“Sorry about that, I was just on the phone with an important client and I couldn’t just hang up on him but I needed to catch up to you.”

I shrug. I’m tempted to tell her to hurry up and tell me what it is she wants to tell me because I’ve had enough of this place for one day.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, my name is Meredith Clear. I’m a paralegal here and I have been following Nicholas Crawford’s case very closely,” she says.

This piques my attention.

“I’ve been watching all the crime shows and listening to the podcasts and the news reports along with reading all of the internal materials we have on the case,” she continues.

“Oh, wow, that’s…” I say. I’m about to say ‘great,’ but I’m not really sure if it is. She does work for the DA’s office, after all.

She offers to buy me a cup of coffee downstairs and doesn’t stop talking the whole way down.

She knows so much about his case she leaves my head spinning. She quotes information from different sources and then tells me which ones she believes and which ones are probably just speculations.

“Wait a second,” I interrupt her after we get our coffees and sit down. “How did you get so involved? Are you working on the case for your boss?”

“Hell, no,” she says, pushing her thick auburn hair from one side of her face to another. “I just know that Nicholas didn’t do it.”

22

Olive

When we talk…

A wave of relief rushes over me. Through my own research, I got to the point where I am certain of this fact, but to hear someone else say it is hard to describe. It’s like finally finding a kindred spirit, someone who is on your side when everyone else isn’t.

“So, how are you working this case?”

“Well, I’m just a paralegal here but I love listening to true crime podcasts and watching all of those shows like Dateline and 20/20. Actually, a lot of people do since there’s a big true crime community on the internet and his case has quite a following."

“You’re doing all of this investigation on your own?” I ask.

She smiles and nods, taking a small sip of her latte. “That’s what you have been doing though, right?”

“Yes, but he’s my boyfriend. I have something invested in him getting out,” I joke. This amuses her.

“Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is that there’s DNA evidence available the state is refusing to test.”

My mouth drops open.

“It’s a re-election year and Keenan is afraid of finding evidence that doesn’t fit their story. It will weaken their case, if not totally obliterate it.”

“So, the DA is fine with putting an innocent man in prison just for the sake of his career?”