He nodded. Calvin looked up at Max and panned to Lee. “What’re you doing here?” he asked, a bit of surprise betraying the authoritative cop tone he put back on.
“Hoping to leave,” Lee replied with a small chuckle. “Are you the lead investigator we’re waiting on?”
“Did you give a statement yet?”
“Of course.”
Calvin let go of my hand and flagged a uniformed officer over. “Mr. Straus is good. Arrange to have him driven home.”
The cop motioned for Lee to follow. “Right this way, sir.”
Lee glanced at the three of us before letting his shoulders drop a bit. “Stay safe, Mr. Snow. It sounds as though you’ve stuck to someone like a tick and they’re trying to burn you off.”
“How kind of you,” I said.
“Max,” Calvin ordered next as Lee headed toward the door.
I turned and patted Max’s shoulder as he stepped down to my side. “I’ll call you.”
He surprised me with a back-breaking hug. “Don’t get yourself killed, boss.”
“Me?” I managed to wheeze. “Never.”
Max reluctantly let go. He walked toward the door and followed an officer outside.
Calvin looked at me. “Let’s go.”
He wasn’t going to get a single complaint out of me.
I went into the office, switched to sunglasses, collected my bag and Dillon’s leash, then returned to the register. I picked up the dog and followed Calvin across the glass-strewn floor. The May sun was blinding when we stepped outside. I looked down at the ground, following close behind Calvin’s steps as he led the way down the block. I nearly gave him a flat tire when he stopped abruptly.
“—Completely different MO than yesterday.” That was Neil’s voice.
I set Dillon down on the sidewalk and shielded my eyes as I looked up. Neil stopped talking and turned to look at me and Calvin. Quinn stood beside him, rolling an unlit cigarillo between two fingers.
“The murder and shooting are related,” I said.
Neil’s gaze shifted to Calvin and he remained silent.
I looked at Calvin too.
“Let me find a black-and-white to drive you—” he started.
“That seems more plausible to me than two completely unrelated incidents taking place less than a day apart at the same location,” I started.
“But there’s no evidence they’re related,” Neil answered.
“Sure there is,” I replied. “We know there’sat leasttwo people involved.”
“One’s dead,” Quinn pointed out.
“When someone kills with a knife, it’s up close and personal,” Calvin added. “The mindset is different from standing outside the Emporium and shooting through the windows.”
“So maybe there are three people involved,” I answered. “One is dead, one prefers knives, the third a gun.”
The three detectives stared at me, and let me tell you, even having done absolutely nothing wrong, it was unnerving when their expressions wereall for you.
“No?” I asked at length.
