Free Chasing Justice: A Matt Royal Mystery by H. Terrell Griffin Page A

to make sure your identification was good, and that’ll be the end of DEA’s involvement.”
    She frowned. “I’m afraid you’re right. I’ll just have to keep digging. Where are you going with Abby’s case?”
    “I’m not sure yet. I don’t think she killed Bannister, and I don’t think the state can prove she did. At least not with the evidence they have so far.”
    “What about the DNA on the sheets?”
    “If it’s hers, that would be a big hurdle to get over. I guess we’ll know in a few days. I need to find somebody who can tell me about those emails. I’d like to know where they came from since they weren’t sent from Abby’s computer.”
    “Our department geek could probably explain that to you.”
    “I don’t want to have any appearance of help from your people. That could end up biting me in the butt at trial.”
    “You’re right,” she said. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
    “I’ll have to hire an expert who can testify, if need be.”
    “Who do you think did kill Bannister?”
    “I don’t have any idea, but I need to come up with some suspects to give the jury a plausible alternative to Abby as the murderer. That produces reasonable doubt, which means acquittal.”
    “I thought you were pretty sure the state didn’t have enough evidence to convict.”
    “I don’t think they do, now, but we’ve got several months to go before trial. And there’s the DNA question hanging out there.”
    “Did Abby have an affair with Bannister?”
    “I don’t know. I haven’t asked her.”
    “Isn’t that important?”
    “It may be, but not right now.”
    “Why not?”
    “Abby’s fingerprints in Bannister’s condo mean nothing in and of themselves. Except that she’s been in the house. But so have a lot of other people. If the DNA isn’t Abby’s, that shoots a hole in the prosecution’s theory that it was an affair gone bad. The emails certainly made it look like there had been an affair, but they didn’t come from Abby’s computer. So unless Swann and Lucas can tie the emails to Abby in some way, or find a witness who will testify that he or she has some knowledge of an affair, I think we’ll be in the clear. If that theory is dead, I don’t need to know about an affair. And frankly, I just don’t want to think that Abby would do something like that.”
    “You need to be very careful of your objectivity, Counselor.”
    “I know,” I said. “I’m counting on you to help me with that.”
    “Even if someone wanted to kill Bannister, and from what I hear, there may have been a lot of them, why would they pick Abby to pin it on?”
    “If I can find the answer to that, I’ll know who the killer is.” “Are you going to stay here tonight?” J.D. asked.
    “No, I want to get on the computer and do a little research. I wouldn’t be good company.”
    “You’re always good company.”
    “Well, your expectations are minimal.”
    “Hmm. You’re probably right. I do the best I can with what little I’ve got to work with.”
    “Are you saying that what you have to work with isn’t a lot?”
    “No, sweetie,” she said, “it’s not. But we women put up with a lot, or a little, in the name of love.”
    “Wasn’t that a song?”
    “Roberta Flack. ‘When you feel it, you can’t let go.’”
    “Geez,” I said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
    It was nearing ten in the evening when I walked into my cottage. It had been a long day and I was tired. I felt my bed calling me, but I had a few things to do if I didn’t want to lie awake all night worrying about them.
    I rummaged around in my desk drawer and found the external hard drive on which I kept all kinds of legal things left over from my years of law practice. I had forms for most of the pleadings I would be filing during the course of State of Florida vs. Abigail Lester , lots of statutes and case law, which I needed to update, and other miscellany. I might be able to muddle through without hiring a