The Girls in the Snow (Nikki Hunt #1) - Stacy Green Page 0,32
when I found my parents. And I’m betting the defense played up the intoxication thing to this reporter, trying to get more people on Mark’s side.”
“Public opinion might appear to influence the case, and unless the defense has proof you were intoxicated, that argument won’t hold water in court. The DNA certainly will, but Patsy Moran is absolutely certain none of the samples will match Mark’s DNA. She’s pushing for urgent testing because he’s already spent enough time in prison as an innocent man.”
Mark Todd must be one hell of a liar. “Please tell me the state is doing its own testing. If they’ve hired some independent—”
“The defense sent it to the state’s crime lab,” Mathews said. “No chance of bias or false results.”
“Good. They’re going to look like idiots when it’s a match.”
“Nikki, have you looked at the evidence?” Mathews asked. “I know it will be hard to be objective, but perhaps now is the time for you to do that. We can provide copies of the photos and all the reports—”
“I have a killer to catch first.” Nikki stood up to leave. “Please keep me in the loop from now on?”
She held her tears in until the elevator doors closed. Patsy Moran wouldn’t have taken the case if she didn’t believe Mark was innocent. Why hadn’t the biological evidence been tested? Why were there so many inconsistencies in the case she’d been told was rock solid? How many other lies had she been told?
Rory’s face flashed through Nikki’s mind. He wanted Nikki to talk to Mark and find out what really happened at the party, and Nikki understood that whatever story his brother had given him, Rory believed it. But she didn’t.
Hardin and the prosecutor believed Mark Todd had crawled in the bedroom window she’d left open, knocking a bunch of things off her dresser, including the lamp. They’d painted a detailed picture at the time. Nikki’s father had gone to investigate the noise with his .32. Nikki’s room had been a mess, her vanity knocked over and the mirror broken during a struggle, and a ligature mark on her father’s neck suggested Mark likely tried to strangle him with the lamp cord. Police believed that’s when her father lost the gun, and Mark shot him. Nikki’s mother likely tried to help her husband, at some point running back into the bedroom to call for help. The phone cord had been ripped from the wall.
It worried Nikki that Mathews was doubting the original investigation. Throughout his career, Mathews had consistently defended due process for the accused, because it was the only way to get a true conviction. A moral conviction, he’d once said in court. How hard would he fight for Mark’s guilt if he didn’t believe in it? Mark could wind up walking the streets before the DNA results even came in, and that was the last thing Nikki wanted.
Ten
Nikki listened to a playlist of supposedly calming music on the drive to Stillwater, but the repetitive, dull sounds made her sleepy. She switched to her classic rock list and blasted AC/DC as she approached the Washington County Government Center. She could do this. She wasn’t some broken teenaged kid. Nikki had worked her rear end off to get where she was, and she’d faced down far scarier things than a crowd of protesters.
Their numbers appeared to have doubled since yesterday. Nikki expected them to swarm her car, but the group stayed on the sidewalk, shouting at her. She made out the word “liar,” and several obscenities in the signs they were holding, but she didn’t let off the gas and drove into the government complex.
Nikki exhaled a shaky sigh of relief as she circled the parking lot in search of an available space. She squeezed the jeep in between two sedans and hoped her doors didn’t get scratched. She was late, and she hated walking into a room full of people waiting for her.
Sergeant Miller had found a temporary workspace for Liam and Courtney to set up shop. Unfortunately, the location was at the far end of the complex, and Nikki had parked up front.
She pulled her hat low and then zipped her parka up. Her face burned and her eyes watered from the cold wind. She ducked her head as far into her collar as possible.
“Agent Hunt.” Caitlin Newport materialized out of nowhere. Nikki hadn’t noticed the big truck when she’d circled the lot.
“We have no new information on the murders,” Nikki said.