The message was sent from Christine to Spencer and was just one damning piece of evidence against him. CSI Keller had found it on Christine’s phone and passed it along.
Spencer let go of the piece of paper. “This is… No, it’s not what it looks like.”
“You told us the last time you saw Christine was last Wednesday.”
“Yes. And that’s the truth.”
“Well, I’m going to guess it didn’t go well based on her message. If you haven’t read it yet, I can?—”
“I read it.”
“For the record, Mr. Thornton, Christine told your client in a text message, ‘I’m not sure how we move forward from here.’”
“So what? She changed her mind. This isn’t proof she broke up with me.”
“How could you know if she changed her mind? You just confirmed you haven’t spoken to her since she sent the message. And there’s the fact she didn’t call you back or respond to your text messages. She ghosted you.”
Spencer opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but snapped it shut again, clenching his jaw. His cheeks flamed red as he glared toward the one-way mirror again. Like before, she felt the gravity of his stare and felt like an ass for putting him through this. Not that she should assume that burden alone; the evidence led them here. All she was guilty of was doing the job she’d vowed to do.
“Another strange thing about all this is this text wasn’t inthe thread on your phone, Spencer. Can you tell us why?” Trent asked.
Spencer rubbed his forehead. “I don’t have an answer for you other than I delete messages sometimes.”
“Why this one?”
“You want to know? The truth is it made me angry as hell. I didn’t want to see it or look at it. We’ve been together for a year, and she acted like she could just throw that away. Throwmeaway.”
The attorney flinched at the fire of Spencer’s speech but remained silent.
“But you can see how that might look? Like you were trying to make your relationship with Christine something it wasn’t, so you wouldn’t appear as a suspect in her murder?”
“If that’s the case, I failed, didn’t I? And I didn’t even know she was murdered. I just couldn’t reach her.” Spencer added the latter part at a lower volume.
“We’re just following the evidence,” Trent said, matching Spencer’s tone. “If you have nothing to hide, it will clear you in the end.”
“It will,” Spencer volleyed back, “because I didn’t do this.”
Trent pulled another page out of the folder, which he again set in front of Spencer. Amanda couldn’t see it but knew what it would be. “This is your nine-mil Beretta, right?”
Spencer blanched. “It looks like it. I can’t say if it is mine.”
“It is,” Trent told him.
Amanda put a hand on her stomach and cursed herself for the slip the second Malone touched her shoulder. “I’m fine,” she assured him, and he retracted his arm. Finding out that Spencer had a gun registered to him had sent cold sweats over her entire body. She blew out a breath and saw Malone look at her through her peripheral vision. She hadn’t been able to meet Malone’s direct gaze since he blocked her from the interrogation.
“Christine Lane was shot with nine-mil rounds. Did they come from your gun?”
Spencer shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
“Detective, it’s on you to prove guilt, not for my client to do your job for you,” the lawyer said. “After all, most American citizens exercise their right to bear arms.”
“Don’t worry, we will be running ballistics from this gun and comparing the markings to the bullet fragments retrieved from Christine Lane’s body.”
She had received an email from Rideout earlier with the full autopsy report. Most of it was a reiteration of what Liam had already told them. The addition was that Rideout had retrieved some viable bullet fragments and forwarded them to the lab.
Tears fell down Spencer’s cheeks, and he swiped them away.
Amanda tried not to let herself be swayed by the display. If he were any other suspect, she wouldn’t conclude such an action was one of grief. She’d entertain the likelihood it was remorse.
