Editor’s Note: Linda Fairstein, America’s foremost legal expert on crimes of sexual assault and domestic violence, led the Sex Crime Unit of the District Attorney’s office in Manhattan for 25 years. A Fellow at the American College of Trial Lawyers, she is a graduate of Vassar College and the University of Virginia School of Law. Her bestselling crime novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Her nonfiction book, Sexual Violence, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her newest novel, just out this month, is Lethal Legacy. She lives with her husband in Manhattan and on Martha’s Vineyard. For more information visit her website at www.lindafairstein.com.

LESLEY STAHL: Linda Fairstein, thank you so much for joining us! Of course I want to discuss your new book, Lethal Legacy , which came out this week and is part of your Alexandra Cooper mystery series. What number is this one?

LINDA FAIRSTEIN: This is the eleventh one. And thank you, I’m thrilled to be on wOw. I’ve been reading you from day one and you are among my favorite women in the world so it’s a thrill to be with you.

LESLEY: It’s mutual. Before we get to the book, which is wonderful, I want to ask you about two cases that are headlines this week. One is in Orlando, FL, where there’s been a memorial service for little Caylee Marie Anthony, the little two-year-old girl who was murdered. Her mother, Casey, has been charged with first-degree murder. I know you’ve looked at this a little bit. What are some of the problems that the prosecutors are facing in that case? I gather that it’s not open and shut.

LINDA: It’s not open and shut. And I have to say I applaud them for how assiduously they have avoided leaking the information down there. One of the challenges with the case is that the child went missing last August and her body was only found about six weeks ago, in a park close her home. So, first you have the forensic problem. The body was exposed to the elements for months and, because of that, we may never have a way to know how the child died. That’s always a problem for the prosecutor. Presumably she was murdered, and the assumption is that the mother was the primary actor in this, whether or not she acted alone, or with a friend. So everybody’s been waiting for the autopsy results that will tell us what kind of case they have.

LESLEY: I watch this TV show called “Bones,” and they can get anything off of anything. And you’re suggesting that’s not so true.

LINDA: No, it’s true. They can do the identification of the body from the bones. But if, for example, Caylee was bludgeoned to death and the instrument struck through to the bone, the bone absolutely will tell us a lot. It’s what we call soft tissue damage. If, however, the girl were strangled, that would only show on the flesh. If that flesh has decayed away – well, we may not know what the mechanism of her death was.

LESLEY: So how will they get this woman, if she did it?

LINDA: Well, a variety of ways. They now have gone through the house meticulously and there may be forensic evidence and findings there. They will also be looking at the mother’s conduct. It may be an entirely circumstantial case. And circumstantial cases can sometimes be better because you don’t have witnesses who can be cross-examined and can lie on the witness stand.

LESLEY: I see.

LINDA: Here’s a case where this mother did not report her own baby missing for weeks. Her conduct during those weeks will be studied intensively to see what she did, who she was calling. They can probably narrow it to a period of 24 hours when the child disappeared. Who did the mother call during that time? We forget often those things leave a permanent record, so the entire scenario can be reconstructed by electronic forensics. Also, we don’t know if the mother made admissions to any of her friends. Did she call somebody and ask for help? Who are the people she spoke to? Again, those people may have come forward and cooperated with the police, which happens more when kids are involved than when adults disappear. I am optimistic that a good investigation can get enough to go into court.