Fair Warning (Jack McEvoy #3)(61)

But the conversation between Simpson and Rachel ended when the other detective came out the front door of the house and signaled his partner over for a huddle. Simpson broke away from Rachel and spoke to his partner in hushed tones. I nonchalantly walked over to Rachel.

“What the hell, Rachel? Are you going to just give that stuff to them?”

“No, but I could tell you were going to give him permission to search the car. I have certain protections for my clients, so I was prepared to say it was work material I had with me and not part of any search they might conduct. Luckily, he never asked.”

I was not convinced it was the best way to protect the cache of paperwork from the lab.

“We need to get out of here,” I said.

“Well, we’re going to find out right now if we can,” she said.

I turned and saw Simpson walking toward us. I was ready for him to say that the case was now a murder investigation, that my vehicle would be impounded, and that Rachel and I would be taken to the station for further questioning.

But he didn’t.

“Okay, folks, we appreciate the cooperation,” Simpson said. “We have your contact information and will be in touch should we need anything else.”

“So, we can go?” I asked.

“You can go,” Simpson said.

“What about the body?” Rachel asked. “Is it suicide?”

“It looks that way, yes,” Simpson said. “My partner confirmed it. We appreciate your calling it in.”

“All right, then,” I said.

I turned to head to the Jeep. Rachel did as well.

“I remember who you are now,” Simpson said.

I turned back to him.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“I remember who you are now,” he repeated. “I read about the Scarecrow a few years back. Or maybe it was one of those Dateline shows. Hell of a story.”

“Thanks,” I said.

Rachel and I got into the Jeep and drove away.

“That guy didn’t believe a word I said to him,” I said.

“Well, he may get a second shot at you,” Rachel said.

“What do you mean?”

“First, his partner is an idiot for signing off on that as suicide. But the coroner will probably set them straight and it may change to a murder case. They’ll come back to us then.”

That added a layer of dread to the moment. I looked down and saw that Rachel had the printouts on her lap. I remembered glancing back at her in the Jeep while I was being interviewed and seeing her eyes down. She had been reading.

“Anything good in there?” I asked.

“I think so,” Rachel said. “I think the picture is getting clear. But I need to keep reading. Let’s go get that coffee you promised me.”





28

I sat in the conference room with Myron Levin and Emily Atwater. Through the window to the newsroom I could see Rachel sitting at my pod and waiting to be called in. She had asked to use my computer so I knew she was still digging, even as I was attempting to keep her involved in the story. I thought it best that I explain things to Myron and Emily before Rachel came into the meeting.

“If you’ve read my books or know anything about me, you know who Rachel is,” I said. “She has helped me on the biggest stories of my career. She put herself on the line and protected me when I was at the Velvet Coffin, and it cost her her job as an FBI agent.”

“I think it also got the Coffin shut down,” Myron said.

“That’s a bit of an oversimplification but, yeah, that happened then too,” I said. “She had nothing to do with that.”

“And you want to bring her in on the story,” Emily said. “Our story.”

“When you hear what she has, you will see we have no choice,” I said. “And remember, it was my story before it was our story.”

“Oh, wow, a day doesn’t go by that you don’t throw that in my face, does it?” Emily responded.

“Emily,” Myron said, trying to keep the peace.

“No, it’s true,” she said. “I’ve made some major gains on this story but he wants to take what I bring and go off on his own with it.”

“No, I don’t,” I insisted. “It’s still our story. Like I said, Rachel isn’t going to write it. She’s not part of the byline. She’s a source, Emily. She has information about Marshall Hammond that we need to have.”

“Why can’t we get it direct from Marshall Hammond ourselves?” Emily asked. “I mean, I was under the impression that we actually were reporters.”

“We can’t because he’s dead,” I said. “He got murdered this morning … and Rachel and I found the body.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Emily said.

“What?” Myron exclaimed.

“If we had gotten to his place a little earlier we probably would have run into the killer ourselves,” I said.

“Way to bury the lede,” Myron said. “Why didn’t you tell me this from the start?”

“Because I’m telling you now so you will understand why Rachel is so important to this. Let us tell you what happened and then she’ll explain what she’s found out and where we’re at.”