Vindicate (Recovered Innocence #1)(16)

“I understand that. You want someone to pay for what was done to her.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“But what if it’s the wrong someone? You seem like an honest person, the kind of person who wouldn’t want an innocent man to pay for a crime he didn’t commit. It happens, you know. I work for Nash Security and Investigation. We recently helped to overturn the conviction of a man who sat in prison for thirty-nine years, paying for a crime he didn’t commit. Can you imagine that?” She shakes her head. “Me either. That’s why I’m here. Cassandra’s killer is still out there and we’re trying to find him. Anything you can tell me—no matter how trivial or insignificant—will help.”

My scare tactic worked. Mindy looks horrified at the possibility that Cassandra’s killer is still out there.

“I’ll tell you whatever I can.”

“Thank you.” I gentle my voice. “It must’ve been difficult to lose your friend. Tell me what she was like.”

Mindy launches into her stories about Cassandra and I add them to the others that Cora told me. The more I learn about Cassandra, the more I like her. Sure, people tend to talk nice about the dead even if they weren’t such nice people, but I have a feeling that Cassandra genuinely was one of the nice ones.

“Did you ever hang out with Cassandra outside of work?” I ask.

“A couple times.”

“Did she mention a new boyfriend?”

“No, no new boyfriend. She broke up with that Beau a few months before she was…killed, and I don’t know of anyone new.”

“Did she ever talk about Beau with you? Do you know why they broke up?”

“Yeah. She talked about him all the time, but I got the feeling there were some real problems toward the end. She cried a lot and then just sort of got into a funk. We didn’t go out after work anymore.”

“Did she miss any work or have to leave early or come in late?”

“A couple of times. Hey, that’s right.” She snapped her fingers. “That’s when she first brought up some trouble she’d been having.”

“What trouble?”

“She complained a couple of times about some weird stuff happening around her apartment complex—vandalism, things missing—that sort of thing. Nothing sinister. Probably just kids. But I wondered if maybe it wasn’t Beau who was doing it just to get a rise out of her. It was just little things, annoying things. Like as if he was trying to get her attention or something.”

“Do you know if she ever called the police?”

“Probably.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I would’ve. A couple of the things she mentioned were just so weird.”

“Like what?”

“Someone took her cat, then suddenly he reappeared a couple of days later in a box on her doorstep with a bow around his neck. She was just so happy to have him back I don’t think she thought about someone taking the cat just to mess with her. That’s kind of a sick thing to do, don’t you think?”

“Are you sure it wasn’t a neighbor returning her cat?”

“Could’ve been, I suppose, but why not just ring the doorbell? And why the bow?”

I made a mental note to check to see if Cassandra had filed a police report or if there was any record of her making calls to the police.

“Can you think of anything else you might not have told the police?”

“Oh, I told them about the weird stuff.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. They didn’t seem to think as much of it as you do.”

“Huh. Well, thanks for your time, Mindy.” I gave her one of the blank agency cards that I’d written my name on. “If you think of anything else, give me a call.” I opened the door, needing to get out of that claustrophobic office before the walls really did close in on me.

Looking down at it, she flicked the card with a finger. “Did your agency really free a wrongfully convicted man?”

“Yes.”

“Do you really think that Beau was wrongfully convicted?”

“Absolutely.”

“I have to tell you. I met him a couple of times—you know, before they broke up? I couldn’t see him snapping like that and doing what they say happened to her. He loved her. That was as plain as anything. Even after the breakup I don’t think he was the type to hurt anybody, especially Cassandra.”

I nodded.

“If I called you, would you let me know what happens? If it wasn’t Beau, I’d like to know who the bastard was who killed her.”

“Sure. And like I said, if you can think of anything else, let me know. Thanks.”

I head up to the third floor, where the food court is, and spot Cora right away. Even without the blue hair she would be hard to miss. She’s just sitting there, people-watching. Her look is so far away and lost I wonder what she could be thinking. I’d give my left nut to know what she’s thinking. I don’t know anyone harder to read than Cora. The FBI could do a study on her and train their agents on how to mask their thoughts. I’d hate to play poker with her.

I approach her from the side and her head immediately swings in my direction. Sliding in the chair opposite her, I notice that she’s been biting her left pinkie nail. That habit is the only outward sign that Cora is as flawed as the rest of us. I want to take her hand and tell her everything will be okay, that I’ll fix what’s wrong for her. But I’m not entirely sure what would happen if I did, so I don’t.