Chandler thanked him and ended the recording.
He told Ronald that he might need to ask him some more questions, took down his address, and gave him his card. Ronald studied it, seemingly intrigued by the title of forensic investigator.
“Maybe you can come by my lab one day when you’re in town. I’ll show you around, what we do.”
“Hey, that’d be cool. You’d do that?”
“Sure. Just call me so I know you’re coming. I’ll need to get clearance.” Chandler suspected that there weren’t too many people in Ronald’s life who took an interest in him simply for Ronald’s sake.
They shook hands and Chandler left. He phoned Jeffrey Hellman once he got back in his car and gave him the good news. That night, he emailed Hellman the audio file.
CHAPTER 51
THE REMAINDER OF THE THREE weeks passed quickly for Chandler. He became engulfed in his cases again, working with Nick on the flood-tainted evidence to see if there was some way he could salvage the state’s case against Bobby Lee Walker. He went back to the crime scene, the victim’s apartment, and was able to secure an intact latent print from the underside of the coffee table near where the victim was found. With this sole piece of evidence, the prosecutor was going to go to the grand jury to try to secure an indictment. There was motive, and all they had to do was place the suspect at the murder scene.
The indictment came down, and again Chandler’s back was patted for his fine work. Hennessy growled and grumbled at Chandler’s luck, at the same time marveling at his natural talent for finding a way to fix whatever went awry.
Denise’s pregnancy test was positive, elating both of them as they began discussing the changes a new child would bring to their lives. But despite the numerous diversions, as the days passed, Madison’s case returned to the forefront of Chandler’s thoughts. Although he had marked the date on his calendar as a reminder to call about the DNA test results, his internal clock was ticking way, poised to notify him like an alarm chronograph to beep at a predetermined time.
IT HAD BEEN NEARLY two weeks since the Madisons had seen Hellman when Leeza called to invite him over for dinner. He arrived early, with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a medium-sized box in the other. “I know how much you love dark chocolate. I saw this tort in the market when I was picking out the flowers and couldn’t resist.”
“A tort,” Leeza said. “Is that a little lawyer joke?”
“Apparently, very little.”
Leeza laughed, then took the flowers and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Maybe we’ll skip dinner and go right to the dessert.”
“No word yet,” Hellman said. “But we should be hearing soon.” Hellman removed his suit coat and tossed it over the back of the couch. “My stomach has more knots than a roomful of men wearing ties.”
“I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
Madison walked into the room and gave Hellman a pat on the back. “Any news?”
“Nothing yet.”
“So how is all this going to work, with the DNA?” Leeza asked.
Hellman took a seat at the dining room table. “If they don’t match Phil’s DNA to the DNA on the beer cans, the prosecution would have no choice but to reopen its investigation and essentially look for another suspect — something they don’t want to do because it’d make them look inept. But if that’s the way it goes down, I’ll force them into it.” Hellman lifted a tray of chicken and placed a breast on his plate beside the yam and string beans. “If Harding’s DNA matches the DNA in the saliva on the beer cans, you’ll be able to rest even easier — because then I’d be able to accuse Harding with absolute certainty: I’d know the winner of the horse race before the starting gun was fired. The case would likely be dropped against Phil.”
“If the beer can DNA doesn’t match mine, will they immediately dismiss the charges?”
“Denton won’t dismiss against you until he’s reopened his investigation and charged a new suspect with the crime. He’ll probably try to dig up some more evidence on you while they investigate Harding. Once he sees that video and hears my theory as to what she’s done, I think he’ll listen. He’ll probably go before a judge and request a search warrant based on motive and all the corroborating evidence we’re going to give him. The warrant will enable the detectives to get a sample of hair and blood from Harding for DNA testing.”
“Will the judge give him the warrant?” Leeza asked.
“We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves, but I think there’s a good chance he would. But nothing’s guaranteed. It depends on how Denton presents it. Which I guess means it depends on how much Denton believes that she framed you. And then there’s the variable of the Judge. You don’t know who you’re getting, and if you’re catching him or her on a good or bad day.”
“For a system that’s supposed to be objective,” Leeza said, “there’s sure a lot of subjectivity. I don’t like all those ‘ifs.’”
“I know, but we’re real close,” Hellman said. “I have to think things are going to go our way.” He rubbed at the beard stubble on his face. “One thing we haven’t covered yet, though. Denton’s gonna ask me how Harding was able to steal your car without the alarm going off. Because if she set it off, for sure you would’ve heard it. Any thoughts?”
Madison shrugged. “Obviously she did it, so there has to be a way.”
“I can accept that, but Denton won’t.”
“She must have had the key,” Leeza said. “That night when she was here, she must’ve taken it.”
Hellman looked at Madison. “What key?”
“Leeza couldn’t find the spare key to my Mercedes. We kept it by the phone in the kitchen.”
“And it’s gone?”
Leeza nodded. “I even checked with Ryan.
