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“Don’t you think I know that, Hurd?” She tried not to sound irritated. “All I want to do here is place Bruno on your list of suspects. Oh, and you can add to this material that he keeps a boat at the marina that’s tied to the death of two victims and the disposal of one body.”
Lauren spoke up. “I have to agree with Hurd, Holly. Even that could be no more than a coincidence. Eighty or ninety other people, including Detective Jimmy Weathers, keep boats there, too.”
“Maybe you should investigate all of them, Lauren, and when you’re done I’d be willing to bet that not one of them would have the sort of background that Bruno has.”
“You’re convinced that Bruno is our perpetrator?” Hurd asked.
“Of course not, Hurd. I just think he’s your best suspect right now.”
“Our only suspect,” Lauren said.
“All right,” Hurd said, tucking the file into his briefcase, “James Bruno is a suspect. Is that what you want?”
Holly nodded. “Thank you, Hurd. And for God’s sake, don’t show his juvenile record to anybody. It was sealed by the court, and I don’t want to have to explain how I got it.”
“How did you get that record?” Lauren asked.
“Don’t ask,” Holly replied.
“Holly,” Hurd said, “do you want to work on this full-time? Do you want me to get you a badge?”
“No!” Holly said. “Please, no! I’m on vacation here, and I don’t want my head filled with this case. Of course, I would appreciate updates.”
Hurd laughed. “You mean you want to be involved but not involved.”
Holly laughed, too. “I mean I don’t want to explain to anybody my past with Bruno or how I’ve looked into his past, especially in court. My boss would not like for me to be cross-examined by some hot defense attorney.”
“All right,” Hurd said, “we’ll keep you out of the official record on the case.”
“Thank you, Hurd. I appreciate your understanding.”
Hurd got to his feet, and Lauren followed him out the front door. Holly waved them off, then turned back into the house. She had to shower and change before Josh came for her.
Josh arrived, and they took their drinks outside to Holly’s deck and sat down in comfortable chairs to watch the light change on the ocean as the sun went down.
“I ran into the county ME at the hospital this afternoon,” Josh said. “He told me something interesting about one of your crime victims, the one you found on the beach.”
“Tell me,” Holly said.
“He checked for needle marks on her neck, and he found how the Rohypnol had been administered. It wasn’t by needle, it was by gun.”
“I don’t follow,” Holly said.
“A vaccination gun,” Josh explained. “Surely you had one of those used on you during your years in the army.”
“Yes, you’re right,” she said, “but I remember those things as attached by hoses and electrical cords to things.”
“There’s a version that holds a vial of something and is powered by a fairly small battery, the way power tools are these days.”
“Still, it wouldn’t be something you could stick in your pocket, would it?”
“If you had a big enough pocket,” Josh pointed out. “It would be easier to deal with than a hypodermic syringe. You’d just press it against the neck and pull the trigger.”
“Where would a perpetrator obtain one?” Holly asked.
“Probably from the manufacturer or maybe even from a medical supply store-there’s a big one in Vero Beach.”
“Okay, I buy it.”
