Page 102 of Hard Heart

Everyone stared at her. What was she saying?

“Hear me out…” she continued. “I’ve never met Levi, and Serafina’s never met Justin, yet we find ourselves on opposite sides of the table. But what if neither of them did it?”

“Neither of them killed Amie, you mean?” Greyson asked.

“Killed Amie or Ruby. This started with Ruby.”

Now everyone started shouting again, but not at me this time. I covered my ears and waited for it to stop. Eventually, Raelene banged her glass on the table, and they finally shut up. She waved a hand at Ari.

“Please continue.”

“What I’m trying to say is that I know there’s a surveillance video from the house, but I haven’t seen it, and I can’t be sure what it shows or doesn’t show. But if the police investigated Ruby’s case with the same diligence they’re applying to Amie’s, then there are probably some issues. We’re aware that at least one of the detectives worked on both murders.”

Special Agent Rimer?

“We believe there are gaps,” Raelene said. “We’ve filed a petition for the evidence to hopefully get clarity over what’s included and what’s missing.”

“Such as the DNA testing records showing Levi’s semen inside Ruby?” Jerry asked.

“He doesn’t deny that they had sex; he denies that he raped her, and we note that the only other DNA evidence presented at trial related to a pubic hair found on Ruby’s sheets. No saliva, no blood, no fingernail scrapings. Do you have a copy of the surveillance video?”

“No, but I’ve watched it. Could anyone else have gotten into the house? Unlikely, but not impossible. There were two blind spots. But what they couldn’t do was leave the same way. The windows were all latched from the inside, and they didn’t go out through a door. We watched the footage for two and a half days straight. Nobody but us came or went, and then the house was crawling with cops, crime scene techs, and every reporter in Virginia.”

“We still want to see for ourselves.”

“Nolan, perhaps you could ask your wife for a copy?” I suggested. Two could play the snooping-in-each-other’s-business game.

Nolan’s eyes widened and Jerry snorted, but it was Braxton who spoke.

“It’s cute that you think Alexa will do anything he says.”

Alexa. That was the unidentified minor’s name? Levi called her Person A, which made more sense now. A for Alexa.

“She stays out of this,” Nolan said.

“Agreed. Levi was very clear on that. But he also told me she’d be the one who kept the video, and if she gives it to us, that would be easier than this situation dragging on for months through the legal system.”

“After you’ve been to the police and made a statement about the orchid, I’ll get her to send it,” Jerry said.

“You’re bargaining over evidence?”

“You should be making the statement out of civic duty. It’s the Justice Project, remember?”

That was true, and of course I’d do it. I couldn’t let another innocent man go to prison.

“I’ll go. But I want the video first.”

Unsurprisingly, Jerry stood firm. “Statement first, then video.”

“Fine.”

It was still the fastest way to get that footage, as long as she kept her end of the deal. And if she went back on her word, I’d never speak with her again.

“I’d like a copy too,” Ari said. “Ever since I heard about the case, I’ve been curious.”

Even though these people had caused us nothing but problems, I couldn’t stand by and see another woman get hurt.

“If you do start digging around, just be careful,” I warned.