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“Okay. Start from the beginning.”
So, she did.
Jake gave himself a moment to digest everything Dana had just unloaded on him. It was a lot to unpack. From Dvita’s snap diagnosis to Meredith’s unfounded accusations, he could see how Dana would make connections after diving down a rabbit hole of psychiatric episodes and Grim Reaper legends all night, but this was Claire they were talking about.
“Dana, I’m hearing you, but I just spent all day with her and I’ve gotta say, I disagree. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary considering what she’s been through.”
“What does that mean?” Dana pushed.
“It means she’s been through a lot. She just needs time.”
“What if it’s more than that?”
“It’s not.”
“You can’t possibly know that.”
“No, you’re right, but my gut’s telling me it’s true. And beyond that, since when do you make assumptions?”
Dana frowned. “You’re right. That’s why I’m going to ask Dr. Dvita for access to Claire’s therapy sessions. Mere said he records them. Maybe it’ll give me the proof I’m looking for.”
“Do you hear yourself? You’ve already convicted her in your mind.”
“That’s not true. I want this to be a complete misunderstanding, but right now I can’t explain how that’s possible. Claire is the only witness to the murder; she was talking about it before it happened, and she just recited theinscription on the murder weapon. That information hasn’t been made public.”
Jake had to admit it looked bad, but he’d seen evidence stacked to perfection crumble in too many cases to lose hope. “Dana, all you have is conjecture. There were no prints on the weapon, no DNA to run through CODIS. If Claire witnessed the murder, maybe she was close enough to see the inscription on the blade.”
“Then why didn’t she say so when she was under hypnosis?”
“I don’t know. Eyewitnesses sometimes repress traumatic details that they can only recall later with time to process the shock.”
“Yes, but that’s the point of hypnosis. It’s a safe space to revisit traumatic memories.”
“Well, I guess you’ve made up your mind. Shall I go get the handcuffs?”
“Jake, I’m being serious!”
“I know you are, and frankly, it’s scaring the hell out of me.”
“I hate this, but we have to consider the possibility that she’s involved in this somehow.”
“Yeah, well it’d be nice if you put an equal amount of energy into proving that she’s not. I mean, have you even thought about the logistics of it? Claire’s what, a hundred pounds soaking wet? Hayes is built like a gorilla. He’d have no problem overpowering someone like her.”
“His attacker had a scythe. That tends to even the playing field, Jake!”
“It doesn’t make any sense. Claire liked the guy.”
“What do you mean?”
“She told me so today. She said they were the same and was all bent out of shape because I could forgive her and not him because they both killed people.”
“She said that?”
He sighed, nodding. “It makes me sick that she’s still blaming herself for Sadie.”
Dana bit her thumbnail, lost in her tumultuous thoughts. Jake hated seeing her so distraught. He took a step closer, rescuing her hand from her nervous habit. “Look, right now, we don’t have a lot to go on. You know I’m all for action, but in this case, I think we’re going to have to sit tight and see what shakes loose. It’s only been twenty-four hours. Things might look different tomorrow and all this worrying will have been for nothing.”
“Hartwell didn’t have any updates since you last spoke?”
