“Yes,” Dylan informed the professor, who continued his explanation with the camera covered.
“The current that night was heading up that creek. If the victim had fallen into the water at any spot in the creek, the current would have carried his body up to the head of the creek. You would have found him further past the house. There is no way his body could have been carried against the current and into a separate creek. It’s a physical impossibility.”
Kelsi and Dylan shared a triumphant grin. This was the perfect explanation for the jury.
“Dr. Hawthorne,” Dylan began, “would you be willing and available to testify about this at the jury trial in three weeks’ time? I know that’s not a lot of time to prepare, but we think your testimony would be crucial to this case.”
Kelsi crossed her fingers under Dylan’s desk. He mimicked the motion, grinning at her in a conspiratorial way that reminded her of their past and was impossible not to return.
The paper covering the camera disappeared. The professor’s eyes blinked rapidly behind his oversized frames before he beamed. “Of course! Educating your jury on the magic of the water will be an honor. I enjoy any opportunity to expand the minds of my fellow man.”
“Great!” Kelsi exclaimed. “We’ll be in touch soon to get what we need from you prior to the hearing. Thank you again for agreeing to review these for us, and for testifying.”
The professor graciously accepted Kelsi’s thanks. He said he would be more than willing to comply with any request of theirs, and they signed off.
Kelsi beamed. “This is great! His location matches up with what we thought. Plus, it matches the testimony that Marge gave at the preliminary hearing.”
Dylan raised his hand for a high five, and she slapped it while grumbling, “You’re seriously a five-year-old.”
“So, we got another break.” Dylan smiled, ignoring her jesting dig.
Kelsi felt like the case could finally be falling into place. Hypothetical still, and maybe not yet beyond a reasonable doubt, but at least they were getting closer.
“Yeah. That was great news. Considering the damage to the boat, it’s a logical conclusion that it was involved in an accident that night. There weren’t any kayaks or Jet Skis missing from the property either. There’s no other way the victim could have gotten off the property on his own and all the way out to the other creek.” She paused, hand resting in her chin in thought while he watched her silently, paying close attention to every word. She sat up suddenly and turned toward him. “Are you free on Saturday? Before we meet with Scarlett, I want to double-check that she could see the dock from her bedroom window. Up for a kayak trip?”
“Absolutely. Looking forward to it.”
The earnestness in his voice startled her, because she believed him.
“Well, in any event,” he continued, “I’m feeling more confident each day. You’re doing an amazing job putting this case together. You see what others have missed.”
She blushed and deflected. “It’s not all me. You’re doing a pretty incredible job yourself, soldier.”
“All to impress you, Kelsi.” He winked at her.
She spluttered and rose quickly, gathering her materials close to her chest. “I’m, uh, I heard Cat calling for me. I’m going to go see what she needs.”
She practically ran from the office and heard Dylan’s chuckle as the door closed behind her. Their friendship had been full of teasing each other, and the fact that they were starting to act that way again sent a jolt through her. The more he joked with her, the more she felt like she was getting her best friend back.
CHAPTER 20
Kelsi
13 Days to Trial
After sitting throughher misdemeanor-appeals docket for the past three hours, Kelsi desperately wanted to relax. It was nice that the prosecutors rotated the duty, but she still hated getting stuck with that docket.
Today had been especially annoying. She could normally plead the cases out and avoid going to trial, but that morning she’d had to put on four bench trials. One for a DUI that she’d been planning on presenting evidence for anyway. Luckily, the defendant and all the witnesses had been present, so that was an easy win. The other three had been reckless-driving cases. Normally they accepted her offer to plead guilty to a lesser charge of speeding and the court ordered them to pay a fine. Today? They’d all wanted to go to trial and represent themselves. One man even argued with the trooper on the stand about his speed. They were all wins for Kelsi, who had the evidence and testimony on her side, but it always wore her out, feeling like she spent the entire morning talking in circles.
Now all she wanted was to take her lunch hour at her desk and decompress. She waved her ID badge to unlock the door tothe commonwealth’s attorney’s office and walked in to find Cat beaming from her perch behind the front desk.
“Kelsi!” she squealed, hopping out of her seat and walking toward her, stomach jutted out and a hand on her back.
Cat stopped to grab a vase off the desk, and Kelsi’s blood froze. In Cat’s hands was a bouquet of pink flowers inside a clear glass vase. She didn’t appear to see Kelsi’s expression at all, as she chattered excitedly over the flowers. It was only once she moved close enough to see that they were pink roses, not begonias, that the tension leaked from her shoulders.
“Aren’t they gorgeous? The pink is such a lovely color.”
Cat thrust the vase into Kelsi’s arms and she grabbed it reflexively, even though all she wanted to do was hurl it at the wall.
