Cut and Run (Lucy Kincaid #16) - Allison Brennan Page 0,113
knew each other from college.”
“Yeah, we have Mills’s client list.”
“Did you run it? Was anyone suspicious?”
“We interviewed a few people, but when Grant confessed, that was it. He knew information about the crime that we didn’t release.” Reed didn’t elaborate.
“It would help me if we could work together on this,” Lucy said. “Grant was assassinated in broad daylight.”
“We released to the press that Mills had been stabbed, but not where or how many times. He knew that she was stabbed twice in the stomach. He’s right-handed, which fits forensics. He also said that after he stabbed her she staggered a couple feet and fell into the pool. That information—that she was found in the pool—was released. The blood trail is consistent with his version of events. This whole circus about changing his plea is just that—a circus.”
“Except for the blood drops that could have come when someone was getting in a passenger side of a car.”
“That’s fifty-fifty. The driveway is wide. Someone could have parked far to the right and got in the driver’s side.”
Lucy nodded, but she still thought, based on the layout of the driveway, that the drops were from a passenger.
She said, “What if I told you there was evidence that Grant had been threatened to plead guilty?”
“I would ask, ‘What evidence?’”
“I’m working on it.” This was where Lucy was going to have to come clean or the detective would never trust her again. “My husband is Sean Rogan.”
“The PI who was at the courthouse. You could have led with that.”
Lucy smiled. “Yeah, but then you may not have met me. Sean has a way of irritating cops.”
“Actually, though he was a bit of a know-it-all, he was a terrific witness. I verified his credentials, so we’re good. He gave us a line on the white florist van, and I have some security footage we’re working on enhancing.”
“Was one of the men on the security footage a Hispanic male adult, under forty, over six foot two with broad shoulders?”
“Yes, like thousands of men in San Antonio.”
“If you need any distinguishing features on him, his right hand is seriously scarred from some sort of burn.”
“I don’t know that we have that detailed information, but we’re still going over security tapes from the area. Rogan said the van was parked in the loading area of the archives building for a minimum of fifteen minutes. We have confirmed it arrived at twelve thirty and stayed until one ten when Grant was killed. My theory is that he pled guilty because he was guilty, but sitting in jail he couldn’t fathom spending the rest of his life there, so he came up with this asinine plan to change his plea. The confession wouldn’t be thrown out, the prosecutor assured me, because he came in on his own volition. It’s a good confession. He panicked because he didn’t get away with the embezzlement, the goons he owed money to took him out as an example to other gamblers who wanted to renege on what they owe. We’re turning the case over to Vice.”
It was a solid theory. One even Lucy could buy into. “I may have some information that could help you there.”
“It’s not my case anymore, and good riddance.”
“But Victoria Mills is still your case.”
“You’re going to have to do some slick talking to convince me that Stanley Grant’s confession was a lie.”
“Sean is working with Maxine Revere.”
“For shit’s sake.”
“She’s difficult and persistent—”
“She’s a bitch.”
“But she’s good at what she does. I don’t like reporters any more than you do—probably a lot less than you do.”
“Doubtful.”
“But Max—”
“Don’t say she’s different.”
“No, but she has a unique way of viewing information, plus she has access to more than we do, including the Mills family.”
“You can’t work with her. A fucking defense lawyer would say you used her to go around getting warrants or some such fucked nonsense. We may not like all the rules, but they’re there for a reason—so these bastards don’t get off on a technicality.”
“I recognize this is a gray area, but I think we can work together on this. The day Grant was killed, he met with his lawyer and Maxine at the courthouse. He told them—”
“Right there, Kincaid. He was talking to his lawyer. Client confidentiality.”
“Grant is dead, and Max was there,” Lucy said, not liking the interruption. “Just hear me out, okay? Grant told them that he was approached after Victoria was killed by a Hispanic male with a scar on his hand. The stranger said that