Page 30 of 4th Silence

“Are you up for helping us locate it?”

The slightest hesitation. “How about I come by tomorrow, say around eight-thirty? You can tell me everything you know so far, and I’ll see what I can do to answer your questions.”

JJ might have closed the official investigation, but he forgot one crucial thing: I never leave a puzzle unsolved. And now, with an unexpected ally on the inside, we might just be able to reopen this case on our terms.

10

Meg

* * *

After barely five hours sleep, I’m back at the office by seven-thirty, standing over the world’s slowest coffee pot.

Or maybe I’m just impatient.

Irritable.

Nothing about this case has gone right. Mom in jail, JJ dumping Charlie, zero solid leads. All of it adds up to us spinning our wheels on the murder of a child.

My stomach shrivels. Damned cold cases.

Finally, the pot gurgles, alerting the masses—meaning me—that it’s done.

Mug at the ready, I pour, toss some Stevia in, and head to the conference room.

Last night, Charlie and I sorted through files, organizing them into neat piles. Now, I’m overwhelmed by the stacks littering a table that seats ten.

I inhale, hold it for five seconds.

I need a starting place. Just one.

Suspects.

Excellent.

I move to the giant whiteboard on the far wall, uncap a marker, and write the suspects in all caps. Below that, I add Mary’s name.

For a few seconds, I stare at it, then add: Regal. Controlled.

Of the hundreds at that party, Mary knew every inch of that estate. And had access to every person.

Not all in attendance would be suspects, but even so, any of them could be involved.

I stick to the immediate family and add Mallory’s name, and then Tiffany’s father, Gerald. Nothing about Mallory killing her daughter makes sense. Still, we can’t rule her out yet. Tiffany was an only child, so I continue by grabbing Mom’s list of potential suspects and include aunts, uncles, and cousins.

By the time I’m done, I have twenty-five. There are more family members, but I’ve started with first cousins and will see where that takes us.

We can build on these names. Draw conclusions and make connections that might help us identify more suspects.

It’s a start.

I draw a line down the center and write MURDER WEAPON.

The autopsy report indicates Tiffany suffered blunt force trauma to the right temporal region. The weapon was never found but given the shape of the wounds and the fact that the safe room was under construction, a hammer could have been used.

I add HAMMER and wander back to the stacks on the table searching for the evidence lists. I skim the pages for at least the tenth time since last evening.

Nope.