PJ glanced at his iPad screen. “As our firm has had no dealings with Danny Garnet in almost thirty years, there’s not much I can do for you, Captain. And how do you know these young women didn’t simply move on to greener pastures? They all could be alive and well in another part of the country and just be living under the radar.”
Hayden decided to toss Slater a little more information. “The thing is, Mr. Slater, I’ve got three Jane Does in the morgue right now. Their bodies are nothing but bones, and it’s clear they’ve been dead for at least thirty years.”
PJ’s expression didn’t change. “Do you know for a fact that the three sets of remains belong to Jones, Martin, and Saunders?”
“I won’t know until DNA testing is complete,” he said.
“And Faith must know about this discovery?” PJ asked.
“She does.”
PJ drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “I didn’t realize this was a murder investigation.”
“I don’t like to use murder as part of my opening line. Has a tendency to put people on edge,” Hayden offered.
“I can see why. And you think because the former Slater and McIntyre represented these women, someone here might have had a hand in their deaths?”
“Begs the question, don’t you think?”
“Garnet did work for the firm during that time frame, but he could have been acting on his own.”
“Possibly. And the answer might be as simple as that, but you did say in the firm’s first years McIntyre and your father worked with Garnet. And you told Faith Josie Jones appeared in Russell McIntyre’s datebook multiple times during the time in question.”
“You really don’t think respectable men like my father and Russell would do something as heinous as kidnap three girls and murder them?” Slater asked.
A smile played at the corner of Hayden’s lips as he shook his head. “I learned a long time ago the capacity for evil stretches across all economic and social bounds.”
“My father and Russell did a good bit of pro bono work in the early years as a way of giving back to the community. Maybe by representing these women we unwittingly put them in Garnet’s path. How would we have control over what he did on his own time?”
“Does it say Garnet was a felon in his files?” Hayden asked.
“It says his offenses were nonviolent, nor were they felonies. My father and mother have always believed in second chances.”
Funny he should say second chances, the name of Garnet’s bar. “Ever met a Jack Crow?”
“No,” Slater said.
“What about Sam Delany?”
“We can keep playing do-you-know, but the fact is I wasn’t even born when these women disappeared, and since my father and his partner are dead, there is not much I can do for you.”
“Faith said you checked McIntyre’s datebooks and found Josie. I suggest you do the same for the other girls. I also suggest you read up on their files and find out who represented them.”
“Most of Russell’s records were seized during Mr. McIntyre’s federal investigation. I was lucky to find the datebooks.”
“Your father’s records are intact, I assume.”
Slater was young but he wasn’t stupid, and he’d already shepherded this firm through his father’s death.
If either Russell or Peter Sr. had a hand in these girls’ deaths, he suspected PJ would find a way to hide it. It was easy to be high-minded and moral until your entire world was challenged. Hayden would have signed an oath with the devil to save Sierra, and he’d bet PJ would hide evidence to save his firm.
“I’m not releasing my father’s records, especially when he isn’t alive to defend himself.”
“Those girls deserve justice, Mr. Slater.”
“Of course they deserve justice. You aren’t fresh out of the academy. You knew when you walked in the door I couldn’t divulge my client names or discuses firm business.” PJ tugged at the end of his monogramed cuff. “You were hoping because I’m young, I’d make a mistake, but I can assure you that you aren’t the first person who’s tried to test my mettle since my father’s death.”
“It never hurts to ask,” Hayden said with a grin. “And you’re right about me being on the job for a long time. But one thing all that time has taught me is to know when something isn’t right.” He leaned forward. “And Garnet’s involvement with this firm does not smell right, Mr. Slater. So until you help, I’m not going to be far from your doorstep.”
“You’re wrong about us. I know my father and his partner did things differently than I do. I know they understood how far a law could bend, but I don’t run the firm like that. We have nothing to hide.”
“I hope you’re right.” He picked up his hat while he and Brogan rose. They all shook hands, and PJ walked them out of his office.
Brogan paused. “Hell, forgot my hat.” He hurried in and out of the room in seconds, returning with his hat and a coffee cup. “You’re right about these to-go cups. Very handy.”
