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But Kingman was holding up his paws and walking away.“I’m not getting involved, cats. You’re old and wise enough to know a lie when you hear one.”

And with these words, he hopped back onto the checkout counter and dozed off.

Chapter 40

Odelia walked into the police station just as Yasir Bellinowski walked out. The crime kingpin had the gall to give her a lascivious grin, which she bluntly ignored.

“Hey, Odelia!” Dolores yelled from her perch behind the glass.

“Hey, Dolores,” she said, walking up to the desk. “Is Chase in?”

“Oh, he’s in, all right. Listen, honey. What’s this stuff I keep hearing about your granny moving in and Chase moving out? Correct me if I’m wrong but shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“Chase never moved in,” said Odelia, wondering if these were the rumors traveling around town.

“Still,” the wizened front desk officer grunted. “I’d rather have a man sleeping in my bed than my grandmother, if you see what I’m saying.”

Oh, she saw what Dolores was saying, all right, and she heartily agreed.“I can’t very well kick her out, can I?”

“Didn’t she use to live with your mom?”

“She did. They had a falling-out.”

She really wasn’t ready to discuss family business with outsiders, though, so she was determined to leave it at that. Dolores was determined not to. “What happened? She and your dad don’t get along? I heard she quit that receptionist job at the doctor’s office.”

“I think it will all work itself out,” she heard herself say—quite lamely, too.

“Sure, honey,” said Dolores dubiously, grimacing like one denied the kind of information she feels entitled to. “But if I were you, I wouldn’t keep that man waiting. He’s one hot hunk, and there’s plenty of women working out of this here police station that wouldn’t mind getting hot and heavy with him—if you see what I’m saying.”

Once again, she saw exactly what Dolores was saying.“I think I get the picture.”

“So you better stop slacking, baby girl,” said Dolores. “And get fracking.”

“Thanks for the advice,” she said curtly, then stalked off.

Get fracking my ass, she thought. If anyone had to stop slacking it was her dad, who urgently needed to patch things up with his mother-in-law. Before she drove them all crazy.

She arrived at the police precinct proper, and one of Chase’s colleagues, Sarah Flunk, gestured in the direction of the interview rooms. She walked on, passing her uncle’s empty office, and suddenly wished the big guy was back from his hiking trip already. Without him at the station things kinda felt a little frazzled.

She found Chase in the interview room, reading from a file and looking dazed. She gave the doorjamb a quick knock and stepped inside.

“I just saw Yasir Bellinowski,” she said.

He placed down the file and rubbed his face.“I talked to him.”

“And?”

“Nothing. He’s one slippery little weasel.”

She took a seat across from the cop.“Did you show him the pictures?”

“He said to talk to his personnel manager.”

“What about the rose?”

“He wasn’t impressed.”

They were both silent for a beat, then Odelia remembered something.“I just met Olaf Brettin.”

“Daily Inquirer Olaf Brettin?”

“The one and only. He was paying a visit to Dan.”

“And?”

“You mean did he confess? No, he did not.”

She gave him the CliffsNotes version of their brief conversation and Chase blew out a sigh.“We’re not getting anywhere with this, Poole.”

“I hear you, Kingsley.”

“So what are we doing wrong?”

“You’re the cop, Chase. You tell me.”

He drummed his fingers on the table.“We need to find Harlos and Knar and lean on them until they give up their boss.”

The two men Max and Dooley had mentioned turned out to be two low-level criminals associated with Yasir Bellinowski. Jean Harlos and Markus Knar had a rap sheet an arm long and a reputation for doing whatever their client paid them to do, even murder.

“So it’s pretty clear, isn’t it? Bellinowski is our guy,” said Odelia.

“Yes, he is, but like I said, the guy is as slippery as an eel.”

“Once you catch Harlos and Knar, you’ll have him dead to rights.”

He nodded, but didn’t look convinced.

A knock at the door had them both look up. It was Sarah again. The copper-haired officer with the fine-boned freckled face gave a quick smile.“Deirdre Dickerson is here to see you, Detective. I put her in the Chief’s office.”

“Deirdre Dickerson as in Dick Dickerson’s daughter?” Chase asked.

Sarah nodded and rapped the door before retreating.

Chase and Odelia shared a look of surprise, then both got up.

“Better see what she wants,” said Chase.

“You want me there?”

“Why not? You’re here now, aren’t you? And maybe she’ll feel more inclined to talk when there’s a woman present.”

“Women usually feel pretty disposed to talk around you, though, if Dolores is to be believed,” said Odelia.

Chase grinned.“What has Dolores gone and said now?”

“That there are a lot of women officers who wouldn’t mind getting down and dirty with you—especially now that I kicked you out of my house so I could move my grandma in.”