were held until they could be interviewed. Each chair had a metal bar across it that could attach to handcuffs if someone needed to be kept from moving about. It was rare for the general public to be allowed in the area.
“Do you have a statement to give?” she asked, confused. “Didn’t someone direct you to Detective Bray?”
“No ma’am,” he said, pulling something out of the backpack dangling off his shoulder.
“Careful,” she warned, undoing the safety guard on the holster. “Why don’t you tell me what this is about before you start yanking stuff out of bags?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you. It’s just an envelope with some paperwork. May I?”
“Slowly,” she told him.
He delicately removed what was indeed a thick manila envelope.
“You are Jessie Hunt, correct?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she answered as he handed her the envelope.
“You’ve been served.”
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
She read the papers in Decker’s office while she waited for him to return.
The documents were from attorneys for Jasper Otis and they were endless: claims of harassment, trespassing, slander, intimidation, false imprisonment (that one was apparently related to the uneventful interrogation in his dining room), and stalking.
She couldn’t help but notice how similar some of the legal allegations were to those made against the girls who claimed he’d sexually assaulted them. Though the sheer volume of allegations—twenty-two in total—was daunting, they weren’t having the effect she suspected was intended.
Rather than feeling intimidated, she was just pissed. Jasper Otis didn’t seem to understand that he was using his power to bully someone who had literally faced down death multiple times. She didn’t know how this would play out, but Jessie wasn’t going to back down. If Otis had done his research, he would have known better.
That’s when Decker walked in.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, immediately sensing something was amiss.
“Look at this,” she told him, handing over the lawsuit.
She watched as he read it. His face turned into a frown that grew increasingly severe. But as he finished the last page, he broke into a wry grin.
“I consider it a good thing,” he said, handing it back to her.
She was stunned at his reaction.
“I’d love to hear how you came to that conclusion,” she said.
He started to speak, then stopped himself.
“Care to join me for a walk?” he asked.
She nodded. Neither of them spoke until they were in the courtyard.
“This means you’ve got them rattled,” he said when they got to a secluded section. “They don’t file twenty-two-allegation lawsuits against someone they’re not worried about.”
Jessie appreciated the sentiment but didn’t want him to forget about the practical concerns.
“They may be worried,” she said. “But I’m the one who’s going to have the huge legal bill.”
Decker shook his head paternally.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “The consulting contract you signed for this case protects you. The department will foot any legal fees you incur during the course of your investigation. The higher-ups may be scared of Otis but they also know that if they cave on this, it will be open season for harassment lawsuits against cops doing basic police work.”
“But I’m not a cop,” she reminded him.
“This is the rare occasion in which you actually have the best of both worlds. You’re a private citizen not bound by every department rule. But you have the legal resources of the LAPD at your disposal. I suspect the consultant policy may be revised if this lawsuit bankrupts the department. But that’s a concern for another day.”
Jessie allowed herself to be heartened by what he said, even if some small part of her feared the department would cut her loose if things got too messy. Instead of obsessing over that, she moved on.
“Any luck overturning the stay for our search warrant at the Otis Estate?” she asked.
He responded with a wry chuckle.
“Still working on it,” he said. “I think it may happen, but not today. The key is, once it’s overturned, you have to be ready to execute the warrant immediately. I suspect Otis will find another judge to reverse it again ASAP, which means you’ll only have a brief window to get in there and look around. Make sure all your ducks are in a row.”
“Detective Bray’s been working on it,” she assured him. “She says we can have units on site within ten minutes of any ruling, day or night.”
“Good,” he said. “What else have you got for me?”
She walked him through what she’d learned from the cold case files that Detective Parker had flagged for her. With