I could hear the worry and frustration in her voice. The whole country was watching this case, watching her every move. We had worked so hard to sell Mercer and her boss, Sinclair, on the idea that it was Jenks. And now, after all that — to propose a new theory and suspect.
“Authorize a search,” I told Jill. “Joanna Wade’s house. Something has to be there. The missing rings, a weapon, details on the victims. It’s the only way we’ll ever pin it down.”
“Authorize a search on what basis? Suspicion of new evidence? I can’t do that without blowing this case wide open again. If we show we’re not even sure, how can I convince a jury?”
“We could check where she worked,” proposed Cindy. “See if she had specific access to information on the brides.”
“That’s circumstantial. It’s crap,” Jill cried. “One of my neighbors works at Saks. Maybe she’s the murderer.”
“You can’t go through with this,” argued Cindy, “if we still have doubt.”
“You have doubt,” said Jill. “What I have is everything in place for a slam-dunk conviction. To you, it’s a story, you follow it where it leads. My whole career is on the line.”
Cindy looked stunned. “You think I’m here for just the story? You think I sat on every lead, agonized over not being able to go to copy, just so I could wind up with the book rights later on?”
“C’mon girls,” said Claire, her arm on Cindy’s shoulder. “We have to be together on this.”
Slowly, Jill’s intense blue eyes softened. She turned to Cindy. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just that when this gets out, Leff will be able to plant huge doubts in that jury’s mind.”
“But we can’t back down now just because it’s bad tactics,” said Claire. “There could be a murderer out there, a multiple murderer.”
I said to Jill, “Authorize a search. C’mon, Jill.”
I had never seen Jill look so upset. Everything she had achieved in her career, everything she stood for, was being placed squarely on the line. She shook her head. “Let’s try it Cindy’s way. We’ll start with Saks, check Joanna out there.”
“Thank you, Jill,” I said. “You’re the best.”
She exhaled resignedly. “Find out if she’s had any contact with anyone who had access to those names. Connect Joanna with those names, and I’ll get you what you want. But if you can’t, be prepared to fry Jenks.”
From across the table, I took her hand. She gripped mine. We exchanged a nervous smile.
Jill finally joked, “Personally, I hope all you come back with is the hot item to be featured in the next Christmas catalog.”
Claire laughed loudly. “Now that wouldn’t be a total loss, would it?”
Chapter 109
THE FOLLOWING DAY, the day Nicholas Jenks was set to be arraigned for the murders of Rebecca and Michael DeGeorge, I set out to track down a new killer.
I couldn’t let Jenks know we were looking that closely at Joanna. Of course, I didn’t want Joanna to know we were focusing suspicion on her, either. And I didn’t want to face Mercer’s or Roth’s reactions.
With all this going on, it was my Medved day, too. After that spell in the park with Chris three days before, I had gone for a blood test. Medved called back himself, told me he wanted me to come in. Being called in again like that scared me. Like that first time with Dr. Roy.
That morning, Medved kept me waiting. When he finally called me in, there was another doctor in his office — older, with white hair and bushy white eyebrows. He introduced himself as Dr. Robert Yatto.
The sight of a new doctor sent a chill through me. He could only be there to talk about the bone marrow procedure.
“Dr. Yatto is head of hematology at Moffett,” Medved said. “I asked him to look at your latest sample.”
Yatto smiled. “How are you feeling, Lindsay?”
“Sometimes okay, sometimes incredibly weak,” I answered. My chest felt tight. Why did I have to go through this with someone new?
“Tell me about the other day.”
I did my best to recount the reeling spell I’d had in City Hall Park.
“Any emissions of blood?” Yatto asked matter-offactly.