After finishing her own work in the office and having dinner with her parents, Lisa pushed open the door to her apartment with her foot, since her hands were full of half a dozen plastic food containers. She'd told her mom that a week's worth of meals wasn't necessary, but the woman could not be stopped.
Stacking the containers in her nearly empty fridge, Lisa was grateful. Her parents didn't have a lot, but they never let it show. She hoped to work hard enough and make the right connections to be appointed a judgeship in ten years. That way her job would still be justice, but she'd have the financial freedom to supplement her parents' income.
Lisa hung up her suit and showered before pulling on sweatpants and an old t-shirt. For most people it would be a normal bedtime ritual; for her it was the start of another few hours of work.
While waiting for her coffee to brew, Lisa flipped through a handwritten list. After combing through his bank statements, she'd identified every vendor without an immediately recognizable name or purpose. She also had a hobby shop and a single, large purchase she wanted to check out.
She knew she was investing too much time on Roseanne's case, but it was the first time she'd worked on something where the defendant's guilt wasn't blatantly apparent. When she wasn't being haunted by Roseanne's lips and the weight of her body against hers, she was tormented by the possibility that they were prosecuting an innocent man. The combination meant sleep was illusive and her fixation on the case extreme.
Freddie hadn't seemed troubled by the case. According to him, a lot of people with stalking charges made the same kinds of claims. But when she pressed him on whether those people had proof they were at the locations first, he balked and commended her on her passion instead. Being patronized only made Lisa want to push harder. Not wanting to second-guess her approach with Roseanne helped too.
Hours later, Lisa circled back to the day of the pharmacy incident. Glancing back at the bank statements, she zeroed in on a transaction the day before. A four-dollar purchase at a discount store with a hundred dollars as cash back. On its own maybe not so strange, but after digging, Lisa confirmed there was a free ATM outside the store. Plus, Lee had only withdrawn cash a handful of times in the last three years. Every other time had been at the same bank location and never more than twenty bucks.
"What did you need that cash for, dude?" she muttered to herself before taking a sip of the coffee that had gone cold.
Opening her laptop, Lisa shot off an email to their IT guy and copied Roseanne. Do you happen to know Bargain Depot's retention policy for CCTV footage? Any chance it's longer than six months?
Before she could move on to anything else, Roseanne texted her.
Roseanne: Are you really working right now? Do you seriously not have an off button???
Lisa bit back a smile even though Roseanne couldn't see her. It was still embarrassing to have her stomach flutter at the sight of her name on the screen.
Lisa: I could say the same . . . why are you checking work email at this hour?
Roseanne: Don't turn this around on me, Manobal. What are you up to? And why are you harassing Larry at this hour?
Lisa: I wasn't expecting anyone to read it until tomorrow, but it's a lot to explain over text. . . or put into words at all. All I've got is this barely there thread and all I know is that I NEED to pull on it and see what's there.
Roseanne: Trial is in TWO days. I think we have to go forward with what we've got.
Lisa: I know. I know. This is the last thing. I promise.
