"If he left them to bleed out as they were or if he moved them around to make sure every part of the rug was soaked."
"Oh, fuck.I hate weirdos."Isaac scrunched his nose."You want to talk to Saylor?"
"Who?"
"Forensic team."
An image of a man in white coveralls flashed in his mind."Yeah, sure.I can talk to Saylor."
Isaac nodded."I'll see if I can figure out where the rugs were bought."
Nikolai nodded and headed for the door."You think Saylor is in?"
"No idea."
Nikolai left.He'd talk to the forensic team face-to-face.He needed a change of scenery.
* * * *
Frode hadn't left his house in three days, and it had been glorious, but with each minute passing, he was one minute closer to his next assignment.
Hjalmar hadn't called or texted since they'd stood in the room where the bullet casing had been retrieved.Frodedidn't know what he'd hoped would happen, but no epiphanies had occurred.
He stared at his phone.Should he check in?He never checked in.Hjalmar was the one who reached out to him, but it was unusual for him to leave it this long.There would be a silly meme, if nothing else.
Instead ofreaching for his phone, he went out into the barn to talk to Captain Scratch.
He wasn't there, and Frode sighed.
Walking back inside again, he grabbed his phone and called Hjalmar.
He picked up after the second ring."Hey, bro, all good?"There was some rustling in the background.
"Yeah."
Silence.
"What's up?"The rustling stopped.
"Nothing, I...eh...only checking so you haven't punched your lieutenant and are in lockup or something."
A snort."Nah.We had another shooting, so I've been too busy working to commit crimes."
Shit."You want me to touch something?"He didn't want to, but it was his job.
"Maybe.I haven't talked to Givens yet, and I quite frankly don't want to."
Ah, not punching but avoiding then."I can't help you without her go-ahead."
"You could, but you wouldn't get paid."Hjalmar would never ask it of him, which the teasing tone confirmed.
"I like to get paid."
"Don't we all."He sighed, and some of the fatigue he was normally good at hiding shone through.
"Will it be a long day or do you think you'll get off at a decent hour?"
"I have a few more things to check, then I plan on getting out of here."
