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Nico wasn’t sure if he agreed with Lacey, because that pathway led to doubt and self-reproach. She might be able to show the man compassion, but he couldn’t let mercy get in his way of finding a killer.
“We’re cops,” he reminded her gently. “We can’t let bias get in the way—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t let pity cloud your reason,” she interrupted him, a scowl marring her perfect face. “God forbid we ever show an ounce of kindness.”
“That isn’t what I meant,” he replied.
“I know.” The frown cleared from her face. “And I know you’re not like that.” She touched him on the arm. “These are my issues, not yours. Perhaps it’s one of the reasons I would never have made a good cop.”
“Or maybe it’s the exact reason youwouldmake a good cop,” he countered. “We need someone who’s going to keep us honest.” Policing was a male-dominated profession. It was a harsh fact of life. There were more female cops joining the ranks every day, but it was by no means an equal share yet. And a lot of those male officers were prone to responding to a highly charged situation with aggression and violence. It was an instinctive reaction. But some cops—women especially—were better at de-escalating a situation, calming everyone down so that a resolution could be found. Nico would bet Lacey was one of those officers. Even if she was also good at using her lightning-fast judo skills when called for.
Lacey gave him a sideways glance, but didn’t comment, and he wondered what she was thinking.
“But there are still other suspects. I’m assuming you haven’t already decided he’s guilty, and that’s the end of it? I mean, what about this Floyd guy?”
“Of course there are,” he replied, trying to keep the slightly offended tone out of his voice. Plenty of theories were abounding in the command room, his team proposing all kinds of scenarios, both plausible and completely wild. While Herb was definitely another person of interest, the boxes belonging to Rania they’d seized from his house were yet to turn up anything definitive so far. They chiefly contained spare clothes, some personal documents which were mainly from her earlier life. Things like school transcripts, her birth certificate, even her passport. All things she might need if she was going to run away from Karim, as she’d indicated to Herb, so the boxes seemed to corroborate his story…so far.
Some bright spark had then suggested that perhaps Herb had been carrying on an illicit affair with the victim, and Rania was preparing to run away with him. Many people laughed at that theory. But the same bright spark had suggested that perhaps Margie had found out about the affair and murdered Rania in a jealous rage. Nico had placed that one firmly on the extremely unlikely pile of hypotheses, but he knew from experience not to discount anything completely. So now Margie was on the list as well.
The young mechanic apprentice was also there, as Lacey had pointed out.
Then there were all the people they were yet to start investigating. Supposed friends of Karim’s family, who still had ties back to a rebel Syrian army. Karim’s father, Hamid, had once belonged to that army, although he’d supposedly broken all connections with them when his family had escaped the war-torn country. There was a large community of Syrian refugees in Hobart now, where most of them had settled when they’d been moved to Tasmania. There were rumors of a sort of Syrian mafia-style gang emerging, led by a man who by all accounts had been an acquaintance of Hamid’s back in Syria. Had Hamid somehow gotten on the wrong side of this gang? Were they targeting his family for something he’d done wrong either in Australia, or even back in their home country? Or had Karim somehow offended this gang? They were linked to drug smuggling and Karim was a known cocaine addict. Did he owe them money? The questions were vast and many.
Nico was about to open his mouth and tell her about some of these other theories, when he was overcome by a stab of guilt slicing through his gut. There was one person on the suspect list that she wouldn’t like to hear about.
Her.
Nico thought back to this morning when Charles had asked him into his office for an update. Nico had informed him of the growing list of suspects, and Charles had stopped him and asked point-blank if Lacey Carmichael had an alibi for the time the crime was committed.
Nico had been rocked back into his seat by the blunt question. Never in a million years would Nico suspect Lacey. Apart from the fact she’d only arrived in the area a day before, she had absolutely no motive to kill Rania. The two women were complete strangers; Lacey had no connection to the victim.
Nico had also made sure early on to check out Lacey’s story of traveling around Tasmania, and it was all true. But Charles was just asking the hard questions, as any good chief would. Then he’d reminded Nico about the potential serial killer they had on their hands and politely mentioned that Nico himself had been the one to state that not all serial killers were men. Nico had to hold back the laugh that’d built in his throat. His boss implying that Lacey might be a serial killer was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. But he’d plastered on his serious face and promised he’d dig deeper into Lacey’s alibi until he was one hundred percent sure she was who she said she was. It was at that point he revealed Lacey’s connection with the Victoria Police Force. Lacey had asked him to keep it quiet if he could, but proving to Charles that she shouldn’t be on the suspect list was too important. The time for keeping her secrets had passed.
“I know you do,” Lacey said, breaking into his thoughts, and he was absurdly pleased when she decided not to ask who they all were. Because he didn’t think he’d be able to tell hershewas on that list too. Albeit, as more of a token, than a real person of interest.
He debated whether to tell her about the possible serial killer. Would that just spook her? Or would she be able to offer some more of her succinct insight?
As he turned to Lacey, he caught a moving shape out of the corner of his eye and grabbed Lacey’s arm to drag her out of the way just in time as a young man flew past them on a skateboard.
“Hey, Jayden, watch where you’re going,” Nico yelled after him indignantly.
“Sorry,” Jayden yelled back over his shoulder with a contrite grin. Although, Nico knew the teenager wasn’t really repentant. He rode that skateboard everywhere, usually like the devil was on his tail. One day, he was sure to cause an accident, run into some little old lady taking a stroll and knock her over. Nico made a resolution to talk to him next time he went past the bakery.
“Was that the same guy from the bakery earlier?” Lacey asked a little breathlessly.
“Yeah. Jayden is the apprentice. He must’ve just finished his shift.” Oh, to be young again, he thought. To have that much energy and passion. He was probably off to do some ten-mile hike before dinner. And oh how jaded he sounded. Nico had to remind himself he wasn’t that old. Not really.
“Jayden, huh?” Lacey stared after the young man, her eyes narrowing the same way they had when they’d been in the bakery earlier.
“Does Jayden have anything to do with Gabriel?” she asked cryptically. “I mean, are they friends? Or acquaintances perhaps?”
“Apart from Gabe buying a cinnamon bun from the bakery most mornings—he calls it his one little vice—I don’t think they hang out in any of the same circles. Why?”
“I think he might have more than one vice,” Lacey murmured softly.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure if I should tell you this. I mean, you may already know. And if you don’t, you may not want to know.”
