The Last Alibi

103

Jason

“Since we’re on the topic of the inventory of Mr. Rivers’s apartment in early August,” says Shauna, “did you or your colleagues look at any keys or key chains recovered from his apartment?”

“Yes, we did,” says Austin. “He had a key ring that held six keys. I remember when we first searched his apartment on August second, they were hanging on a hook by his front door. Anyway, yes, this weekend we took a look at the keys on that key ring.”

“Detective, did you visit Mr. Kolarich’s house yesterday?”

“I did.”

“And who was with you when that happened?”

“I was accompanied by Detective Raymond Cromartie, Katie O’Connor from the county attorney, and you, Counselor.”

“What was the purpose of the visit?”

“To see if any of the keys on Marshall Rivers’s key chain opened Mr. Kolarich’s door.”

“And did any of the keys from Marshall Rivers’s key chain fit into the lock on Mr. Kolarich’s front door?”

He nods. “Yes, one of them did.”

That juror in the front row, the one who tends to visibly react-the one who leaned back in his chair and looked around at his colleagues when he watched me lie in the police interview-now repeats that gesture, making faces at the woman next to him, only this time I daresay his allegiance has switched to the defense.

“May I approach the witness?” Shauna asks.

“Yes.”

“Defense Exhibit Four,” she says, holding up a clear bag containing a single, rather shiny silver key. “Is this the key that you found on Mr. Rivers’s key chain that opened Jason Kolarich’s front door?”

“That’s it,” Austin says.

Shauna holds up the bag for the jury to see. No need to formally publish it, to actually hand it to the jurors. It’s just a basic house key. But it will mean everything to Shauna in closing argument. Marshall Rivers jumped Alexa as she entered Jason’s house, and he kept her key as a souvenir. He wanted Jason to know he’d killed her.

The mystery of Alexa’s missing house key is no longer a mystery.