“Olivia used initials extensively in her calendar.” Sharp read from a notepad in front of him. “I’ve sorted out some of the abbreviations. Most are boring. TOY stands for the Toyota dealership. She took her Prius in for regularly scheduled maintenance two weeks ago. AHA stands for A-1 Heating and Air. They serviced her heater on Wednesday. She calls her parents M&D.”

“Let’s focus on the current week.” Lance studied the most recent calendar entries. “She talked to her literary agent on Monday morning, and she met with Lena and Kennett Olander at their farm on Monday evening.”

“Her mother’s doctor appointment and the meeting at our office are on Friday’s agenda. She has nothing at all scheduled for Saturday or Sunday. Next week, she has lunch with her literary agent on Monday and a dental cleaning on Tuesday.”

“Plus, the usual Thursday night dinner with her parents,” Morgan said.

“Yes.” Sharp scratched his chin. “Morgan, what can you tell us about the cases she was researching for her book, other than both Olander and Franklin were convicted of murder?”

She started a new column labeled FRANKLIN CASE. “Three years ago, Cliff Franklin was convicted of the murder of twenty-six-year-old Brandi Holmes. Do you remember the case, Sharp? I wasn’t paying much attention to the news back then.”

She’d been mired in grief over her husband’s death.

“The boys talked about it quite a bit.” Sharp rubbed his temples in a circular motion as if he was trying to stimulate his brain.

The boys were Sharp’s retired cop buddies. Sharp was the youngest. They met at least once a week at a local bar. Despite being retired, the boys knew almost everything that went on in local law enforcement.

Sharp lowered his hands. “The sheriff’s department linked Franklin to Brandi and five other missing women. Only Brandi’s body was found. As far as I know, the other women are still officially missing. Brandi’s murder was the only one he was charged with. The boys were all convinced Franklin was a serial killer, but they couldn’t prove it. Everyone was relieved he was convicted and sentenced to life, but they really wanted justice for those other five women and closure for their families.”

Under Franklin’s name, Morgan wrote 5 MISSING WOMEN and VICTIM—BRANDI HOLMES.

“There must be a special reason Olivia was interested in the case,” Lance said. “Was she trying to find the five missing women?”

“It seems that was part of her angle.” Morgan capped her marker. “But there are repeated notations that Olivia wanted to interview Cliff’s brother, Joe. I don’t see any notes indicating that meeting ever took place.”

Sharp nodded, his face grim. “I found multiple calls to Joseph Franklin lasting approximately thirty seconds.”

“She was leaving messages for him,” Lance suggested.

“Maybe he wasn’t answering.” Morgan stood back to scan the whole board. “In his initial interviews, Cliff claimed his brother, Joe, could give him an alibi. He’d been living at Joe’s house at the time of the murder. However, the alibi was weak, and the physical evidence was solid. Cliff had worked on Brandi’s car. Hairs found inside Cliff’s trunk were identified through DNA as belonging to Brandi.”

Sharp rubbed his chin. “What was weak about the alibi?”

Standing in front of her desk, Morgan set down the binder and opened it. “Joe is hard of hearing and removes his hearing aids at night. If Cliff had left the house during the night, Joe would have slept right through it.”

“Not a good enough alibi to counter DNA evidence.” Sharp got up to pace the floor behind the chair.

Lance searched his memories. “Bryce prosecuted the Franklin case, right?”

Morgan flipped a few pages. “Yes. I’ll make an appointment to talk to him. I’m sure he remembers a win on a case this prominent.”

District Attorney Bryce Walters was an experienced trial lawyer. DAs were elected. For a politician, Bryce was usually a straight shooter, but he would have made good use of this case in his campaign.

“What about Olivia’s meeting with the Olanders?” Sharp asked. “What did she discuss with them?”

“Hold on.” Morgan headed for the door. “Let me get the other binder. I haven’t gotten to that case yet.”

Lance took over recording facts on the board. He started a new column for the Olander case, beginning with the potential bias of the jury foreman.

Morgan returned with the binder open and in the crook of her arm. “They discussed the general details.” Her finger moved over the page as she skimmed. “Oh. Wait. Here’s a surprise. Olivia was the one who brought the juror issue to Mrs. Olander’s attention.”

Lance doubled-checked the calendar. “That was Monday.”

“Yes.” Morgan underlined her note. “The same day that Mrs. Olander made the appointment with me. Mrs. Olander had said the information came from a television interview.”

“Maybe I can find it on YouTube.” Lance went to his computer, opened YouTube, and typed in the search bar. Even knowing the subject of the interview, it took him several tries to locate the video. “Here it is. It’s part of a series on injustice in the justice system.”

He pressed “Play” and they watched the six-minute clip. Two women sat in chairs angled toward each other. The host, a sharp-looking man in his forties, wore a gray suit. He summarized the charges against Erik Olander. Four minutes in, they got to the meat of the discussion.

The host leaned forward. “Tell us about the domestic abuse you suffered.”

The jury foreman, a middle-aged woman in navy-blue slacks and a pale-blue blouse, shook her head. “A jerk I used to date slapped me once during an argument. He was arrested, and I broke up with him. That was the end of it. It was a onetime assault, not a case of prolonged domestic abuse.”

The interviewer pressed his lips flat. “When the judge asked you if there was anything in your past that could prevent you from being impartial, you didn’t bring it up.”

“It happened more than twenty years ago,” the juror said. “It didn’t even occur to me.”

The interview went on for another minute, but there were no more revelations.

“It sounds like we need to talk to Mr. Olander.” Lance closed his computer. “Olivia met with both Erik’s parents, right?”

Morgan checked the binder. “Yes. He was there, but I might not be the right person to approach Mr. Olander. His wife committed suicide minutes after I refused to take her case. I doubt he’ll want to see me.”

“I’ll do it,” Sharp said. “First thing in the morning.”

“I’ll go with you,” Lance volunteered.

“All right.” Sharp shrugged.

“I’ll contact both Olander’s and Franklin’s attorneys in the morning.” Morgan set the marker on the whiteboard ledge. “I’m going back to the files. I’ve only skimmed the surface of these cases.”

Sharp said, “If someone involved with one of them took Olivia, she must have rattled him.”

“I can’t see why anyone would be nervous about a closed case.” Lance crossed his arms. “Unless the wrong person was convicted of the crime.”