Pete eyed her, wondering how much of her assessment of women and bad judgment was drawn from her recent experience with Seth. Pete brought his gaze back to Zoe. “Or he could have been faking. Pretending he couldn’t handle a firearm to cover his ass.”
“But this happened at least a year before his wife’s murder,” she said.
Baronick wandered across the room to stare out the window. “He was hedging his bets well ahead of time.”
“A year ahead of time?” Zoe said doubtfully. “That’s a lot of premeditation.”
“I’ve had a feeling we’ve been missing something,” Pete said. “I know what it is.” He again had their full attention. “Since Dustin’s conviction’s been overturned and the DA decided to take the case to a second trial, we’ve had two mysterious deaths.” He looked at Abby. “And one near death. Gina Wagner and Franklin Marshall were both witnesses for the prosecution. But neither one of them believed Dustin was guilty. Hell, they probably should’ve been defense witnesses.” Pete looked at Zoe. “Have you read Marshall’s autopsy notes?”
She flushed. “I’ve been carrying the file around with me, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.”
“His issue was with the shooter being in the backseat. The trajectory of the bullet was consistent with Elizabeth getting into the car, being surprised, half-turning toward the back, and being shot in the side of the face.”
Zoe nodded. “I did read that part in the official report. What I didn’t get to was Franklin’s personal notes.”
Pete met her gaze. “He questioned why Landis would hide in his wife’s backseat. Why not wait for her in the passenger seat? Elizabeth would still have gotten in. He was her husband. There was no reason for him to surprise her.”
Zoe’s eyes narrowed in thought. “And how did he get there? Where was his car?”
“Another question Marshall raised. The killer was seen running away.”
“He could’ve parked it elsewhere,” Baronick snapped. “Obviously Dustin Landis wanted these questions raised to make himself look innocent. Reasonable doubt.”
Pete shrugged. “That’s the theory Frattini used to counter Marshall’s testimony.”
“What exactly is it you think we’ve missed?” Baronick asked. “Gina claimed he couldn’t handle a gun. I say he faked it. And seriously, how much skill does it take to put a gun to someone’s head and fire when they’re at pointblank range? Franklin claimed he had no reason to be in the backseat. I say it only made sense for him to hide there. Especially if he wanted to cast blame on the serial killer.”
“A serial killer who wasn’t known as such at that time.” Pete closed the distance between him and the detective. “Why would Dustin arrange to have the coroner and the one ex-girlfriend who believed his story killed?”
“He wouldn’t.” Zoe’s voice was so soft he almost didn’t hear her.
Pete faced her.
She raised her eyes to meet his. “If Dustin was going to start having witnesses killed, he’d start with the ones most damaging to his defense. Not the ones most likely to cast reasonable doubt. But…” She looked at each of the others before coming back to Pete. “But if someone else killed Elizabeth, that person would want to eliminate everyone who might work to clear Dustin and keep the investigation from looking elsewhere.”
Exactly what Pete was thinking. “Loretta Marshall,” he said, “worked in the same office building as Dustin. The dumpster behind the building was easily accessible, and pitching the murder weapon there would immediately cast blame on him.”
Zoe started pacing. “The conviction is overturned. Loretta comes back to town to make sure no one’s looking for new suspects…or because Franklin’s health was declining.”
“Or both,” Abby suggested.
“Either way.” Zoe reached the wall, pivoted, and paced back. “Two birds, one stone. Killing Franklin eliminated a strong case of reasonable doubt. If his substitute…” She pointed at herself. “…only read the autopsy report into evidence without the expert witness opinions, it would look like Dustin had done it. Plus, Franklin was about to write her out of his will. Double motive.”
Baronick turned his back on the window, his expression dark. “I have two problems with all of this. First, the two different means of murder. She killed Elizabeth with a gun but poisoned Franklin and Gina? Most killers stick with one or the other.”
“Not all,” Pete said, although the detective had hit on a point that bugged him as well. He could come up with a number of explanations, but they were only theories. For now.
“And second,” Baronick said, “why attempt to murder my sister? She wasn’t even a cop yet when Elizabeth Landis was murdered.”
Before Pete could answer, Zoe crossed the room to Baronick. “Because she was looking into another possible killer.”
“The homeless John Doe?” Baronick looked from Zoe to Abby.
“Nothing came of it,” his sister said apologetically.
“But Loretta didn’t know that,” Zoe said to her. To Baronick, she added, “Loretta must’ve found out Abby was investigating a man who was a possible suspect. More reasonable doubt.”
“How did she find out?” Baronick asked.
Pete realized another gap in the theory. “And why try to stop the investigation if it might have pointed to anyone other than her.”
The room fell silent.
Until Baronick broke it. “You’re all missing one very likely scenario.”
Pete and the others turned toward the detective.
“Don’t get me wrong. I think we need answers from the merry widow, but let me play devil’s advocate for a minute.” Baronick paused to meet each of their gazes before settling on Pete’s. “Dustin Landis is behind all of it. He killed his wife and made it look like a stranger did it. Not necessarily the serial killer, but definitely someone other than him. Then he finally succeeds in having his conviction overturned only to have the DA refile charges and start the investigation all over again. He’s still stuck behind bars but has someone on the outside who starts poisoning witnesses.”
“But why kill those who were on his side?” Zoe asked.
“Because he’s smart. If he bumped off those who were firmly against
