“Yes. But what did you want to know about Mr. Dietz? I mean, I’m not sure I should be discussing him with a reporter without asking one of the attorneys.”
“Well, I’ll ask you the question. If you don’t feel comfortable, I can give you my number, and you can call back after you talk to someone. Is that fair?”
“I guess. What do you want to know?”
“OK, I wrote that the last time anyone saw Mr. Dietz, he asked for some subpoenas, you typed them for him, he took them and left the office, and he wasn’t seen again.”
“No, that’s not what happened,” Cody said. “I didn’t type them. Mr. Dietz just asked me for several subpoenas, and I gave him blanks, and he took them into his office.”
“Wouldn’t you have typed them normally?”
“Yes, but he didn’t ask me to that time.”
“Thanks. I’ll change that.” Dana paused as if she were making a note. “You don’t happen to know why he wanted the subpoenas, do you?”
“No, he never said.”
“Well, thanks a lot. Sorry to take up your time, but I wanted the story to be accurate.”
“Has anybody figured that out, what happened to Mr. Dietz?” Cody asked.
“Not that I know. But I’ll let you know if I learn the truth about his disappearance.”
Dana hung up and stared into space. She worked everything through twice more to make certain she wasn’t fooling herself. Of course, she could be wrong, and her flight to Oregon could be a waste of time. Even if she was right, it was highly unlikely that she would be able to find the proof she needed. But she had to try, so she called the airlines and bought a round-trip ticket to Portland.
Chapter Sixty-two
It was raining in Portland when Dana’s plane touched down, but it always rained in Portland, so she didn’t read the foul weather as an omen. Dana drove her rental car to the hotel where she’d stayed on her last visit to the City of Roses. After she checked in, she headed for Mary Garrett’s office. While she walked, she debated the morality of what she was about to do, a debate that had begun to rage as soon as she’d hung up the phone after speaking with LuAnn Cody. If she went through with her plan, she might learn the truth, but a murderer might go free. If she used deceit to get what she wanted, justice might be served, but she would have to betray a trust.
Mary Garrett rarely greeted visitors at the door to her office because their height disparity became apparent as soon as they met, but she made an exception for Dana Cutler.
“Come on in,” Garrett said when her secretary showed Dana in. “I can’t thank you enough for the work you did for Sarah.”
Dana’s features didn’t betray the guilt she felt. “I just wrote the stories. You wrote the petition for cert.”
“I have no doubt that your exposé had a lot to do with cert being granted.”
“Since the justices never reveal their reasons for granting cert, we’ll never know how much influence Exposed had on their decision. What matters is that there is a good chance you’ll get Woodruff’s case reversed.”
Garrett motioned Dana into a client chair and took one next to her.
“You were mysterious on the phone about why you’re visiting,” Garrett said. “What’s up?”
“I have a strange request, Mary.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“I want you to hire me as an investigator in Sarah’s case. It won’t cost you anything. I’ll charge you one dollar.”
Garrett cocked her head to one side. “Why do you want to be my investigator?”
“To protect your client. I may have figured out something about her case, but I won’t know if I’m right until I examine the contents of Max Dietz’s office. When I was here last, Monte Pike told me it’s in the evidence room because Mr. Dietz’s case is still open. I could have gone to Pike with my suspicions, but I’m more interested in seeing if I’m right than helping either side in this case.”
Garrett wasn’t smiling now. “You have me thoroughly confused,” she said.
“Good. If I’m right, the less you know about what I’m thinking, the better off you and Woodruff are.”
“I don’t like this.”
“I don’t expect you to. Think of it this way: If Monte Pike is with me when I examine the evidence, he can use anything incriminating I discover against your client. But the attorney-client privilege will shield me from his questions if I’m Sarah Woodruff’s agent. So, will you get me into the evidence room?”
Chapter Sixty-three
Monte Pike was puzzled by Mary Garrett’s discovery request. Why would she want to inspect the evidence gathered by the police in Max Dietz’s case? Garrett’s secretary had left the DA’s office as soon as she delivered the motion for discovery, so Pike didn’t get a chance to question her. He assumed she wouldn’t know why her boss had filed the motion anyway and wouldn’t tell him anything if she did. That left a mystery for Pike to solve, but he loved puzzles. Unfortunately, he had no clue to the solution of this one, and the only conclusion he drew was that Garrett suspected a connection between Max’s disappearance and Sarah Woodruff’s case. Pike had no idea what that connection might be when he called Garrett and told her that the evidence would be in a conference room in the DA’s office whenever she wanted to examine it. He had asked what she was looking for, but Garrett had given him a polite version of “That’s for me to know and you to find out,” so he was no wiser when Garrett broke their connection.
The next day, another mystery presented itself when Dana Cutler followed Mary Garrett into the conference room. Pike flashed a bemused smile.
“What a pleasant and unexpected surprise. But I’m afraid reporters aren’t allowed to look at evidence in an ongoing case, no matter how famous they may be.”
“Cutler’s my investigator, Monte,” Garrett said.
Pike looked perplexed and could see that Garrett was pleased by his obvious confusion.
“I guess I could ask if Ms. Cutler is licensed in Oregon,” Pike said, “but you’d find some way around that.”
Mary started to say something, but Pike held up his hand.
“I’m fine with Ms. Cutler helping the defense as long as she promises that she won’t report about anything she sees that is not public record.”
Mary turned toward Dana.
“I’m fine with that,” Dana said.
“OK, then.” Pike pointed to one of the DA’s investigators who was sitting in a corner of the conference room. “Bob Hunsacker is here to keep an eye on you.”
“Hey, Bob,” said Garrett, who knew the investigator.
“Ms. Garrett,” he answered with a nod.
Pike took another hard look at Dana. Then he shook his head.
“Do either of you ladies want some coffee?” Pike asked.
“I know how bad your office coffee is, Monte,” Mary said. “Just the offer is enough for a prosecutorial misconduct charge.”
Pike laughed. “Have fun,” he said before closing the door behind him.
Mary had tried to get Dana to tell her what she was looking for, but Dana insisted that the lawyer couldn’t be hurt by what she didn’t know. Dana suggested that Mary go through the evidence as if she did know why they were there. Dana could see that Garrett was annoyed, but she was relieved when Woodruff’s attorney decided to play along.
Brown cardboard boxes were stacked on the conference table and the floor. There were Magic Marker notations indicating where the contents of each box had been found. Dana started with the boxes filled with evidence taken from Dietz’s house so Hunsacker would not be able to figure out what she was doing. She knew that Pike would get a full briefing on what Hunsacker had seen as soon as she and Mary were gone.
One hour and fifteen minutes after Dana started, she opened the first box she actually wanted to examine. It held the contents of Dietz’s office desk. She wasn’t disappointed when she found nothing of interest. The real object of her search was a plastic trash bag that held everything that had been found on Dietz’s desk. Dana’s heart beat rapidly as she unwound the tie that secured the neck of the bag and emptied the contents onto the tabletop.