Brief Summary
Julia kills her first husband, Andy to escape an abusive relationship. She steals his mistress's ID and moves to Arkansas. She starts a career and a family under the fictitious name. Everything is going well until the police discover a knife from another murder in her car. She claims she purchased it from a homeless man, for her second husband's birthday. Hearing about her arrest, her second husband Bill puts a restraining order on her and then moves the kids out of the city. Julia bonds out and is awaiting trial.She's staying with her boyfriend/ Lawyer Larry. She's now accused of another murder which she claims she didn't commit. The Sergeant wants to believe her but the evidence keeps piling up against her.

Marty threatens to kill Larry's family if he doesn't win Vinnie's case.
Larry recently found out his estranged wife and daughter are dead. He's being expedited to New York where the murders took place. The evidence against him is slowly shredding apart.

************

Rachel

I can get so much accomplished when it's quiet like this. I think, glancing around the empty squad room. Early mornings and late evenings are the only time the area isn't total chaos.
Glancing at the clock, I realize the morning crew is due any minute. I better finish this up while I still can, I think, glancing down at the computer. I'm busy finishing a report when Jerry walks over to our cubical.

"Morning, Jerry."

"Morning, Sarge, You're getting an early start," he says, plopping his things on the desk.

"This case has been bothering me all night long, so I wanted to get an early start, see if I can figure it out once and for all."

"Which one is that?" he questions, taking a sip of coffee.

"The one against Julia, I just don't see how on earth she could've done it, and all the evidence stacking against her like that is just a little too convenient if you ask me."

"The case is pretty much solving itself," Jerry agrees.

"I keep thinking about what Billy said about the guy laying Julia's phone down on the rock."

"Maybe he saw it, picked it up, looked at it, then set it back down so it could be processed."

"So, If, she did transfer gun powder residue and blood to the phone, wouldn't she have deposited some on the steering wheel when she drove away?"

"She could've worn gloves at the crime scene, but not in the car."

"Forensics didn't find any at the scene, so that means she'd had to have taken them with her, but gloves weren't found in the house or the car."

"Maybe she got rid of them on her way home?"

"What about the blood splatter, Jerry?"

"What about it?"

"Wouldn't she have blood on her clothes, since he was shot at close range?"

"You'd think so."

"There wasn't any on her shoes or clothes but yet there's blood on the seat of Larry's car."

"She could've put on different clothes."

"She wore the same outfit all day."

"She could have changed into something else, shot him, then switched back."

"Julia would have to change her clothes, drive to the crime scene, shoot him, drive back to Larry's, swap outfits, get rid of the bloody clothes, and then have the cab take her to the station all within a half-hour."

"I don't see how that's possible," Jerry says, scratching his head. This is something he tends to do when he's in deep thought. Joe teases him about it, says he's trying to jumpstart his rusty brain.

"Me either, I'm going to talk to the cab driver, see if he'll confirm picking her up." Grabbing my gear, I start to head towards the door.

"Before you go, Sergeant."

"Do you have something, Jerry?" I ask, turning back around.

"I wanted to let you know that I watched the footage from the deli after you left last night."

"Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, Julia was eating lunch like she said."

"When was the time stamp on the tape?"

"From 12:30 -12:50. I checked the time stamp is accurate."

"That would clear her of the first murder, now to clear her of the second," I say, heading towards the door.

***

I pull up to an old stone house just off of the square. Knowing other cab companies have failed, the owners decide to run their business from the lower level of their home.

I see an older woman reading the paper when I walk through the door.

"May I help you?" she asks, neatly folding the newspaper, she lays it down beside her.

"Yes, my name is Rachel Bower and I'm with the Berryville PD."

"How may I help you, officer?"

"I'd like to speak to one of your drivers, please. His name is James Kirkland."

"He hasn't done anything wrong, has he?"

"No, I'm just verifying one of his pick ups yesterday."

"James is out on a call, but he should be back soon if you care to wait," she says, gesturing to the seats behind me.

"Do you have his log from yesterday?"

"Yes, of course."

"May I see it, please?"

"Sure." Reaching behind her, she grabs a clipboard off the stack of papers. "Here it is," she says, handing it to me.

I quickly scan through the list. "I don't see the addresses on the log. Could he have picked up someone and not written it down?"

"He could've but then there'd be a discrepancy in his mileage and as you can see every mile is accounted for. Now he could've picked-up a couple of people on one run and only wrote down the address where he originally stopped on the log."

"I've shared a taxi before."

"That'd also explain why the address isn't in either of our logs."

"Do you remember a call requesting to be picked-up from the police station or Adams street?"

"No, but I wasn't here all day, my husband took over so I could make supper. You know how guys are about their food." She laughs.

"Oh, I know." Chuckling I continue. "Thank you for your time."

