“But you’ve heard of Trinity Casto? You know of her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever talk to Allison Brice about Trinity Casto?”
“Yes.”
“Tell us what you discussed,” says Louise. Try answeringthatwith a yes or no.
Harp lets out a sigh, as if bored. “She was friends with Luke. Luke was interested in her, but she did not return the feeling. She runs a gym in Dearborn Park. She has a brother with a rap sheet for selling Oxy. She wanted to do a documentary or something, some reality-based thing, about Luke’s life. And apparently, Luke was going along with it.”
Louise scribbles notes as Harp speaks. “What was Allison’s opinion of Trinity?”
Harp gives that some thought. “She was suspicious of her. Wary. Wary’s a good word.”
“Why was she wary of Trinity?”
“Because Trinity’s brother had two convictions for selling narcotics. And Trinity runs a gym. And when Trinity would visit her brother at Olivet Nazarene, about once a month, she’d do it on a Monday, a weekday. Apparently that was the only day her gym was closed, but still.”
Bruce leans forward. “Allison thought Trinity Casto was involved in drug trafficking?”
“She thought it was possible,” says Harp. “Wouldn’t you? At least wonder? Wish I could say that drug dealers don’t recidivate, but a lot do. And a gym? Traveling on a Monday? So yeah, Allison’s been in law enforcement her whole career. Yeah, she suspected it. So did I, based on those facts. And turns out, we were right. She’s not only a drug trafficker, but a smart one.”
“Smart in what way?” Bruce asks.
Harp opens her hands. “She was feeling heat, so she sent Luke to drive the car. She used him as a canary. Her hands stay clean. You guys couldn’t possibly make a possession case against her when she was nowhere near the car at the time.” She taps her index finger to her temple. “Smart. Luke goes down, she walks, and the government has now shown its hand.”
“When—when did you learn all this?” Louise asks.
Harp shrugs. “When Luke got arrested.”
“No, I mean—your first conversation about Trinity Casto. When Allison first told you her suspicions about Trinity Casto’s involvement in drugs.”
“Couldn’t tell ya, Lou.”
“But it was before Luke’s arrest.”
Harp’s eyes drift upward to her right. Once upon a time, that would’ve told an investigator that the suspect was creating an answer, whereas the eyes move up and to the left to recall an actual memory. Louise never put much stock in scientific hypotheses like that. But there’s no denying that Harp is taking a while with her answer.
“It was before Luke’s arrest,” she finally says.
“Some time before Luke’s arrest, Allison told you that she suspected Trinity’s involvement in the drug trade.”
“Yes.”
Bruce pipes up again. “Ms. Harper, you’re aware that a confidential informant tipped off the state troopers to be on the lookout for that vehicle.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know who that confidential informant was?”
“It’s confidential,” she says. “And unless things have drastically changed since I was an agent, it stays confidential unless the informant was involved in, or a witness to, the crime. That’s not the case here. So nobody will ever know but the informant and the cop he told.”
Louise watches Harp, who remains still, composed.
“Now, Ms. Harper,” says Bruce. “When—”
Louise puts her hand over Bruce’s. “You didn’t answer the question,” she says.
