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As it turned out, though, the law wasn’t far behind her. On Sunday, July 13, George Anthony found the notice of a certified letter from Johnson’s Wrecker Service stuck in his front door, which marked the end for Casey and the beginning of the mystery about Caylee. Having no idea what the notice was about, and scheduled to start a new job on Monday, George decided that the earliest he could make it to the post office was Tuesday, July 15. Casey, meanwhile, was still staying at Tony’s, though she told Cindy that she and Caylee had been invited at the last minute to Jeff Hopkins’s mom’s wedding ceremony in Jacksonville.

On the afternoon of July 15, Casey cashed a forged check for $250, written to her, by her, on Amy’s account. She then drove to the airport in Amy’s car to pick up her two friends, back from vacation. During the ride to Amy’s, Casey said that she had spoken to her daughter earlier that day. It was a lie that capped off nearly a month of lies, but it was all about to come to an abrupt end, as George and Cindy barreled toward the tow yard.

In my years as a prosecutor, I have seen my share of liars—but never one quite like this. If it was just the lies to her mother, we might be able to understand that. After all, kids lie to their parents from time to time, mostly because they’re young and immature. Still, if that was all it was—simply a lie taken to an irrational extreme—you’d expect to find Caylee stashed away with some friend, happy and healthy, while Casey laughed to herself about how she’d showed Cindy who the real boss was in the relationship.

But these thirty-one days were about more than just a series of lies. These days were about the adoption of a completely new lifestyle. A lifestyle that had no room for Cindy or George. A lifestyle that had no room for actual responsibilities. A lifestyle that had no room for Caylee.

Kidnapping seemed increasingly implausible. On August 15, the sheriff said as much when he announced that they had yet to turn up any credible evidence in support of the kidnapping theory. While they had not ruled out kidnapping, there was less and less for them to go on, with all of Casey’s “leads” proving to be lies.

With that said, none of this alone made it a murder. Yet it was looking more and more as if the case would have to be resolved with science. We had plenty of clues and evidence, but there were also many holes, holes that only forensics could help fill. It was now up to the scientific experts to help uncover the truth.

PHOTOS

This shot of Casey and Tony Lazzaro was taken three days before June 16, 2008, the day Caylee was last seen alive.

This shot of Casey out partying was taken three days after June 16.

Casey spent much of the thirty-one days that Caylee was missing with Tony. Whenever Tony would ask where Caylee was, Casey always had a story.

One of the infamous “party pictures” taken during the nights when Casey was out at the club Fusian following Caylee’s disappearance. As a prosecutor, as a parent, as a person, it just didn’t make sense to me that any mother could act the way Casey did after the accidental death of her child.

During the thirty-one days that Caylee was missing, Casey got a tattoo that read “Bella Vita,” or “beautiful life” in Italian, which the sheriff’s office documented upon court order. Courtesy of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office

A photo of Casey taken by investigators after their interview, but before her arrest. They told her they were going to use it on a missing persons poster. Both before and after her arrest, there was little in her attitude that suggested she was grieving for her daughter. Courtesy of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office

This overhead map of the Universal Studios office complex, which we introduced as evidence during the trial, shows the route that she took investigators on once she was through the security gate. It was a bizarre episode that left the police mystified,