He shrugged. 'Because at that particular point in the investigation, Detective Mack and I felt she was merely a person of interest. One among many.'
'Oh? So there where others you suspected?'
Meyer nodded. 'Of course. We always try to put out as wide a net as possible, and the victim had a large circle of friends and business associates.'
'Who else were you looking at?'
'Ex-boyfriends and family members for the most part. The nature of the assault seemed to suggest that this was a rage killing. That the perpetrator held some sort of personal animosity toward-'
'Objection,' Waverly said. 'I'd like to remind the court that such characterizations are beyond the scope of the defendant's expertise. He isn't a forensic psychologist.'
Abernathy looked indignant. 'Your Honor, as Detective Meyer testified earlier, he has investigated dozens of homicides over the course of his career. If that doesn't qualify him as an expert in criminal behavior, I don't know what does.'
The judge nodded. 'I'll allow it. You may continue, Detective.'
'Thank you, Your Honor.' Meyer paused, returning his attention to Abernathy. 'So, as I was saying, because of the nature of the assault, we felt it prudent to concentrate on those who were closest to Ms. Keating and might hold a personal grudge against her.'
'And what did you find?'
'Nothing substantial. From all accounts, Ms. Keating was a well-loved individual and even her exes held her in high regard. Which left us searching for a motive.'
'So you're saying that none of these potential suspects had a reason to want her dead?'
'It didn't seem that way,' Meyer said. 'Not only that, the majority of them had solid alibis for the night in question, and whenever we hit a dead end, we came back around to Ms. Baldacci.'
'Why is that?'
'Because of the phone calls and her mistaken belief that the victim was somehow involved in her custody case. She and Ms. Keating were friends at one time, back in college, so it was our thinking that she may have felt betrayed. And in my experience as a homicide investigator that's a pretty strong motive for murder.'
'I see,' Abernathy said. 'So did you interview Ms. Baldacci?'
'We tried, but we weren't able to contact her. And we got the distinct impression that she didn't
'Objection,' Waverly said. 'There's nothing in evidence that suggests that Ms. Baldacci even knew the police were trying to contact her. The witness is once again making assumptions.'
'Sustained.'
Abernathy shot Waverly a look, then said to Meyer, 'How did you attempt to contact Ms. Baldacci?'
'First, we tried calling her, but her most recent phone number had been disconnected. So we went out to her last known address-an apartment near Wicker Park-but were told that she'd moved.'
'Any idea where?'
'Not at the time,' Meyer said.
'What about her place of employment?'
'That's where things got interesting.'
Abernathy feigned surprise. 'Oh? In what way?'
'Forensics sent us a list of evidence that was retrieved from the victim's car. When we found out where Ms. Baldacci was employed, one of the items on that list came into sharp focus.'
Abernathy nodded. 'I'll be going over those items with the forensic specialist. Where is Ms. Baldacci employed?'
'At a pet grooming establishment called The Canine Cuttery.'
'Pet grooming,' Abernathy repeated. 'And did you try contacting her there?'
'We did, but we got an answering machine. The shop was closed for the day.'
They were playing it just right, Hutch thought. By concentrating on Ronnie's place of employment but withholding the significance of the mysterious item on the forensics list, Abernathy was using a tried and true storytelling technique to hook the jury. And he was handling it brilliantly.
'So what did you do next?' he asked Meyer.
'We checked public records to see who owned the establishment and contacted a Mr. Raymond Hardwick, who told us the defendant had left work early that day to attend a funeral Mass.'
'The victim's funeral?'
'Yes.'
'Did you then try to speak to her there?'
Meyer hesitated. 'We considered tracking her down at St. Angela's for questioning, but out of respect to the victim's family and friends, we decided to hold off and not create a spectacle.'
'I see,' Abernathy said. 'What did you do then?'
'When we spoke to him earlier, the defendant's employer gave us her current address.'
'And where was this?'
'Her mother's house in Roscoe Village. We went there shortly after the funeral in hopes of getting there around the time the defendant arrived home.'
'And did you have any luck?'
'No,' Meyer said. 'She hadn't returned yet.'
'So what did you do at that point?'
'We went to the door, identified ourselves, and asked her mother, a Ms. Lola Baldacci, what time she expected her daughter to come home. She said the defendant had gone out with some old college friends and probably wouldn't return until much later that night.'
'Was that the extent of your conversation?'
'No. We asked the mother about the defendant's whereabouts four nights earlier.'
'And what did she say?'
'That Ms. Baldacci had come home after work, but went out again around nine o'clock.'
'Did she know where?'
'No,' Meyer said.
'And what time did Ms. Baldacci return?'
'The mother didn't know. She'd already gone to bed by then.'
'What about the defendant's son? Was he staying there at the time?'
Meyer nodded. 'Christopher. We were told he was asleep by the time Ms. Baldacci left.'
'Did you question him at all?'
'No. We didn't want to upset him unnecessarily.'
Nice touch, Hutch thought. Meyer wasn't making any enemies with this testimony.
Abernathy was quiet for a long moment, then said, 'So at this point, when you decided to seek out Ms. Baldacci at her home, how many days into the investigation were you?'
Meyer made a quick mental calculation. 'Four.'
Abernathy's eyebrows went up. 'Four?'
'Starting from the day immediately following the murder,' Meyer said.
'Not exactly what you'd call a rush to judgment, was it?'
Before Meyer could respond, Waverly was on her feet. 'Objection,' she said loudly, looking more annoyed than Hutch had yet seen her. Abernathy was taking a jab at her opening statement and, unfortunately, all the objections in the world couldn't negate his point.
Judge O'Donnell frowned at him. 'Keep the editorializing to yourself, counsel.'
'But it's a valid argument, Your Honor.'
'Then find another way to make it. Objection sustained.'
Abernathy pretended to be upset by the ruling, but to anyone paying attention, he'd already done what he'd set out to do. He thanked the judge and moved on. 'So what happened next, Detective Meyer? After interviewing her mother, did you seek the defendant out?'
'Not immediately, no.'
