Page 88 of Hard Heart

“A smaller one.”

I reached for it, and that one also had letters on it. FT this time. The Financial Times? Gingerly, I reached inside and fished out…a pair of black panties? I dropped them as if I’d been burned.

“Why? I mean…just why? Why would she keep used underwear in a bag in the wall?”

Because it clearly hadn’t been washed. There was a suspicious yellowish-white stain on the gusset.

I realised a second after Raelene did. Her lips curved into a smile as my eyes widened.

“Oh. Oh, shit.”

A motive. It was a motive.

“Evidence or blackmail?” Raelene held the dress up to the light, and I saw the stain there too. “Who did Ruby cross?”

I had so many questions. “Why? How? Okay, okay, the ‘how’ is obvious—she was a sex worker—but how did they get to her? Did they pay Justin? Or do you think that’s Justin’s, uh, spunk on there? He was engaged, wasn’t he? What if they were having an affair and she threatened to tell his fiancée?”

“Not Justin. Two different people.”

“How do you know?”

Raelene pointed to the bags. “I bet you ten bucks those are initials.”

A clue. It was the first real clue. “I can’t believe the police missed this.”

“I can. When I lived in New York, I saw their tactics firsthand. The pig ignorance, the corruption, the arrogance, the laziness. There are a few good apples, but with every year that passes, the rot spreads.”

“Is that why you left?”

She nodded. “It felt as if I was fighting against everyone—not just the criminals, but people who were supposed to be on the same side. Our work at the Justice Project is every bit as challenging, but at least I can sleep at night now.”

“You should try entertainment law. It goes from boring to surreal in the blink of an eye. One minute, you’re mainlining caffeine and reading six-hundred-page contracts, the next, you’re hoovering cocaine off the boardroom carpet.”

“Come again?”

“A movie star didn’t like being told ‘no.’ So he threw the closest thing to hand, which happened to be his stash.”

“Even the Mafia weren’t that dramatic.”

“There’s a reason most of the partners had alcohol problems.” Although at this moment, I understood the temptation of a stiff drink. “What are we supposed to do with this stuff?”

“We take pictures of it in situ, and then we send it to the lab.”

“What about the chain of evidence?”

“What chain of evidence? Technically, we don’t know who put those bags there, or when. And in my experience, the police don’t like admitting to their mistakes.”

“So we’re basically acting as investigators?”

“All part of the job. If we can find out who RA or FT is, that gives us a starting point. Then we follow the money.”

“Speaking of money, Levi told me Ruby stashed some away.”

“The ten thousand the cops found in the fireplace?”

“No, there’s more.”

“Sheesh. Why didn’t he come clean about any of this before?”