"Anytime, Detective."

Seeing a taxi pull up, I step outside. I realize it's the owner and not James when he climbs out of the car. He might know something about it, I conclude walking towards him.

"May I help you?" he asks, closing the door.

"My name is Rachel and I'm with the Berryville PD. I need to ask you about someone James picked-up yesterday."

"Is this about that young woman again?"

"Again?"

"Yes, I've already told another Detective that James didn't charge her for the ride and that's why she's not on the log," he says, walking across the parking lot.

"When did you tell the detective this?" I ask, following him across the pavement.

"I had just opened the shop so it had to have been around six thirty this morning."

"Did he ask about anything else?"

"Yes, he wanted the recording from his dash cam."

"Did you give it to him?"

"I wasn't going to do it at first, but then he said he'll get a temporary restraining order to close my place down until the investigation is over."

"Can you remember his name?"

"He didn't say."

"What does he look like?"

"He's around my age. He has short brown hair and black framed glasses. He was dressed in a suit, so I figure he's one of the higher ups."

"I'd like to see what's on the tape he asked about if you don't mind."

"I'm sure my wife can get you a copy," he says, opening the door.

I quickly step inside.

He tells his wife about the visit and how he gave the man the tape.

His wife starts laughing.

"What's so funny, Delores?"

"You gave him a blank tape, Henry."

"A blank tape?"

"Yeah, I erase the tapes after I download the footage to the hard drive." Seeing the confused look on his face she explains. "Reusing the tape cuts a lot of expense."

"Is there any way I can see what's on the tape?" I question.

"Sure," Delores says, tapping a few keys.

We're staring intently at the screen, waiting for something to happen when a questionable looking character climbs in James' car. I recognize the face the moment he leans towards the cabbie.

~~~

"You need to say you picked up Julia Moffit from the cop shop and took her to Adam's Street." the deceitful looking dude says. Showing James a picture, he continues. "Then you picked her back up a half hour later and took her to the police station."

"Why do I need to do that for?" James questions.

"It's all part of Allen's plan."

~~~

"Play that part again for me, please," I say.

Rewinding the footage, Doris pushes the play button.

"So that's what they're trying to cover up," I conclude.

"Do you think this Allen guy really told him to say that, Sergeant?"

"I plan to find out. Can you make me a copy of the tape, please?"

"Sure thing, Detective. I'll check our cameras and see if I can get a picture of the guy that tried to get the tape while that's downloading. You might as well take a load off because it's going to be a few minutes."

I start thumbing through a magazine when my phone rings. "Sergeant Bower, The captain has a suspect in custody and wants me to be a part of the interrogation? I'll be right there," I say, walking across the room.

"Do you need something, Detective?" Deloris asks.

"I have to go, but I'll be back later to pick up the tape."

"It'll be waiting for you."

***

I see Joe at my desk when I walk into the station. I quickly brief him on my new discovery.

"So, Allen is a part of this after all."

"That's what Marty said on the tape."

'Where's the tape now?"

"The owner is making me a copy."

"Why don't we go talk to Marty while we wait?" Smiling, he walks to the back of the building.

"So, Marty, we meet again," Joe announces, opening the interrogation room door.

"What are you trying to charge me with now, Captain?" He smiles. Through the years Joe has arrested him for various offenses but for some reason or other, the charges never stick.

"Blackmail for starters."

"Who am I supposedly blackmailing, Captain?" he asks, kicking back in his chair.

Joe mumbles smug son-of bitch as he walks across the room. "Larry Wilson?"

"Larry Wilson, who is he?"

"He's the lawyer that represented your nephew Vinnie in his murder trial."

"Oh him, he's a poor excuse for a lawyer if you ask me."

"Why did you hire him if you think he's such a lousy lawyer?" I question.

"I didn't, Vinnie did, against my advice of course."

"Knowing how bad he is, you decided to blackmail him into winning the case, is that it?"

"I didn't blackmail anyone, Captain."

"I know you threatened to kill his wife and daughter if he lost the case."

"I didn't say that and you can't prove otherwise."

"We have your conversations recorded." Glancing down at a piece of paper, Joe continues. "There are seven threats in all. The last one was made two days ago, right before the judge declared a mistrial."

"I'm not saying another word until my lawyer gets here."

"Fine with me," Joe says, walking towards the door. He starts to step out of the room when another thought occurs to him, he spins back around. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you rot in prison."

"Like you did the last time?" Marty laughs.

Joe remembers how his lawyer got him off on a small technicality. Throwing the door open, he stomps into the hall.

Marty laughs louder.

"I'm going to get that SOB once and for all," Joe says, storming to his office.

"What do you want to do now, Captain?" I ask, following behind him.

"I want you to get the tape and the photo. I'm going to see what else I can dig up on that arrogant ass."