"Linda, I've got a whole lot of things to tell you."
Linda was excited. "I've things to tell you also, better get comfortable."
They huddled over and notes for two hours and ordered pizza and Coke for lunch. After an additional hour, Sandy hurried out of the Park Beach newspaper building. She had just enough time to get to the jail before the end of visiting hours.
Sandy was waiting in the visiting room when they brought him in. "Raymond, I've been in a huddle with Linda at the newspaper office. We leveled and told each other all that we knew."
"Why don't you just go back to Philly?"
"Not yet, listen up Raymond. She said the police knew all along that Barner was alive because he serviced Towson's apartment after you left. They found insecticide on a piece of that cup you broke. That was one day after Loraine said she shot him. So they knew she was lying, not you."
"Slow down, what are you talking about? We knew Barner was an exterminator."
"But we didn't know he had serviced Towson's apartment the afternoon of the shooting. Someone connected with the investigation told Linda that CSI found a shard from a broken cup on the floor. It was out of sight on the kitchen floor, covered with insecticide. Apparently, Barner didn't notice it and sprayed right over it that afternoon. That's the cup you broke when you were there earlier!"
"So what?" Then he caught the significance. "You mean it was on the floor unnoticed all afternoon. That proves Barner was there after me."
"Yes. At that time both Barner and Towson were alive. One reason they denied bail was Moran told the judge you were the last known person to see the victim alive. They lied. They knew Barner saw him alive hours later. Bastards should have bonded you out immediately when they found a major piece of their evidence discredited. Now, even their circumstantial bullshit is falling apart. I haven't been so angry since I dropped my phone in that restaurant toilet."
"I'll ask Kagan. Maybe he can tell the judge about this."
"Ask hell! You don't understand, there's more. I dropped a bombshell. I was so mad I told Linda everything...plus a bunch of speculation. When she told me about Barner and the insecticide, I had a meltdown. The paper has it all now: Loraine, Tammy, Norma and Barner. All the names, the alleged rape, the phony Sonny Barner shooting, everything you said in your statement. And anything we discussed since. I showed them the copy of the signed statement you gave Moran. That statement was an official document of the prosecution. I could go to jail for disclosing it. Linda called the editor back in from home. They have their heads together right now deciding how much they can print."