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The lamp and radio turned off as soon as Knight turned to them.
“Are you okay?” Knight finally asked, his brows furrowed in worry. She only nodded with a small smile. He sighed in relief, arms now crossed over his chest. “What were you thinking?!”
“I didn’t have too much of a choice after being invited so cordially by Montgomery and Dominic. They weren’t there to hurt me or try to stop me on the case. He needed someone to hear him instead of accusing him. He felt I was the right medium for that.”
She heard Mel snort at her word choice.
Knight ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath with a nod. He slid past her and sat in the chair, right through Mel. He immediately popped back up and looked at the air vent on the wall above them. Mel stood up and brushed himself frowning at Knight, as if the detective should have seen him.
“Something wrong?” Anastacia tried to hide her chuckle in a forced cough.
“Just a cold spot is all. It’s fine,” Knight explained and pulled the chair closer to Anastacia.
Mel leaned against the wall behind her. “Sure, Knight. How inconsiderate of me. Please take a seat.”
Anastacia couldn’t see his face, but she could hear the roll of his eyes in his words. Mel didn’t make it easy to keep her amusement in check.
Knight nodded at the items on the desk in front of Anastacia. “Is that Quint’s mourning pin?” He took a quick glance at the one pinned on his shirt. “Dominic gave you this?”
“Said they found it in Sammy’s room,” Anastacia ruminated while she stared at the pin. “It came from this station. Does that mean there’s someone who knows Dominic or his crew well enough to sneak it in and out without causing alarm? How would an officer even get to the rooms where it was found?”
“And would this even be admissible?” Knight wondered and put the item back on the table. “The chain of custody can’t be established very well, if at all for proper channels. How do we know who had their hands on this and if it was even found in the kid’s room?”
“Wouldn’t it have been the same if his mother brought it in and said she found it while cleaning up the room?”
“But it came from Dominic. There’s a difference and an excellent lawyer will argue that.” Knight’s gaze was distant as if he was trying to visualize how to make it work.
“What about the possibility of a rogue officer?” Anastacia didn’t want to think of a bad or twisted cop, but she hated the idea of working alongside someone who had gotten a kid killed. Scanning the room, her eyes met Baker’s. The detective was interested in the developments of Mel’s case, but not enough to stick herself in the middle of it.
At least not yet.
“It could be Dominic trying to throw us off his trail.” Knight shook his head, his eyes examining the pin and the mugshots of Curtis Dubree now held to the whiteboard with magnets. Anastacia had been staring at the dark eyes while waiting for Knight to return. Mel had commented that Curtis was not much of a looker, and he wasn't wrong. The cold, hard glower made Anastacia wonder how the man had three kids by two different women with a face like that. “Maybe we’re getting too close so he’s throwing out clues to throw us off.”
“But why? What would he have to gain? He didn’t need to kill Mel.” As Anastacia argued, she realized it wasn’t because of a deal made with Dominic. She truly doubted his involvement. It wasn’t with absolute certainty, but it was enough to fuel her fight.
“He doesn’t need a reason. He’s a criminal.”
“Then why do you work so closely with him as an informant if you don’t trust him? Why are you so desperate for him to be behind it now when you’ve worked together so well before?”
“I’m following the evidence!”
“And now the evidence may lead somewhere else!” she yelled, her volume matching his.
“If there is a leak in the station, Grindel needs to know.” Knight exhaled as if the weight of the world rested on his chest. “Grab the pin and come on.”
Grindel slammed her hands on the desk in front of her. “It’s enough of a red flag for me to check out my officers. I refuse to look the other way if there's even an inkling of someone rotten in my station house. I’ll talk with the district attorney to see about the chain of custody as far as evidence in any murder trial that may come up, but I need to know who it belongs to here and how it could have gotten into Deblous’s hands.”
Everyone stayed quiet as the wheels turned.
“So, anyone come to mind?” Grindel settled back into her chair, her fingers messaging at her temples.
“You know I find it odd how few of the officers don’t wear the pin. They didn’t know Quint as well as we did. But most, if not all of them who come into our corner of the station house have worn it.” Baker popped her head into the captain’s office.
“This isn’t your case, Baker,” Knight reminded her with a growl.
“I overheard you and your consultant and thought to myself, ‘Baker, why don’t you give them some help? Let them know about your observations.’ Like any friendly desk neighbor would.”
“Except your desk is two rows away,” Mel muttered from behind Anastacia.
