Piece of My Heart (Under Suspicion #7) - Mary Higgins Clark Page 0,85
a quick jab for emphasis.
“It’s called touch DNA,” Leo said.
“When I gave him the knife for his birthday, he wanted me to show him my knife tricks, so he knew I’d been handling the blade between my fingers that night. He said he managed to wipe down the handle of the knife with his shirt in the chaos after that bar owner went down, but didn’t touch the blade because it would seem too obvious if it were clean. When he read that article, he got a lightbulb over that big brain of his, wondering if I might have left some DNA behind on the blade.”
“And that’s why he filed the petition for new DNA testing?” Leo asked.
A corner of Rollins’s mouth lifted. “Can you believe it? The whole thing was a Hail Mary pass. He figured that another person’s DNA on the blade might be enough to get his conviction thrown out. Turns out they found it at the top edge of the handle, so he must have missed a spot. He actually didn’t realize there’d be a sample of my DNA in a database for comparison. I’m not entirely sure I believe him, but he at least says he didn’t mean for my name to get dragged into it.”
“You make it sound like you’ve been speaking to him on a regular basis. Was this on the prison phones? I’m surprised he’d be so risky.”
“Darren’s much too smart to make that kind of mistake. He sent someone else to deliver his messages.”
Leo was fairly certain he knew who that person was. “Toby Carver?” he asked, holding up his phone to display a photograph of Summer’s half brother.
“You know your stuff, Farley.”
“The district attorney’s investigator tried to interview you. You declined. Why not defend yourself then?”
Rollins held his gaze for several seconds before speaking. “I didn’t feel the need to talk to that man, because he didn’t know the connection between me and Darren. You did, so the jig is up, as they say. I meant it when I said I don’t want to get on the wrong side of the law again. Declining an interview’s not a crime. Lying to a cop, on the other hand, might be, as I understand it.”
“My guess is Darren also promised to share his court settlement with you if you kept quiet.”
Mason said nothing.
“Do you remember the waitress who was working at the bar that night?” Leo scrolled on his phone to an old photo of Clarissa DeSanto that he had gotten from Samantha Finney. “This is Clarissa DeSanto. She saw the two of you together, didn’t she?”
“I think I’m done talking to you, Deputy Commissioner.”
“Then I guess I’ll add your name to the charge of conspiracy to commit murder.”
“Whoa, whoa—I told you, I was long gone by the time that man was killed.”
“I’m not talking about Lou Finney, Rollins. Clarissa DeSanto was killed three months ago. Toby Carver ran her car off the side of the road in a fatal rollover crash. But you already knew that, didn’t you? Because you helped him and Darren Gunther plan it, to make sure she wasn’t around to tell other people that the two of you were friends.”
Mason’s face contorted with fear. When he spoke again, his cool demeanor was replaced by genuine panic. “She’s… dead? I swear, I had no idea. I just assumed she was getting paid off, too.”
“Right now, it looks like you, Toby, and your friend Darren killed her to spring your buddy from prison, set me up as a liar, and split the big paycheck he’d be getting from the state. So you better explain.”
“I didn’t know any of this in advance. One day, some dude from the DA’s Office shows up, asking me about the night that Darren got arrested. When he told me my DNA was on that knife, I freaked out. I had no idea about touch DNA or whatever. Then the next day, that guy Toby tracked me down at my apartment. He said I’d get twenty percent of whatever money Darren hustled out of the state for locking him up. All I had to do was stay mum. Not tell anyone about my connection to Darren.”
“What about Toby’s half sister, Summer? Was she involved?”
Rollins shook his head. “At least, I don’t think so. Toby said she was a flake, but she really believed Darren was innocent. I got the impression she’s, like, in love with him or something. Toby was the one with the street