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“Damn, that’s rough. So I take it from what you’ve said that you’re leaning towards believing him?” Not one for bringing her work home with her, Celia found that in this instance, it helped to get it off her chest. She no longer felt as hounded as she did on the drive home, and some of the darkness had cleared from her mind.
She shared a bit more about her day and where the investigation was heading. “That reminds me, I need to make a trip tomorrow to Spiro and Company.” Celia sat back as she did a quick run-through in her mind of all she had to do the next day.
“What do they have to do with your case?”
“Nothing, not really. That’s where Misty Swamp works. I guess I’m trying to get a feel for her before I bring her in, and since she doesn’t have any friends to speak of in the town, I figured I’d start there.’
“Is she some kind of scientist? I didn’t know that.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, that place is an offshoot of a pharmaceutical company. They do research there.”
Celia stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth. “How do you know this? It doesn’t say that on the registry.”
“I have a few shares in it, and of course, it doesn’t say what they are; their identity is hidden behind walls of bullshit. Do you think the good people of this town would appreciate knowing that they’re here?”
“I don’t get it; if you feel that way, why do you own shares in it?”
“I don’t only own shares; I’m on the board. It’s the best way to control what they can and can’t do; keep them honest.” Riley smirked. “Come to think of it, if this Misty person is a local, she’s not one of the doctors on staff.”
“She’s not; I think she’s an administrative assistant.”
“You mean she’s someone’s secretary?” Celia ignored the question and went back to thinking. A picture was starting to form in her head.
“Since you’re on the board, does that mean you know what they’re working on?”
“Of course, why?” Celia stopped short of sharing her suspicion that Misty had most likely been stealing the drug found in her husband’s blood from the company. But if that’s the case, how did Bridgette get ahold of it?
Riley smiled at the distant look on her face. It’s the look she wears when she’s deep in thought. He knew what came next; she’d sit up in bed all night working through her thoughts until she came to a conclusion, like a dog with a bone. At least she’d lost that haunted look from her face, and her color was back.
He doubt she even realized when he cleared the dishes or even that he led her up the stairs once they were done. Looks like they’d be foregoing their nightly glass of wine. They’d barely cleared the bedroom door when her work phone started going off. Celia rushed across the room and dug it out of her bag to answer.
“Detective Sparks.”
“Detective, it’s me, Andy.”
“Andy? Are you still at the lab? What have you got for me?” Somehow she’d forgotten that she’d sent him to the inn earlier.
“I’ve found your cameras. They’re the garden variety kind that you can get online for cheap. The thing is, they’re the kind that you can download the footage to a computer, but we didn’t find one in the room. There’s no way of knowing what was on these until we find the computer.”
Celia’s pulse started to race with excitement. The good thing about working in a small town is the ease with which her suspects just seem to line up since there aren’t that many to choose from. Plus the fact that most of them aren’t as savvy as the criminals she’s used to dealing with. “Thanks for the information. I’ll get back to you soon.” She hung up the phone looking ten times better than she had before she answered, and Riley was glad to see that spark back in her eyes again.
Celia checked her watch and saw that it was too late to call the D.A., but she chanced it all the same. She had a pretty good idea who had that computer and didn’t want to give him the chance to destroy the evidence. Tom Walsh grumbled some at the interruption but promised to call the judge to get the ball rolling.
In all his years working in the small town, he can’t say that he’d ever worked as hard as he has been in these last few months. Even the mayor, who the kids in town were fond of calling the crypt keeper, was looking more alive these days with all the new developments.
Not that anyone wished for murders and crime to go up in their town, but there had been talk of disbanding the police station and maybe even getting rid of the position of mayor since, according to public opinion, the man was serving no purpose. The man had been a right putz during the first murder case but was now singing the detective’s praise because she was making him and the town look good with her fast action.
