Minneapolis
The guard led her into a windowless room and shoved a bag of clothes at her. The same clothes she had on the night she was arrested. The bag also contained her purse and car keys.
“You’re free to go.”
Her mouth opened and she couldn’t form words for a few seconds. “Wait. Why?”
The guard shrugged.
Jason and Detective Marley were waiting in the lobby.
Sofia searched Jason’s face, but he looked down and walked outside. Marley followed.
Glancing around at the people in the jail waiting room—what looked like scruffy defense attorneys, dirty-faced kids and some babies’ mamas—she saw why they wanted to leave before talking to her.
Mutely, she trailed behind them.
Outside, the two men waited for her near a low wall. Marley was lighting a cigarette. He offered the pack to Jason, but her husband shook his head. Jason swallowed but wouldn’t look up at her. Instead he stared into the parking lot.
“Derry’s been released. He finally gave up the ghost,” Marley said and exhaled a plume of smoke straight up in the air.
“What?” Sofia squinted. “You bailed me out of jail to tell me that he didn’t kill Kate? I knew that.”
“When he realized he was going away for murder, he spilled it. Some woman had contacted him years ago about taking pictures of your family. Each month she paid him to take pictures and send them to her at a PO Box in New Mexico.”
Sofia’s heart clenched. “Let me guess. The woman’s name was Nina Castle.”
“Bingo. I remembered the name from when you called asking about it. That’s one reason I started digging around in everything over the weekend. Boy, I’m glad I did.”
“Me, too.”
“There’s more,” Marley said. “Not only are you free, but we’re holding Dan for Gretchen’s murder and picking up Lily at her grandmother’s house,” Marley said. “She’s going to be booked on suspicion of Kate’s murder.”
Sofia’s knees buckled. She felt for the low wall and sat down.
“Want to talk about this somewhere more private?” Marley said. “My car? A café?”
Sofia shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I just need to have air around me right now. Just for a little while.”
Marley paced in front of her, smoking as he spoke.
The day Sofia had seen Marley in the jail he’d gone back to the station and reviewed all the camera footage. He’d found some images shot from the bank’s ATM that showed Lily following Kate when she’d left the bar.
They searched Dan’s office and found the secret compartment. Inside, they found Kate’s journal and a SIM card in an envelope. It was to Kate’s phone. She’d been recording while she was walking using her voice memo when Lily attacked her.
Marley took a long drag and then dropped the butt of his cigarette onto the ground, crunching it under his foot. He took his phone out of the holder on his belt loop and handed it to her with some earbuds.
Heart pounding, Sofia put the earbuds in and hit play.