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“Was Galanis friends with Bella or Piper?” Sylvie asked as she jotted something down inside her leatherbound notebook. She kept ahold of her teacup with her left hand. “We’re assuming that Maxwell is the link right now, but that could easily change if we discover someone else.”
“You all put a lot of stock into Sloane’s profile, don’t you?”
Bit figured that the detective wouldn’t be saying that if Brook had been in the living room. She had needed a refill on her coffee, and she’d walked into the kitchen a few minutes ago. He figured she would notice that the blower to the fireplace had been turned off the moment that she stepped back into the living room, but he’d needed just five minutes of relief from the heat.
“Boss’ record speaks for itself,” Bit called out, his irritation over Zoey spilling into the current conversation. One that he hadn’t even been a part of, but Bit was protective when it came to Brook. So was everyone else on the team, but that was because she always gave more than what she took from people. She’d been dealt a bad hand in this life. He and the others would lay down their lives for hers in the blink of an eye. “Little T, aren’t you supposed to be driving into town with Officer Lawson?”
Sylvie set her leatherbound notebook on the cushion beside her before uncrossing her legs. She stood from the couch, then glanced over her shoulder indicating that she was well aware of why he’d changed the subject.
“I’m meeting Officer Lawson in town in about twenty-five minutes.” Sylvie stretched before readjusting her black-rimmed glasses. “Hartley, I think we’ve gone over every name on that list twice. I’ll give what we’ve come up with to Bit, and then he can cross reference the names to see if we can find something—anything—that would give us a solid lead.”
“I should be getting back to the station anyway,” Hartley said as he stood and tossed the papers that Bit had printed out earlier onto the coffee table. “I have a meeting scheduled with Piper Zimmer’s parents. Don’t worry. I’ll ask about Maxwell Vanderbilt.”
“Bring up the age difference,” Sylvie suggested as she walked him to the front door. “See if that had anything to do with their breakup, or if maybe Vanderbilt wasn’t serious about the relationship to begin with...”
Sylvie and the detective continued to go over what questions should and shouldn’t be presented to Piper’s parents. Bit decided that he needed a bit more sugar to get through until lunch, so he reached into the bag of candy that he’d purchased at the gas station near the entrance of town.
“Going to share?” Sylvie asked after she’d shut the front door following Hartley’s exit.
“Slick must pay a fortune in hair gel.”
“Don’t be grumpy,” Sylvie advised as she plopped down next to him. Her teacup was empty, so she set it on the table before holding out her hand. Bit then poured some of the Skittles into the palm of her hand. “Hartley just isn’t used to working off profiles.”
“Maybe I should have Boss profile Zoey.”
“No nickname?”
“Not yet.” Bit monitored his screen as his application began pulling several news articles where the art gallery had been mentioned in the past year and a half. “She’s…perfect.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“You’re technically perfect, too, but at least you have some flaws that make you human.”
“I have flaws?” Sylvie asked after she’d chewed a yellow Skittle. She flashed him a smile. “And you’re only telling me this now?”
“I’m serious, Little T. There’s nothing wrong with Zoey, and that’s…wrong. And before you ask, I did look up her social media footprint. She doesn’t really like social media, so there wasn’t much to find. Everything she said about her past added up, so she’s telling the truth.”
Sylvie seemed to give his view of Zoey some thought before offering her advice.
“First, no one is perfect. Second, isn’t that the exciting part about dating someone new? Getting to know them better? Give it two more dates, and I bet you’ll be able to list five things about her that irritate you.”
“Maybe,” Bit said begrudgingly as he tossed a couple of Skittles into his mouth. The artificial sugar was just what he needed to clear the fog. He took his focus off the screen and glanced Sylvie’s way. “How’s it going with your dad?”
“Odd,” Sylvie replied truthfully before finishing off the candy in her hand. She then wiped her palm on her jeans. “Dad hasn’t mentioned his arrest, his conviction, or all the people that he hurt over the years. Every time I walk into the bedroom, he brings up a childhood memory as if nothing has changed.”
“Maybe your dad is just trying to hold onto the happier times. He’s dying, Little T. Maybe he can’t face what he’s done,” Bit said gently, wishing that he was as good at giving advice as Theo was in these situations. “Do you like the hospice nurses?”
“Love them. Seriously, I don’t know what I would do without them, and they always make sure to stay in touch with the home health aides that trade off shifts so someone is always with my father.” Sylvie groaned before slouching a bit in her chair. “I’ll head back to the city Friday night. I’ll spend the weekend at home, and then I’ll return first thing Monday morning. This way, I’ll be here for the art gallery exhibit. Speaking of which, I better head out. Lawson gave me a name of a boutique in town, and he knows the owner. Let’s hope that I come back with something appropriate to wear.”
Before Bit could tell her that she would look good in a paper bag, a small window popped up in the middle of his screen. The background report that Brook had been waiting on before driving over to Adeline Murphy’s residence had finally come through. He opened the file to skim the contents before uploading the information to their software program.
“Jackpot.”
“Does that say…” Sylvie had been reading over Bit’s shoulder, and they both stood at the exact same time. “Damn.”
“Go get your dress, and I’ll let Boss know about Adeline Murphy.”
“Keep me posted?” Sylvie asked as she walked over to the closet where she’d stored her winter coat. “I’ll also bring you back something from the burger joint in town. Tell everyone that I’m buying dinner tonight.”
