“That’s correct.”
“And no loose bullets other than those in the gun?”
“No other bullets were located,” assures Tippen.
“Well, just so you are aware, Ryan says he didn’t have any bullets for that gun. He had used what he had last summer while target shooting and just never got around to buying anymore.”
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t have five left in the gun,” counters Tippen.
“No, but he says he didn’t. And the fact that there were no other bullets in the house should at least raise some questions, don’t you think?”
“That’s something to argue in court,” counters Tippen. “We have plenty of evidence to believe your client is guilty.”
“Ryan is still adamant that King was there that night. I don’t see a report here. Did you ever re-interview King?”
“Yes,” answers Tippen, “and Bill pushed him real hard, even bluffed him with evidence and he didn’t waver. Says he was only there on the night before.”
“One more question, is it accurate that no fingerprints of any kind were found on the alleged note from Naomi?”
“That’s correct.”
“Yet the note was somewhat crinkled, indicating someone had handled it, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, thank you detective.”
We do have some loose ends in this case, thinks Tippen, but that is not so unusual. No case is perfect.
Later the same day, Tippen receives a phone call from Lisa Morgan, the assistant at KC Spark Electric.
“What can I do for you Ms. Morgan?”, asks Tippen.
“It may be nothing,” Morgan starts, “but Justin has been acting strange.”
“How so?”
“Well, he just doesn’t seem to be upset over the arrest of his friend and longtime partner. And now, he’s starting a process to remove Mr. Cooper from the partnership. He doesn’t even call Ryan to check up on him or anything. He just seems so focused on taking over ownership.”
“How is he planning to remove him from the partnership?”
“There is some clause about committing a crime that allows someone to be removed.”
“Can you fax me a copy of the clause?” asks Tippen.
“Yes, I will do that.”
“Okay, thank you for the information Ms. Morgan.”
At 3:00 pm, Tippen and Masters meet to review the case file. Masters starts it off with a review of the phone records.
“This is interesting. Naomi did not receive a call at the book club meeting. She made the call to 555-334-5670.”
“Who’s number is that?” asks Tippen.
“Justin King.”
“Seriously? He’s definitely hiding something”
“In fact,” continues Masters, “she made an earlier call to King at approximately six-fifty pm, about the time she left for book club. There are numerous phone calls between Naomi and the same phone number over the last six months”
“Oh my god,” replies a shocked Tippen. “I’ll bet that son of a bitch was the one she was having an affair with.”
“Yeah, and that’s not all I found. On the Monday before her murder, Naomi sent a text to the same number. It said, “Are you going to call me soon?”
“Should we drag him back in here for another go around?”
“Yes, but not yet. Let’s go over everything again. We might be missing something.”
“What do you think about there not being any other bullets in the house?” asks Tippen.
“Somewhat unusual, but not proof of anything. The gun was certainly Coopers.”
“What is the likelihood of getting prints off the casings?”
“Not likely on the fired ones, but possible on the ones that have not been fired. We can ask the lab to use the fuming process to try and bring up any prints. And something else I want to ask them. How likely would it be not to have any prints or smudges on that note from Naomi? It had obviously been handled by someone.”
“I agree,” says Tippen. “I was wondering that myself. Inglesby called me and asked about it as well.”
“The attorney?”
“Yeah, and something else. Lisa Morgan called and told me she thought King was not showing the appropriate level of concern for his partner, and in fact was taking steps to remove him from the partnership.”
“Hmmm, it does seem a bit early for that.”
“I also questioned Brent, our fingerprint tech, about that unidentifiable partial print from the bottom of the drink glass,” continues Tippen. “He said the print was a partial print from the side of a finger. He said it probably was left there by a person holding the glass with one finger on the bottom supporting it.”
Tippen then picks up a Coke can off the desk and holds it in her right hand, fingers and thumb wrapped around the can and her pinky finger underneath the can to support it, making it easier to hold.
“Like this,” she says
“Can he identify it?”
“For him to declare a match to anyone, he needs at least twelve points of comparison. This print only has seven. But it can be used to eliminate people.”
“So, is Cooper eliminated as a possible source?”
“He’s working on that right now,” assures Tippen.
“Okay, the next time you talk to Brent, ask him about the typed note from Naomi and the lack of any prints, even smudges.”
“Yeah, I will.”
“Alright,” says Masters, “you work on the forensics and I will work on these phone records. I need to get a copy of King’s records and if possible, location data. With this new information on these phone calls, I’m starting to believe maybe King was there after all.”
Tuesday
In the morning, Lisa goes into King’s office to let him know customers are calling to express concern over work not getting done.
“Justin, I’m trying to keep our customers happy, but things are starting to fall behind. You need to get out of the office and pay more attention to our contractors. I can handle things here in the office.”
“Okay Lisa, I know. It’s been a hard week. The police have been on my back harassing me, I’m trying to get the partnership straightened out, and we have this Colorado Springs contract I need to get started on. Give me a break.”
“You don’t need to do anything with the partnership right now, just focus on the business
