“Oh, my God,” Leigh said when Alexa entered the lab. “The fingerprint in the blood is Martin Tandy’s.”
“I’ll need to verify,” Alexa said calmly.
“Right. Of course,” Leigh said.
Alexa conjured a neutral mindset, and as if Earl Hammer was looking over her shoulder, painstakingly mapped the minutiae of each print. Twenty minutes later she concluded that they were similar. Was there a name for men who killed their sisters-in-law, Alexa wondered?
Bastards. Monsters. Devils.
“It’s late. We won’t get the blood test results until morning,” Leigh said.
Alexa had lost track of time. “You’ve done good work. Go home. I’ll update DI Katakana.”
The DI, in her office, took a moment to digest the news that the fingerprint on the washing machine was Martin Tandy’s.
“If the blood matches Eileen’s, we’ll have a slam dunk,” Alexa finished.
“As it is, we have enough to hold them overnight. Now we need to figure out if Misty Tandy was in on it. You watched through the glass, right? Impressions?
“The phone, the laundry, the missing shower curtain. If she wasn’t a partner-in-crime, she had to be suspicious of Martin.”
“Accessory after the fact maybe. That’s better than murder. A press conference is scheduled for nine a.m. Three independent analysts confirmed your Hammer print comparison.” The DI snatched a bottle of Visine from her drawer, leaned her head back, and squeezed drops into her bloodshot eyes. “Deputy Commissioner Garret and a rep from the Innocence Project will announce Hammer was erroneously imprisoned and that the Cindy Mulligan case is reopened.” She blinked and sighed. “It’s a hell of a mess.”
“How is DI Unger?” Alexa asked.
“Released from hospital. He won’t press charges against Hammer, said that he deserves to go free. The press will eat Unger alive.”
“It’s the forensics they should turn on.” Alexa felt like she had stabbed her bestie in the back, not that she had a bestie. “The expert witness misled the court. Is Hammer still in custody?”
“He was released to the company of a lawyer an hour ago.”
Alexa would have liked to have watched him walk out.
The DI shook her head. “All these years a killer has walked the streets, free. Cat’s out of the bag tomorrow, and if he’s still alive, he’s in for a shock.”
“What’s next?” Alexa asked.
“We’re trying to find that van. I think it was used to transport the body.”
Alexa went cold. “Misty gave me a ride to the station in the van. Friday afternoon.”
They stared at each other. Alexa did the math. It was possible Eileen Bowen’s body had been in the back.
“Don’t suppose you saw a body and forgot to report it?”
“There’s a partition. I...”
“Go home, Glock.”