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“I think Jamil andBeth set those searches aside when our focus turned to Vaughn,” he said.
“Let’s see how farthey got,” she replied.
“Okay,” Ryan saidas he called the research office and put his phone on speaker. “Should we juststart in order of how we found them: Powers, and then Robertson?”
“Actually,” Jessiecountered, “I think we should start with Danielle Robertson.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sureyet,” she admitted, “but I think all this has something to do with the victims’children.”
“Hello?” Jamilsaid when the call connected.
“Hey guys,” Jessielaunched in, “Did you ever get the GPS location data from our earlier suspects’phones and vehicles?”
“We started,”Jamil told her, “but we hadn’t finished when we had to switch our attention toVaughn. But our preliminary data validated everything from their statements.”
“Even for DanielleRobertson?” Jessie pressed.
“Like I said, wehadn’t finished, but what we’ve pulled to date backs up her claims.”
Jessie realizedshe’d been holding her breath in anticipation of something that wasn’tforthcoming and exhaled in frustration.
“Why are you sointerested in Danielle Robertson?” Ryan asked, “Do you really think, based onour interview with her, that she would put the kids she worked with at risk byexposing them to canisters full of poison?”
“No, I don’t,”Jessie conceded, slightly embarrassed, before the brain tingle returned, morepotent than ever before. She continued excitedly, “I don’t believe that! Andthat’s why we need to do a deeper dive on her.”
“What are youthinking?” Ryan asked, clearly sensing that she thought she was on to somethingbig.
"Think aboutit," she said, having trouble getting her words out as fast as theyentered her head. "The canisters in each of these women's homes releasedthe poison when their children weren't around. Tabitha Reynolds's daughter,Susannah, was on a camping trip with her ex-husband. Remember, the coroner toldus that we caught a lucky break because no one else was in her loft at the timethe poison was released. Otherwise, we could have had multiple victims. Butwhat if that wasn't luck at all?"
Ryan looked likehe wanted to respond, but Jessie was on a roll now and not about to stop.
“And think aboutall the other victims,” she continued. “Clarissa Langley’s son, Lansing, was ata Clippers game with his father. And Naomi Hackett’s daughter, Olivia, was atthe family’s Pacific Palisades home when Hackett was murdered at her Playa Vistaapartment. They were all safely out of danger at the time the poison wasreleased. And other than their parents, who would know those kinds of detailsabout these kids’ schedules? How about their private tutor, who could easilyask them about their upcoming plans without drawing suspicion.”
Ryan was quiet andthere was silence on the other end of the phone line, suggesting that Jamil andBeth were also pondering her theory.
“That’sinteresting,” Ryan finally said, “But aren’t you forgetting something? DanielleRobertson never taught Olivia Hackett at the Playa Vista apartment, so howwould she have gotten in there?”
Jessie had ananswer for that one.
“First of all,that conclusion is based on what Robertson told us. We don’t know if it’s true.And even if it is, that doesn’t mean she was being honest about never visitingthe apartment. Maybe she casually ‘stopped by’ one day. It wouldn’t be crazy.She lives in Westchester. That’s only minutes from Hackett’s apartment. AndPlaya Vista is all mixed use. There are condos and apartments right next to icecream parlors and sushi bars. How hard would it be to manufacture an unexpectedrun-in? If that happened, I could easily see Hackett inviting Robertson up toher place for a minute. Or maybe Danielle asked to use her bathroom? In eithercase, who would be able to tell us about it? Naomi Hackett is dead. The onlyperson who would ever know is Robertson. That’s why we need to check her GPSlocation data for recent stops anywhere near Hackett’s apartment.”
“Checking now,”Jamil said. Jessie could hear his fingers flying across his keyboard.
“I hate toconstantly be negative,” Ryan said, “But that’s not the only speed bump here.Let’s not forget that Avery Sinclair didn’t even employ Danielle Robertson as atutor. We have no evidence that they knew each other at all.”
Jessie sat withthat for a moment, but only that long.
“That’s true,” sheagreed, “but she did have kids, right?”
“Yes, two,” Bethinterjected. “A four-year-old daughter named Riley and an eight-year-old sonnamed Rhett.”
“Okay,” Jessiecontinued, “The girl is a little young, but the boy is right in Robertson’stutoring age window. And Sinclair lived in the Palisades, where we knowRobertson had at least one other client, Naomi Hackett.”
“Actually,” Bethvolunteered, “From her client roster, it looks like five of the kids she workedwith lived in that area.”
Jessie gave Ryan asatisfied grin.
