Chapter 9 - The Parking Lot Trap
Detective Ruiz took Harlan's statement seriously.
She had officers watch Sarah's home.
Another team monitored Lucy's school.
A third reviewed Walter's communications.
Sarah was instructed not to change her routine.
That terrified her.
On December 28, she drove to the pediatric clinic for Lucy's follow-up appointment.
Mark came with them.
Two unmarked police cars stayed several vehicles behind.
The appointment was uneventful.
Lucy was healing well.
Then Sarah walked into the parking garage.
A woman appeared between two parked cars.
She looked about forty.
Dark coat.
Baseball cap.
Phone held in her hand.
"Sarah Collins?"
Sarah stopped.
Mark stepped closer.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled.
Then she slapped Sarah.
Hard.
Sarah staggered.
Lucy screamed.
Mark lunged forward.
The woman dropped backward dramatically.
"She attacked me!"
Sarah stared.
"What?"
The woman shouted toward her phone.
"She's violent!"
A man emerged from a nearby SUV, filming.
The woman stayed on the pavement.
"She attacked me in front of her child!"
Sarah finally understood.
This was the parking lot incident.
The thing Harlan had mentioned a day early.
Uniformed officers rushed from the stairwell.
The woman tried to run.
She didn't get far.
Her name was Rebecca Lane.
She was a freelance private investigator.
And she had been paid through a consulting company connected to Charles Harlan's law office.
Harlan denied instructing her to provoke Sarah.
Lane initially denied it too.
Then police showed her Harlan's courtroom statement.
Her story changed.
Walter had hired her months earlier.
Harlan served as intermediary.
The objective was to "document spontaneous evidence."
"What does that mean?" Ruiz asked.
Lane looked exhausted.
"It means Walter wanted situations created."
"What situations?"
"Stressful ones."
"For Sarah?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"So she would react."
Lane admitted she had called the school anonymously.
She had contacted child welfare.
She had once parked outside Sarah's workplace and photographed her leaving late.
She had also entered the Collins house.
Sarah leaned forward.
"You stole my blue folder."
Lane nodded.
"Who gave you access?"
"Walter."
"Did you put Lucy's medication in her backpack?"
Lane's face changed.
"No."
"Did Walter?"
"I don't know."
"Did you touch the slippers?"
"No."
May you like
Ruiz watched her carefully.
Lane finally whispered, "But there was another man."
