Now, thanks to the war room, Grace had a place to keep all those questions and possible answers organized. Her secret wish was to find some evidence, a new connection or possibility, that would convince Greg Navarro to enter a plea of not guilty.
I didn’t do anything wrong.
Grace couldn’t let go of the idea that Penny’s only crime may have been picking up the knife that had been used in the murder. Were it not so symbolic of their inadequacies as detectives, she would have purchased a copy of Private Investigations for Dummies at the local Barnes & Noble. Perhaps Attorney Navarro, with his background and experience, would be able to make something of their theories or come up with new ones.
He arrived with a coffee cake from Newman’s Bakery, for which Annie could not have been more grateful. Grace noticed some crumbs on his blue oxford shirt, suggesting he may have already sampled some of the bakery’s other offerings. Annie went to the kitchen to cut the cake while Navarro studied the index cards pinned to a board.
All of the cards were connected with pieces of string to denote correlations between different possibilities. In particular, the card on the wall with Vincent Rapino’s name on it had a line of yellow string connecting him to Rachel Boyd’s card.
“We’ve done the timeline,” Grace said to Navarro. “And Vince Rapino is the only one linked to Rachel Boyd both before Penny was born and after the murder.”
A beam of sunshine streaming in through a window across the study lit up Vince’s card, as if to spotlight that theory. Annie returned with three pieces of cake, but Navarro, who had his hands on his hips, studying the board, was too busy thinking to eat.
“This is Vince’s wife, or ex-wife,” Grace said. She traced her finger along the yellow piece of string connecting Vince’s card to one with Nicole written on it. “We don’t have much on her, though, and certainly nothing to call her a suspect just yet.”
“And we’ve got Maria,” said Annie, who had joined Grace and Navarro at the board. Navarro took his time to assess everything the way an interested museum patron might read the placards of an exhibit display.
“What do you think of Maria?” Navarro asked. He pointed to three strips of paper below Maria’s card, on which Grace had handwritten important details. Clues, Annie called them.
1. Burned it all up. （Chloe）
2. Arrested for attempted second degree murder.
3. Weak alibi for night of murder.
“I think she’s sketchy as all get-out,” said Grace. “But we don’t have more than our suspicions.”
“Are Penny and Maria still in contact?”
“They write each other letters,” Grace said, answering Navarro’s question with a dismayed headshake. “It’s inappropriate, I know, but I can’t stop it. Those two have shared a special bond—a twisted one, I’ll give you that—since they met, which is why I think Maria is somehow involved in all this.”
Navarro noted the card with CO Blackwood’s name on it. “Any updates on him?”
“Denies it, but what would you expect?”
“Yeah, I’d expect that,” said Navarro. “And these?”
He pointed to the card listing all of the locations Penny had rattled off when she went into her trancelike state.
“We don’t know,” Annie said. “She’s never been to any of those places. And we don’t know what the name of the book she keeps talking about is either.”
Annie directed Navarro’s attention to several color printouts of books she had sourced online, all of which featured water and boats on the covers.
“The book means something to her,” said Grace.
“So do these,” said Navarro, looking at the list of phrases Penny had spoken either as herself or as an alter, which Grace had written out in black marker.
I wasn’t alone.
Gone and gone for good.
I’ll get the bucket.
“When did she say this?” Navarro was looking at the card that read: Mommy is going to prison for a long, long time if she doesn’t do as she’s told.
“There was a second switch to Ruby,” Grace explained. “She was taking a whirlpool tub in the PT room to alleviate muscle soreness after Darla’s attack. We don’t know why, but Ruby came out, and that’s what she said.”
“We think this all points back to Vincent Rapino. He’s been arrested before—criminal, prison,” Annie said.
For Navarro’s benefit, Grace reviewed the tidbit of information that Morgan, the edgy bartender, had given them outside Lucky Dog. Grace connected the dots for him.