Page 46

“Still,” I said. “Roy’s perfectly capable of getting that girl anything she needs.”

Belinda smiled. I went past her and opened the door. It was only Roy and Corrine Egan in the room. If anyone other than Agent Heller had sat in, they were gone now.

“I’m so sorry I’m running late,” I said. “I couldn’t get out of court any sooner.”

“It’s okay,” Roy said. “We’re just finishing up. Corrine’s been very helpful.”

Corrine looked gaunt and pale. Belinda was right; her hands shook as she reached for her coffee mug and downed the last of it.

“How are you today?” I asked Corrine as I sat.

“Just happy to put this behind me. I haven’t been sleeping all that well since… all of this.”

“I can’t even imagine how hard this has been. But if there’s anything you need. Anything I can do to make you more comfortable, you just let me know.”

“We went over Corrine’s statement again,” Roy said.

“I’m so sorry,” she offered. “I wish I remembered more. I wish I could tell you that man you arrested looked like Matt Woodson. I guess he does. I just… I can’t be sure.”

“If you don’t know, then you don’t know,” I said, trying to hide my own disappointment and frustration.

“Which means Matt is still out there somewhere. Do you think he’s seen any of this on the news? About Palicki, I mean?”

It was an odd question. One I had no answer for.

“It’s possible,” I said. “Do you have any reason to think Woodson and Palicki were associated?”

“We’ve gone over that,” Roy said. “I’ll fill you in. Corrine was getting ready to leave.”

“Oh,” I said. “Right. You don’t have to repeat yourself on my account.”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way. But I just want to get out of here. I’d prefer it if I didn’t have to come back. I want things to go back to normal.”

“Let me get someone to walk you back to your car,” Roy said, rising.

“That’s not necessary,” Corrine said, but her tone was unconvincing. She seemed scared as a jackrabbit.

But Roy was already on the move. He called down the hallway. A moment later, Belinda reappeared. Roy whispered something to her.

“Of course.” Belinda smiled. “I’ll walk with you, honey. That parking structure is a maze. It’s easy to get lost if you don’t pay attention to which stairwell you come in from.”

“Thank you,” Corrine said. She shook Roy’s hand. Then she came around the table and stopped in front of me.

“And thank you too. You’ve all been so nice. You’ve treated me with respect. I wish I could say that was true when I first reported all of this. No one believed me. And I know I should have brought those items forward sooner.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Roy said. Belinda collected her and ushered her out of the room. Roy shut the door and gestured for me to have a seat at the table.

“What did she say?”

“Same story as before. She did say the ribbon pulled from Palicki’s house looked just like the one Woodson gave her, for what that’s worth. She’s never wavered in the details. And everything she says sounds like Palicki’s MO.”

“But she can’t identify him. Or won’t. Have you considered that?” It had been on my mind too. Was Corrine just scared? Had she lied during the lineup?

“Yeah. I get a vibe from her on that. She is just stone-cold terrified of this guy. I think she’s afraid of him finding out who she is.”

“But she’s been adamant that Palicki isn’t the man she dated all those years ago.”

“Well, pretty soon we’re gonna be able to find that out definitively. She brought in some clothing.”