“They are still open and cold. When Pink contacted the bureau about Harrison, agents tried to stay out of things, make the case look local, so Cross wouldn’t be alerted too soon. But they worried enough about what could happen that they even set up a fake safe house, hoping if Cross did get wind of the investigation, it would draw him out, and maybe they’d catch him in the act coming for the witness.”

“That was why Pink gave Harrison shelter in his own home.”

Bass nodded.

“There was a leak,” Tess said.

“Yeah, Cross never fell for the fake safe house. The whole thing was only supposed to be for a short time, while a grand jury was seated. Everyone thought the security was tight enough, that Cross was in the dark. But two days before Harrison was set to testify for the grand jury, Pink and his family were murdered, and she disappeared.”

Hearing his words, Tess felt punched in the stomach, reliving, in a sense, that day the news broke about Pink’s murder. Her father had been livid, inconsolable. Police work was a brotherhood. When a cop fell in the line of duty, it impacted everyone who wore the uniform. And Isaac Pink was slain in his own home with his family—that was particularly heinous. Daniel O’Rourke would have been upset even if he hadn’t known Pink; as it was, they’d attended a couple of training classes together.

“He was one of the really good guys,” he’d said just before he left to help with the eventually fruitless manhunt.

Pink died protecting a victim, and not too long after that, her father would be dead protecting a victim. Tess had to swallow and regroup her thoughts. Cops sometimes died protecting people—it was a fact of life.

“The evidence at the scene was confused and confusing,” Bass continued. “There was no sign of Harrison, but she’d left a note in a jar where the Pink family kept extra cash. The cash was gone, and she apologized for taking it.”

Tess frowned. “As I recall, that’s one of the reasons they named her as suspect number one.”

Bass nodded. “It was an emotionally charged investigation. Everyone knew Pink. He was respected and well liked. The viciousness of the crime scene ramped everyone up. Pink’s department conducted a full-on manhunt for the girl. Well, you know every agency in the state was on the hunt for the killer. The agents on the case sat back and let the locals run with it. When Harrison was named as the prime suspect, they hoped it would flush her out, if she were still alive. After all, she stole the money, and Pink’s gun was never recovered.”

“The case is cold now, still unsolved. But somehow I get the impression you don’t think Harrison is the assassin.”