“Glad you like it,” PJ said.
Despite Brogan’s grin, they all knew they’d fallen on opposite sides of this case and would fight tooth and nail to protect their turf.
Outside, the two Rangers got into Hayden’s SUV. As they settled, Brogan reached for an evidence bag from the glove box. He opened his door, poured out the coffee onto the parking lot, and dumped the cup into the bag. “I grabbed PJ’s cup and left mine in its place. PJ’s DNA may not be admissible, but I’m kind of curious to know who spawned him.”
Hayden slid on his sunglasses. “Assuming all three of those girls had babies, he’d be the right age if he were one of the stolen babies.”
“As I understand it, he’s not adopted.”
“I’ll believe that when I see DNA results that do not link him with any of the three dead women,” Hayden said. His phone rang as he backed out of the space. “Captain Hayden.”
“Hayden, this is Judge Templeton. I got something for you.”
“That was fast.”
The old man’s tone was serious. “You don’t call in favors all that often, so I knew it was important. I did find Josie Jones in my daily journal. As you said, she was arrested for shoplifting when she was eighteen. According to my notes, she was very pretty and had a fancy lawyer defending her.”
“Slater and McIntyre.”
“How’d you know?”
“Lucky guess. Who was the attorney of record? McIntyre or Slater?”
“Peter Slater Sr. He saw to it she didn’t do any jail time.”
PJ had told Faith that Josie had been in her father’s datebook. Was PJ lying, or was Russell’s datebook misleading? “Thanks for the update, Judge.” He ended the call and checked his watch. “Let’s get that cup dropped off, and then we’re headed to Second Chances, search warrant or not.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Thursday, June 28, Noon
“I’ve got more information on Josie Jones,” Kat proclaimed, suspending any salutation to Faith on the other end of the phone.
It was lunchtime, and Faith had spent the morning conducting the autopsy of a seventy-year-old male who’d accidently been shot by his neighbor. The buckshot had severed the femoral artery, and the victim had bled to death before the neighbor could get him in from the country.
Faith sat down behind her desk. “Kat, I thought you were in school.”
“It’s lunchtime. We get twenty minutes on the prison yard to ourselves.”
She rubbed her fingertips to her temple. “You’re back there because I sweet-talked the principal, and it’s not a prison yard.”
“Broom-Hilda is in her office. She can’t see me. Do you want to know about Josie or not?”
Faith pushed aside the temptation to reprimand Kat about sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. “Just spill it.”
“I found Josie’s older sister’s address. Her new married name is Jones, and she lives right here in Austin.” Kat rattled off the address.
The cops had given her the same name, but she’d not had the time or courage to follow up yet. “How did you find that?”
“Faith, everything’s on the Internet if you know where to look.”
“Apparently.”
“So are you going to see her?” Kat asked excitedly.
“And just show up out of the blue?”
“Why not? Don’t you think she deserves closure, too?”
“Sure she does. But I don’t have any solid evidence for her yet about Josie, who may or may not be related to me.”
“Do you want me to text this tip to Hayden?”
“No. I’ll handle this.” Faith typed in the address to the map app on her computer. The woman didn’t live too far from Faith’s office.
“You don’t sound excited about the idea of seeing her.”
“It’s complicated.”
“You’re worried she won’t want to see you.” Kat’s words echoed exactly what Faith was thinking.
“You’re right, Kat.”
“Don’t be worried. She’ll be glad to see you.”
How could this child possibly know this? It had been over thirty years since anyone had seen Josie. Loved ones moved on and did the best they could to cope with the pain. A reminder about the past from her might not be welcome. “Maybe.”
In the background a bell rang. “I’ve got to go. The prison matron is summoning us back.”
Faith smiled. “Not that bad, kid. Graduate high school, go to college, and the world will be yours.”
“School blows.” Her words didn’t have quite the anger and agitation they’d had before.
“Chin up, Kat.”
The girl moaned and hung up.
Faith was familiar with the area Kat had mentioned. It would take her twenty minutes to get there.