weapon. We have one witness--that would be you--and she never saw the shooter's face, so she really can't positively ID him."
"That's crap."
"How so?"
"If Dan Mercer was a prominent citizen instead of a suspected pedophile--"
"And if I lost a hundred pounds and became white and good-looking, someone might mistake me for Hugh Jackman. But the truth is, until the body or weapon is found, we have nothing."
"Sounds like you're giving up."
"I'm not. But the brass has absolutely no interest in pursuing this. As both my boss and opposing counsel reminded me today, the best-case scenario is that we charge a retired fed whose son was sexually abused by the victim."
"And that would be bad for any political career."
"That's the cynical viewpoint," Walker said.
"What other viewpoint is there?"
"The real-world one. We have a limited amount of resources. One of my colleagues, an old-timer named Frank Tremont, is still looking for that missing girl, Haley McWaid, but after this much time, well, it is all about resources, right? So who wants to divert resources away from that case, for example, to--one--find justice for an undeserving scumbag and--two--a case we can't possibly win because no jury will convict?"
"Again I repeat: Sounds like you're giving up."
"Not quite. I plan to retrace his steps, figure out where Mercer had been living."
"Not the trailer?"
"No. I spoke to his lawyer and ex-wife. Mercer moved around a lot--I guess it was tough for him to settle. Anyway he had just rented out the trailer that morning. There's nothing there, not even a change of clothes."
Wendy made a face. "So what do you expect to learn when you find his place?"
"Damn if I know."
"What else?"
"I'll try to track down that GPS on your car, but I can't imagine that'll get us anywhere. Even if we get extra lucky and prove it belongs to Grayson, well, that shows he kept tabs on you? We'd still have a long way to go."
"You need to find the body," she said.
"Right, that's priority one. I need to retrace Grayson's driving route--and I think I might be able to get a rough idea. We know that two hours after leaving that trailer, Grayson stopped at a shooting range."
"You're kidding."
"That was my reaction. But actually it was pretty ingenious. Witnesses saw him firing a gun at targets, thereby making our gun residue test null and void. We checked the weapon he brought with him to the range, but no surprise--the slugs didn't match the ones we found at the trailer park."
"Wow. Grayson knew to go to a range to screw up your test?"
"He's an ex-federal marshal. He knows what he's doing. Think about it. He wore a mask, got rid of the body, got rid of the weapon, destroyed our gun residue test--and he hired Hester Crimstein. Do you see what I'm up against?"
"I do."
"We know Grayson dumped the body somewhere on the route, but there are a lot of hours unaccounted for, and that area has plenty of empty acreage."
"And you won't get the manpower to cover it?"
"Like I said, this isn't a girl gone missing. This is the corpse of a pedophile. And if Grayson planned it well enough--which, so far, seems to be the case--he might have dug a hole before he even killed Mercer. We might never find the body."
Wendy looked off, shook her head.
"What?"
"I was his patsy. Grayson tried to get me on his side. When he couldn't, he just followed me--and I led him right to Mercer."
"Not your fault."
"Doesn't matter if it is or it isn't. I don't like being used like that."
Walker said nothing.
"It's a crap ending," Wendy said.
"Some would say it's pretty tidy."
"How so?"
"The pedophile escapes our legal system but not justice. It's almost biblical when you think about it."
Wendy shook her head. "It feels wrong."
"What part?"
She kept it to herself. But the answer was, all of it. Like maybe Mercer's ex had a point. Like maybe something about this whole thing stank right from the get-go. Like maybe from the get-go she should have trusted her woman's intuition or
"That's crap."
"How so?"
"If Dan Mercer was a prominent citizen instead of a suspected pedophile--"
"And if I lost a hundred pounds and became white and good-looking, someone might mistake me for Hugh Jackman. But the truth is, until the body or weapon is found, we have nothing."
"Sounds like you're giving up."
"I'm not. But the brass has absolutely no interest in pursuing this. As both my boss and opposing counsel reminded me today, the best-case scenario is that we charge a retired fed whose son was sexually abused by the victim."
"And that would be bad for any political career."
"That's the cynical viewpoint," Walker said.
"What other viewpoint is there?"
"The real-world one. We have a limited amount of resources. One of my colleagues, an old-timer named Frank Tremont, is still looking for that missing girl, Haley McWaid, but after this much time, well, it is all about resources, right? So who wants to divert resources away from that case, for example, to--one--find justice for an undeserving scumbag and--two--a case we can't possibly win because no jury will convict?"
"Again I repeat: Sounds like you're giving up."
"Not quite. I plan to retrace his steps, figure out where Mercer had been living."
"Not the trailer?"
"No. I spoke to his lawyer and ex-wife. Mercer moved around a lot--I guess it was tough for him to settle. Anyway he had just rented out the trailer that morning. There's nothing there, not even a change of clothes."
Wendy made a face. "So what do you expect to learn when you find his place?"
"Damn if I know."
"What else?"
"I'll try to track down that GPS on your car, but I can't imagine that'll get us anywhere. Even if we get extra lucky and prove it belongs to Grayson, well, that shows he kept tabs on you? We'd still have a long way to go."
"You need to find the body," she said.
"Right, that's priority one. I need to retrace Grayson's driving route--and I think I might be able to get a rough idea. We know that two hours after leaving that trailer, Grayson stopped at a shooting range."
"You're kidding."
"That was my reaction. But actually it was pretty ingenious. Witnesses saw him firing a gun at targets, thereby making our gun residue test null and void. We checked the weapon he brought with him to the range, but no surprise--the slugs didn't match the ones we found at the trailer park."
"Wow. Grayson knew to go to a range to screw up your test?"
"He's an ex-federal marshal. He knows what he's doing. Think about it. He wore a mask, got rid of the body, got rid of the weapon, destroyed our gun residue test--and he hired Hester Crimstein. Do you see what I'm up against?"
"I do."
"We know Grayson dumped the body somewhere on the route, but there are a lot of hours unaccounted for, and that area has plenty of empty acreage."
"And you won't get the manpower to cover it?"
"Like I said, this isn't a girl gone missing. This is the corpse of a pedophile. And if Grayson planned it well enough--which, so far, seems to be the case--he might have dug a hole before he even killed Mercer. We might never find the body."
Wendy looked off, shook her head.
"What?"
"I was his patsy. Grayson tried to get me on his side. When he couldn't, he just followed me--and I led him right to Mercer."
"Not your fault."
"Doesn't matter if it is or it isn't. I don't like being used like that."
Walker said nothing.
"It's a crap ending," Wendy said.
"Some would say it's pretty tidy."
"How so?"
"The pedophile escapes our legal system but not justice. It's almost biblical when you think about it."
Wendy shook her head. "It feels wrong."
"What part?"
She kept it to herself. But the answer was, all of it. Like maybe Mercer's ex had a point. Like maybe something about this whole thing stank right from the get-go. Like maybe from the get-go she should have trusted her woman's intuition or
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