“Not yet,” the Chief replied. “The girl doesn’t know who he was. But if we can find the pictures she’s talking about, we’ll have our guy and our evidence.”

“Get those pictures,” Hal said.

“What about the father’s theory?” the chief asked Hal. “That we buried this in the investigation? There’s nothing to that, is there?”

“No,” Hal said, “There’s nothing there, liability-wise. But from a PR perspective, it doesn’t sound great.” He sighed. “When you have the transcript, send it over to my office. We’re going to treat this with kid gloves.”

Hal went directly back to the office with Jake, not bothering to change out of his tennis clothes. “I’m going to take a personal interest in pushing this case forward,” he said as he opened the door.

It’s about time, Jake thought.

When Jake arrived at the office the next morning, before he’d even sat down at his desk, Hal strode over. “Put your jacket back on, and follow me,” Hal said. “We’re having a press conference. Got to get out in front of this thing.”

This was the first that Jake was hearing about a press conference. “What thing?” he asked, but Hal was already halfway down the hallway. Jake followed him into one of the conference rooms, where a crew of the usual reporters from the town and county papers and local news websites were waiting expectantly. Hal stood at a podium at the front of the room, and he motioned for Jake to stand beside him. Donna followed them with a coffee cart and closed the door.

“Morning, folks,” Hal said, turning on his full charm. “Thanks for coming in early. Please, help yourself to coffee. Now,” he said, getting serious, “I know that there have been a lot of rumors going around regarding the Jensen house party case, and I want to set the record straight. Our office and the police department have been handling the case with the utmost seriousness and attention. What we have here is wanton, willful destruction of private property, and we will absolutely be holding all of the culprits responsible. I know it’s your job,” he said, winking at the reporters, “to stir up a little controversy. That’s how you sell papers and get those clicks. I get it. But our police force has been thorough and sensitive in their ongoing investigation, and we’d love to see that in your fine papers as well.