Mitchell wrote down more contact information and passed it to Sloane. She did all of this without hesitation, without any sign that she was offended by the questions. She simply provided what they needed and waited for them to continue.
"You don't seem bothered by us asking for alibis," Sloane observed with a bit of bite.
"I was a lawyer for twenty years," Mitchell said. "I understand how investigations work. Two women were murdered, and I publicly tried to sue the program they both went through. Of course you'd want to verify my whereabouts. I'd be doing the same thing if I were in your position."
Kate appreciated the straightforward response. Mitchell might be bitter about her experience with Second Act Success, but she understood the situation and wasn't trying to make their job harder.
"Is there anything else you can tell us about the program?" Kate asked. "Anyone else who might have had issues with Crawford or with the successful graduates?"
Mitchell thought about this for a moment. "There's a private Facebook group for program participants. I honestly don’t even know if it’s active anymore. People were using it to network and share resources, but there's also been a lot of venting about businesses failing and feeling like the program oversold what it could deliver. You might find something useful there, if it’s still operational."
"If it is still up, can you get us access to that group?" Sloane asked.
"I left it months ago," Mitchell said. "But I can give you the name. You'd need to contact the administrators to get in."
She wrote down the Facebook group name on a nearby sticky note and handed it to Kate. "Most of the people in there are just frustrated and disappointed. But maybe someone took their frustration to an extreme."
Kate and Sloane stood up. "Thank you for your time," Kate said. "We may need to follow up with you later."
"That's fine," Mitchell said. "Come by for a visit or call."
As they walked back to the car, Sloane looked at the notes she had taken. "She was almost too cooperative."
"She's a lawyer," Kate said. "She knows that being difficult wouldn't help her. And I think her anger really is directed at Crawford, not at the women who succeeded."
"I still want to verify the alibis."
"Oh absolutely," Kate said. "But yes, I think we can probably rule her out."
They got into the car and Kate started the engine. Through the window, she could see Mitchell back at her desk, already returning to work on her laptop. The tiny office looked warm and inviting through the window in the late morning light, a small space where someone was trying to rebuild after failure.
Kate pulled away from the curb and headed back toward the field office. They had alibis to verify and a Facebook group to investigate. The case was starting to take shape, now held together by more than a pair of gifted letter-openers.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
They arrived back at the field office just before noon. Kate followed Sloane through the building to her cubicle, where Sloane immediately sat down and opened her laptop. The young woman moved almost like a machine when her mind was set to a specific task.
"I'll start verifying Mitchell's alibis," Sloane said, pulling up her notes from the interview.
"I really think can move on from her," Kate said. "She's not our killer. If we had a bigger team to work on alibis, sure. But it’s just the two of us and every minute counts"
Sloane looked up from her screen. "You sound pretty certain about that."
"I am certain." Kate leaned against the cubicle wall. "Everything about her read as innocent. The anger was real but it was directed at Crawford, not at the women who succeeded. And she gave us those alibis without hesitation."
"People can be good liars," Sloane said.
"Yes, but Mitchell wasn't lying. I've been doing this long enough to know when someone's hiding something." Kate could hear the defensiveness in her own voice and tried to soften it. "Look, I understand being thorough. But we're wasting time if we spend the afternoon chasing down alibis for someone who clearly isn't involved."
Sloane set her phone down and turned in her chair to face Kate directly. "With all due respect, we still need to confirm her alibi. That's basic procedure."
"I know what basic procedure is," Kate said, trying to stamp down a bit of rising anger.
"Then you know we can't just skip steps because you have a feeling about someone." Sloane's tone remained professional,but there was an edge to it now. "Mitchell had motive. She lost money and her business failed. She tried to sue the program. We need to verify where she was when the murders happened."
Kate felt irritation flare in her chest. She had been investigating murders for three decades while Sloane was still learning the ropes, and now this rookie was telling her what procedure was? But even as the thought formed, Kate knew Sloane was technically right. Alibis needed to be verified regardless of gut instinct.
"Fine," Kate said. "Verify the alibis. But I'm telling you it's a waste of time."
