“What about your mom?” Ethan asked. “Did she get along better with your grandmother after your grandfather died?”

Caleb smiled. “She did until Uncle Nelson became her new husband. Grandmother Delacroix couldn’t stand Uncle Nelson. He kept trying to get her to let him ‘take care’ of her finances, and I think he must have been a little too pushy about it. When she made out her will, she made sure my mom and Uncle Nelson couldn’t touch any of her money. Not that they needed it, but I know it chapped Uncle Nelson when he found out about it after she died.”

“So did she leave it all to you?” Ethan asked.

“Before she died, I convinced her that Mason had been framed. It was…I guess if I end up failing at everything else, at least I did that for Mason. She got Mason to fire his attorney and hire a new one. She set up a trust to help with his legal fees, and so he’d have something to live on after he got out.”

“And you?”

“She left me enough to pay off my undergraduate loans, made it possible for me to stay in graduate school, and gave me a couple of my dad’s paintings. She had bought them a long time ago, kind of helping my folks when they were first starting out, I think. It was the coolest thing she could have done for me, because after my dad died, we had to sell all of his other works.”

“The new attorney shouldn’t have any trouble getting the conviction overturned,” Frank said. “Mason’s case is on the LPPD crime lab’s potential dry-labbing list.”

“What’s dry-labbing?” Ethan asked.

“One of the worst things a forensic scientist can be accused of. Basically, faking results-claiming you tested material you didn’t really test. You know there was a scandal in our department’s lab?”

“Yes. I just didn’t know that term.”

“We fired a few people over it. And it’s costing the city a fortune to deal with all the problems it has caused. An independent team investigating the lab has looked at all the cases those people worked on, and come up with a list of cases that will need review.”

“They’ve already had to let some people out of prison, right?” Ethan asked.

“A few. There will undoubtedly be more, especially in those cases where there are no eyewitnesses or clear motives. I’d think Mason’s would have a good chance of being overturned if the forensic evidence wasn’t really there.”

“It isn’t easy to get someone out of prison once they’re in,” Caleb said. “Even if they’re truly innocent. No one could place Mason at the scene, but the murder weapon was with him.”

“I’ve always thought that scene with the car was a little too perfect,” Frank said.

Caleb gave him a grateful look. “I don’t hear that too often from the Las Piernas Police Department.”

“I don’t imagine the department would be as pleased as you are if they knew that one of their detectives said it,” Ben said dryly. “So let’s keep this discussion confidential.”

“Sure,” Caleb said, “but still-thanks, Frank.”

I mentally reviewed what I had read in newspaper accounts about the evidence in the case.

“The evidence was processed by our lab, not San Bernardino Sheriff’s?” I asked.

“Crime started in Las Piernas,” Frank said. “The case was ours.”

“The headache, the paperwork, and the costs, you mean,” Ben said.

Frank smiled. “Yes, those, too.”

“I have copies of most of the reports,” Caleb said to me. “Are you interested in seeing them?”

“If she’s not, I am,” Ethan said.

Ah. A cure for Ethan’s boredom. “Let’s both take a look at them. Frank, don’t you know some of the guys in San Bernardino’s department?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think you could get the name of the officer who found the car?”

“Tadeo Garcia,” Caleb said. “He’s retired. He’s not too friendly. At least he wasn’t to me.”

“Is he married?” I asked.

“Yes. His wife is nice. She was mad at him for not talking to me.”

“How long ago did you try talking to him?”

“Oh, it wasn’t long after Mason was charged. Maybe four and a half years ago, something like that. He wouldn’t talk to Mason’s new attorney, either.”

“Well, maybe it’s time for someone else to have another try. I may make a trip out to San Bernardino.”

“Take me along?” Ethan pleaded.

“If your doctor says okay, sure.”

WE made it an early evening-Ethan was wearing down, and I could tell he was determined to get enough rest to get the doctor’s permission for the trek to San Bernardino. Not a grand outing, but he was excited about the idea of any change of scenery.

As Ben and Caleb were leaving, Ben let Ethan, Frank, and Caleb walk ahead of us a little bit. When they were out of earshot, Ben said to me, “Thanks for offering to help Caleb with his brother’s case.”

“I thought you were opposed to my getting involved.”

“Irene, there was never a chance in hell of your keeping your nose out of it.”

“Speaking of nosing in, I should probably tell you that Anna came by for lunch today.”

“No need to report contact with her,” he said, seeming faintly amused.

“If it’s any comfort, she didn’t want to gossip about you.”

“I’m not surprised,” he said, then gave me a crooked grin. “I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I’m also relieved. Talk to you soon-I want to know why you are interested in dentists.”

I swore under my breath and he laughed, causing Frank and Caleb to look back at us.

It’s so damned hard to get anything past Ben. And judging from the looks on the three other faces, he wasn’t the only one I had to worry about.

A reporter, a homicide detective, and two forensic scientists. I was going to have to watch my step.

CHAPTER 26

Wednesday, April 26

9:15 A.M.

HUNTINGTON BEACH

CARRIE allowed her mother to fuss over the cut on her hand. The cut wasn’t deep, and there was no chance that it was infected-it had been treated immediately, of course. Mom was worried, though, and had been hovering over her ever since it happened.

This was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was good because right now Mom wasn’t paying any attention to Genie, who was outside the house, going through the next-door neighbor’s recycling bin. Dad was gone, away at a meeting of some kind, and the boys were here, watching Mom change the bandage. They were staring with fascination at the cut, which looked much worse than it felt.

The bad part was not the pain of the cut but the guilt now weighing on Carrie. Why should she question anything about her parents? She had a good life. She knew other children were unhappy and uncared for, were lonely and ignored. Her mother loved her and was so protective of her. Sure, sometimes she felt a little hemmed in by that, a little smothered, but what was really wrong with being loved so much? Dad loved her, too. Her parents never hurt their children, they really rarely lost their tempers.

Why ask herself about before? It just might turn out to be something bad. Wouldn’t that be the only reason it was a secret? And if it was bad, then it might bring an end to this life she had now. Maybe she would be taken away from these loving people who had adopted her. Maybe she would never see Genie or Aaron or Troy again. She felt a tear roll down her cheek at the thought of how bad she had been, sneaking around, eavesdropping, wanting to know things that were none of her business.

Her mother saw the tear and gently wiped it away, saying, “Oh, honey. I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

“No-” she choked out.

She could hear Genie coming upstairs, going into her room briefly, then heard her washing up in a nearby bathroom.

“Is Carrie going to die?” Aaron asked, his face puckering up in sympathetic reaction to her distress.

“No, silly,” Carrie said with a watery laugh, hugging him to her side with her free hand. “I’m just being a baby.”