Jane Pelicano was a tall woman with short, drab, brownish hair. Nobody would ever call her pretty nor would they call her ugly. Her features were ordinary and she did nothing to enhance them by wearing little makeup and conservative pantsuits every day. Her success was intrinsically tied to the fact that nothing was about her. She approached the job in a businesslike manner; she got the jury to focus on the evidence, and she had the ability and the confidence to out-lawyer even the best criminal defense lawyers and ram home the conviction. Under normal circumstances, Danni was no match for Jane Pelicano.
“What’s the harm, Jane, in putting it before the court?”
“The judges rely on us to screen these affidavits so they’re not dealing with frivolous motions all the time.”
“So this is about your reputation? Seven women have been murdered already. We need to have a sense of urgency here.”
Jane walked over to where Danni was standing. She didn’t get in her space but Danni could feel her.
“How long have you known me, Danni? Do you ever think I would put my own interests over getting the evidence against a serial killer?”
“No, I don’t. But explain to me again why you won’t even try. And leave out the part about the judge relying on you—because that seems to be about your reputation.”
Jane walked away from her at that point and stood behind her desk with her arms folded across her chest.
“Do you know how many reporters are here in town writing about these murders?”
“A lot.”
“More than a lot, Danni; there are reporters here from all over the globe. Let’s say we get the search warrant with this flimsy evidence, which is no evidence really, and search Mr. Felton’s apartment. And let’s say we find nothing. That day, not the next day but that very day, Mr. Felton will be known worldwide as a suspected serial killer. His reputation will be ruined forever. No matter what happens in this case, he has been labeled and he will be hounded by the press and other assorted sickos. People who have been labeled like that in the past for the most part never recovered. They got sick, they committed suicide, whatever.
“Sam told me that you said something about Mr. Felton being inconvenienced for a couple of hours—that is so far from the truth. The judge’s reputation would suffer as well. The Fourth Amendment protects the innocent from unreasonable searches and seizures. That’s also part of my obligation as a prosecutor.”
Jane had certainly given Danni a lot to think about, and she did it in that way of hers, with that air of certainty that she used in her closing arguments to convince the jury there was no other conclusion to reach. Danni didn’t come back at her right away. She paused for a few moments to give Jane and her speech the proper amount of respect.
“I hear you, Jane, and everything you said is true. You’re right. I haven’t considered all the ramifications for Mr. Felton nor do I want to. I want to keep my focus on those seven girls and the next victim, whoever she may be. If I can save her life and her family and her friends the heartache, I’ll move mountains to do it. This killer has talked to me. He’s intimated to me that he could kill my own daughter. He’s got to be stopped. As a matter of fact, now that I mention it, I talked to both Mr. Felton and the killer and their voices sounded familiar. I can add that to my affidavit.”
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that, Danni. A professional like you meeting with her superior and then with the state attorney, preparing a memo and an affidavit, and then suddenly recalling that the voices of the killer and her suspect were familiar—that is so outrageous it could get you fired.
“Look, I know this is personal for you. Sam told me all about your daughter’s situation, but that doesn’t justify bending the law. We have to follow the law. Having said that, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll ask for the search warrant. I’ll sit down with the judge and I’ll lay it all out for him or her, whoever we get, the pros and the cons, and we’ll let the chips fall where they may.”
Danni couldn’t believe her ears. Had she actually gotten through to Jane?