,” Matt went on.
Of course it was. She took a breath, thought through her response. Whatever else Briggs and Lawrence suspected, they couldn’t know the parts she had kept to herself.
No one did. Not even Matt.
“I’ll try really hard not to give them any more ammunition,” she said, annoyed the words were even necessary. She was not the bad guy here! Damn it.
But was she still one of the good guys?
Finley squeezed her eyes shut for a second to force the idea away.
“I want you to tread very carefully going forward, Fin,” Matt said softly—too softly. “Something is out of bounds here, and I’m not privy to whatever the hell it is. What I can say is that I don’t like it. I don’t trust it.”
Trust in the system was something she had lost after Derrick’s murder. When she’d finally started to recall parts of that night, her statements had been dismissed. It hadn’t taken her long to understand what was happening. No one wanted her conclusions to be the truth. So Finley had stopped trying.