Then why does Rusty look so worried?
In the corner sits a large drum. The kind that holds fuel or toxic waste. Maybe that’s it—Rusty’s illegally storing waste from one of the nearby chemical companies.
The drum is old, covered in rust and dirt.
Keller gestures at the agent with the bolt cutters. “Got a crowbar?”
Five minutes later, Keller’s prying off the barrel’s lid.
“You sure about this?” Atticus says. “I mean what if it’s like poisonous or toxic waste or something?”
“You can wait outside.”
Atticus’s lips press together.
The lid makes a hissing sound when the seal is broken. The smell is pungent but not like chemicals. Keller turns and realizes that she has an audience. Nico’s team watches as she continues.
Atticus is covering his mouth with a handkerchief. He must be the only twentysomething man in the country who carries a cloth hankie.
Keller covers her mouth and nose with her hand. The lid makes a loud clank when it hits the concrete floor.
Keller beams the light inside the drum and adrenaline rips through her.
A decomposed body. Mostly skeleton.
Is it Vince Whitaker? Is that what’s happened to him? His father killed him?
No, Keller realizes. The skull still has hair, long hair.
And the victim is wearing a sundress.
CHAPTER 48
CHRIS
Chris arrives at the office as Julia is powering down her computer. The office is empty save for the cleaning woman, who wears earbuds and occasionally belts out a tune while emptying the trash bins.
Julia briefs him on her research. “I think we have to turn over the phone to the prosecution.”
Chris nods. “Even if it has something incriminatory on it?”
“The case law is surprisingly spotty. But yeah, that’s the safest course.”
It makes sense. Otherwise, criminals could simply give their lawyers murder weapons and other inculpatory evidence to conceal from authorities. And here, it wasn’t even their client who’d given them the cell phone, it was a third party.
“Anything you need me to run to ground in the research?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.” Julia loads up her briefcase.
Chris waits for her to explain.
“Some of the cases say we can keep the evidence for a reasonable amount of time. A law review article says in some instances we’re allowed to run tests on the evidence before turning it over. I didn’t see any New Jersey case law or ethics decisions on that. If you could run that down, maybe we’ll be able to analyze the data on her phone before turning it over.”
“Makes sense. I mean, we don’t even know that there’s anything incriminating on the device. It seems reasonable we can analyze the texts and digital forensics before handing it over. I’ll research that piece and report back tonight.”
“Cool, thanks,” Julia says.
“You heading home?” Chris asks.
She shakes her head. “I’m gonna hit the bar. I imagine Roger and those clowns will be there celebrating their new big case.”
Chris smiles at that. Julia will let the junior prosecutors buy her drinks while listening to their banter. Between the booze and bravado, she’ll probably learn more about the case than anything the prosecution will give them in discovery.
“Have fun,” Chris says.
Julia pauses. “Sure you don’t want to come? We don’t meet with Jesse until late-morning tomorrow, so if we got in early and split it up, we could probably finish the research in time.”
He considers joining her. But Henry will want to know the best course of action with the phone before the interview. The digital forensics guy also is awaiting permission to analyze the device. And, honestly, he’s not in the mood.
“Have a drink for me,” he says.
Julia disappears and Chris does a deep dive into the Westlaw database. He reads every decision, every treatise, every law review article, every ethics opinion, and writes up the results. They’ll need to use extreme caution, document the chain of custody at each step, but they can analyze the phone before turning it over.
At just past eleven, his phone pings. A text from Julia.
This is their theory.
She includes a link to a news story. Chris clicks on it.
It’s a newspaper article about a workplace attack a few years ago in the Washington, D.C., area. An employee at a high-end athletic-wear store bludgeoned her coworker with a hammer, then staged the scene, claiming she and the employee had been the victims of masked intruders.
So this was the prosecution’s working theory: that Jesse killed the employees at the Dairy Creamery, then pretended to be one of the victims, like in the Washington, D.C., attack. She’d taken all the victims’ phones with her to cover up her previous dispute with one of the girls, hidden them in the hospital room, but inadvertently left one behind when she checked out.