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But before he could question the lawyer further, the man had disappeared, and since he didn’t have enough for a case, there was no way for him to track him down and bring him in. The name didn’t bring back anything when she put it through the database. There were no lawyers with that name or any variation in the area.
She lucked out though with the grainy picture on file and the general description of the suspect left in the files of the lead detective. With nothing left to go on, she printed out the picture with the intention of taking it around to the club the next day to show Amber and the bouncer. Maybe she’d luck out there.
It was almost the end of another wasted day before she made her way to the club. She’d had to wait for the doors to open since she couldn’t find Amber at home all morning. The techs had yet to get back to her with the results from the phone, which was to be expected, and her growing frustration had only been compounded by calls from the grieving husband asking if there was anything new on his wife’s murder.
She saw the same bouncer on the door as she pulled up and hoped that her luck would change for the better. He took one look at the photo, and though he thought the man looked vaguely familiar, couldn’t place him. “This place gets a good crowd, especially on the weekends. It’s hard to keep track unless I get to know the person you know. You might have better luck asking around inside.
The music was already blaring at just past five o’clock in the evening. And though it was still light out, the smoky room was darkened enough to make it seem like the darkest hour of the night. She had to talk above the din as she asked around for Amber while showing the grainy photo to the other workers in passing.
Some of them gave it a second look but, in the end, had the same response as the bouncer. She saw Simon in the corner talking to some business types and decided it was best to avoid him for now. She’d picked up a vibe from him last time she was here and didn’t want to have to deal with Riley when she got back home.
She found Amber in the dressing room where she was putting on her makeup as others bustled around the room in various stages of undress. “Oh, it’s you again.” The other woman greeted her as she approached. “Hi, Amber, sorry to bother you again I tried reaching you all day, but there was no answer.”
“Had to take the little one to the doctor, and they don’t allow cell phones. What can I do for you, detective?” She pulled the mascara wand through her lashes as she peered into the mirror. Beneath the bright lights of the dressing room, Detective Sparks could see that the woman looked about five years older than her age of twenty-five.
She wouldn’t be surprised if there had been some hard drug use in the woman’s past, but instead of feeling disgust, she felt a kind of sadness for the girl. She would’ve been an otherwise pretty girl had it not been for the lifestyle, but another few years of this and Celia was sure it would be gone.
“Here, take a look at this tell me if you’ve seen him before.” Amber stopped what she was doing and took the printout of the photo from the detective’s hand. She wasn’t as hard as most people thought, and the murder had been on her mind all day. Though she hadn’t known Melissa long enough to form a close bond, the girl had been good people, and she saw no reason not to help if she could.
“He looks familiar like I’ve seen him before, but….” She stared at the picture a good long while with her brow furrowed in thought. “Hey, this looks like Don, except his hair is different, and he must’ve lost a few pounds since this was taken.”
“Don?” Detective Sparks asked as Amber went back to taking care of her lashes.
“Yeah, this customer that used to come around.” She stopped with the want suspended as she thought about something else.
“Come to think of it; I haven’t seen him since Melissa quit. Wait a minute, wait a minute…”
She jumped up from her seat and moved a few chairs down to another drawer, which she pulled open and rummaged through. “Aha, here it is.” She brought a business card back to Detective Sparks and handed it off to her. “This is the last thing Melissa left here. I remember she was very pleased about something the day she came in with that. That used to be her drawer. The new girl hasn’t gotten rid of anything yet, just threw her stuff on top of what was already there. Besides, who’s going to throw away good makeup and shit?”
