months or so before Emily died.’
‘Did you mention that in your interview?’
‘I certainly did.’
‘What else did you tell the detective?’
‘I thought you kept records of those interviews.’ Lisa said.
‘Yes, ma’am, but, we have a little problem with the transcript document. Apparently, someone filed away a redacted media copy instead of the original.’
‘Redacted?’ Lisa asked.
‘That just means that when a document is made public, someone goes through it and, using a permanent marker, blacks out some of the information not appropriate for release. Most often they obscure people’s birth dates, phone numbers, social security numbers – private information. And occasionally, a judge will deem some of the material too inflammatory or prejudicial for public release.’
‘Well, don’t you keep the tapes of those interviews? I know he recorded it.’
‘The tapes were damaged, ma’am.’
‘Ah, well, I suppose with the conviction you no longer thought you had any need of that and someone got careless.’
Lucinda didn’t correct her on that point; she just waited for her to continue.
‘Let’s see,’ Lisa said. ‘It’s been quite a few years, lieutenant. I’m not sure I can completely recall.’
‘If I showed you a transcript of your interview, would that help you remember?’
‘It might.’
Lucinda handed her the thick document and said, ‘What I’d like to know Ms Pedigo, is what you said in the places where the words are blacked out, if you can recall.’
‘It will probably help if I read the whole thing from the beginning.’
‘Take all the time you need,’ Lucinda said.
Lucinda leaned back in the sofa watching the woman as her eyes went down a page, flipped it and started at the top of another. At this moment, she knew it did not look good. If Boz listened to what Lisa said, why didn’t he raise an objection before or during the trial? If he hadn’t been involved in the concealment of Lisa’s statement, why did he allow the omission to stand? She had to find out if the defense had even been aware that Lisa had made a statement to police.
Lisa rose out of the chair and sat next to Lucinda on the sofa. She pointed to the largest section of blackout and said, ‘This is where I told him about Emily driving off in the car that afternoon before she died.’ She flipped a couple of pages. ‘Here is where I told him about the time Emily pushed Martha over – like I was telling you. And right here, is something I’d forgotten.’
‘What was that, Ms Pedigo?’
‘It had slipped my mind but I knew Andrew was having an affair.’
No wonder he placed the blame on Martha; he wanted her out of the way. ‘With whom?’ Lucinda asked.
‘I didn’t know at the time,’ Lisa said, ‘so I didn’t tell the detective back then but I found out her name later when I saw the wedding announcement in the newspaper – she is the current Mrs Sherman. She was Dora Canterbury, the heiress to the Canterbury real estate empire – word is her father is rich enough to buy and sell Donald Trump several times over – and she is an only child.’
Lucinda felt her stomach churn. The obvious injustice and the nefarious motives behind the framing of Martha Sherman would be recognizable to a kindergarten student. And Boz was mixed up in all of this? And he never said a single word about it to her? And she’d never questioned a single thing he’d been doing, throughout the whole investigation. How could she have been so naïve?
FIFTEEN
N ow that lunchtime had come and gone, Jake wondered why he hadn’t heard back from Idaho. How could a simple fingerprint check take so long? It would be understandable if they were doing a blind database search looking for a match, but this was ridiculous. They probably just couldn’t be bothered to communicate, he thought.
The agent out west had specifically told him not to call but his silence had gone on for far too long, making Jake feel as if his
‘Did you mention that in your interview?’
‘I certainly did.’
‘What else did you tell the detective?’
‘I thought you kept records of those interviews.’ Lisa said.
‘Yes, ma’am, but, we have a little problem with the transcript document. Apparently, someone filed away a redacted media copy instead of the original.’
‘Redacted?’ Lisa asked.
‘That just means that when a document is made public, someone goes through it and, using a permanent marker, blacks out some of the information not appropriate for release. Most often they obscure people’s birth dates, phone numbers, social security numbers – private information. And occasionally, a judge will deem some of the material too inflammatory or prejudicial for public release.’
‘Well, don’t you keep the tapes of those interviews? I know he recorded it.’
‘The tapes were damaged, ma’am.’
‘Ah, well, I suppose with the conviction you no longer thought you had any need of that and someone got careless.’
Lucinda didn’t correct her on that point; she just waited for her to continue.
‘Let’s see,’ Lisa said. ‘It’s been quite a few years, lieutenant. I’m not sure I can completely recall.’
‘If I showed you a transcript of your interview, would that help you remember?’
‘It might.’
Lucinda handed her the thick document and said, ‘What I’d like to know Ms Pedigo, is what you said in the places where the words are blacked out, if you can recall.’
‘It will probably help if I read the whole thing from the beginning.’
‘Take all the time you need,’ Lucinda said.
Lucinda leaned back in the sofa watching the woman as her eyes went down a page, flipped it and started at the top of another. At this moment, she knew it did not look good. If Boz listened to what Lisa said, why didn’t he raise an objection before or during the trial? If he hadn’t been involved in the concealment of Lisa’s statement, why did he allow the omission to stand? She had to find out if the defense had even been aware that Lisa had made a statement to police.
Lisa rose out of the chair and sat next to Lucinda on the sofa. She pointed to the largest section of blackout and said, ‘This is where I told him about Emily driving off in the car that afternoon before she died.’ She flipped a couple of pages. ‘Here is where I told him about the time Emily pushed Martha over – like I was telling you. And right here, is something I’d forgotten.’
‘What was that, Ms Pedigo?’
‘It had slipped my mind but I knew Andrew was having an affair.’
No wonder he placed the blame on Martha; he wanted her out of the way. ‘With whom?’ Lucinda asked.
‘I didn’t know at the time,’ Lisa said, ‘so I didn’t tell the detective back then but I found out her name later when I saw the wedding announcement in the newspaper – she is the current Mrs Sherman. She was Dora Canterbury, the heiress to the Canterbury real estate empire – word is her father is rich enough to buy and sell Donald Trump several times over – and she is an only child.’
Lucinda felt her stomach churn. The obvious injustice and the nefarious motives behind the framing of Martha Sherman would be recognizable to a kindergarten student. And Boz was mixed up in all of this? And he never said a single word about it to her? And she’d never questioned a single thing he’d been doing, throughout the whole investigation. How could she have been so naïve?
FIFTEEN
N ow that lunchtime had come and gone, Jake wondered why he hadn’t heard back from Idaho. How could a simple fingerprint check take so long? It would be understandable if they were doing a blind database search looking for a match, but this was ridiculous. They probably just couldn’t be bothered to communicate, he thought.
The agent out west had specifically told him not to call but his silence had gone on for far too long, making Jake feel as if his
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