“Already? I thought we had a few more weeks.”
“I guess they moved it up since there was no dissent.”
“Great.” Sam had heard the new U.S. Attorney that Nick had nominated to replace the late Tom Forrester was a by-the-book stickler and was worried about what it would be like to work with her. However, she’d resisted the temptation to ask her husband to reconsider his choice, as there were a few lines she wouldn’t cross. She hoped she didn’t live to regret her ethical stance.
Sam scanned the write-up in which the detectives reported being called by Patrol to The Yards, a park in the city’s southeastern quadrant, after they received a report of a body near the waterfall. The autopsy showed that King had been beaten and manually strangled. Fingerprints taken from the body were run through all available databases with no hits on anyone already in the system.
“I’m going to have those prints rerun.” Sam texted Lindsey to request the retest. “It’s been six years. We might get a hit.”
Freddie appeared at the door to the captain’s office. “Hope is here.”
“All right. Let’s see what Amara has to say. Can you put her in interview one, please, Freddie?”
“Yep.”
Malone followed Sam to the hallway outside the room, where Hope waited for them.
Freddie arrived with Amara, and Sam introduced her to Hope and Captain Malone.
“We’re going to one of our interview rooms, where we can record your statement,” Sam said to Amara. “Captain Malone and Hope will be in the observation room, which is through that door. Do you have any questions?”
“Not right now.”
Freddie handed Amara a bottle of water.
Dr. Trulo came down the hallway. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Amara, this is Dr. Anthony Trulo, our department psychiatrist. I’ve asked him to witness your statement so he can offer whatever support you may need afterward. Is that all right with you?”
She nodded. “Thank you all for being so kind and helpful.”
“We’ll be right here with you through the whole thing,” Sam said.
Freddie opened the door to the interrogation room and held a chair for Amara that faced the observation room. They sat across from her.
He engaged the recording device on the table and recited the date, time and participants. He also noted the interview was being observed by AUSA Hope Miller, Captain Jake Malone and Dr. Anthony Trulo.
“Amara, you came to the MPD headquarters this morning, on your eighteenth birthday, to report a crime,” Sam said. “Is that correct?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Please tell us, in your own words, what happened.”
“I’ve thought about this day for so long,” she said softly, “planning what I would say and how I would describe what happened that day.”
“What was the date of the crime?”
“It was six years ago this past February tenth.”
Sam made a note of the date and waited for Amara to continue.
“I have to back up a few years to tell you how we came to be in the situation we were in that day. Our father died of cancer when I was three and King was four. My mother was a single mom for more than five years before she married a white man named Louis Bingham.”
“What’s your mother’s name?” Sam asked.
“Thelma Robinson-Bingham.”
“How did you and King feel about her remarrying?”
