Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
She cleared her throat. “Are we in trouble with the court?”
“No, I think we’re okay,” I said. The judge had seemed like he really wanted to help.
“Good,” she replied. “I’ll talk to you later, honey. Bye.”
“Bye.” I clicked off and worked on paperwork for a while. I called Nick’s mom and arranged a time for us to meet the next day, and then made notes on what I knew about the case. Around five, my phone rang, and I noted the caller.
“Hey, Donna,” I said, happy to hear from my older sister. “What’s going on?”
“Tess and I are going to meet and have a drink after work,” Donna said. “You want to come with us?”
I glanced at the darkened night outside. “Absolutely. Sounds like fun. How about the Clumsy Penguin?”
“Clumsy Penguin? You want bar food?”
Bar food was one of Donna’s least favorite things, but the ambiance at the Clumsy Penguin on the lake was always nice. Plus, I couldn’t help but be slightly curious about the whole Cupid situation, and while I was just a witness, it wouldn’t hurt to ask a few questions.
“Yeah, I think that sounds like fun. Tell you what, if we go to the Clumsy Penguin, it’s on me.” I mentally checked my bank account and then winced. I’d have to put drinks on a credit card.
“If it’s on you, it’s a deal,” Donna said. “I’ll call Tess. We’ll meet you there in what? About an hour?”
“Sounds good. See you soon.” I ended the call and then reached out to Detective Pierce.
“Pierce,” he answered.
I tried to sound chipper. “Hey, it’s Anna.”
“I know.” Then he was quiet.
Okay, he was in one of those moods. I lost the fake cheerfulness. “How close are you to charging Nick?”
“I’m not,” Pierce said quietly. “I just got the case a week ago, but so far, it’s not looking good for Basanelli.”
Not what I wanted to hear. “Everything you have is circumstantial, and you know it.” Not that a good circumstantial case couldn’t send a guy to prison. “What else do you have that you’re not telling me about?”
“If I have something I’m not telling you, there’s a reason I’m not telling you.”
“You know, I don’t know how you can be smooth and curt in the same sentence,” I observed.
He obviously didn’t have an answer for that because he didn’t give one.
“Tell me something. Anything,” I prodded.
His silence held weight. “All right. I have Wayne Wilson, Imogen Wilson’s widower, coming in tomorrow morning so I can make the notification before the press gets ahold of it.”
More likely so Pierce could watch his reaction. I quickly rearranged tomorrow’s schedule in my brain. It would be busy, but I liked a day of snooping and finding answers.
“Is there anything else?” he finally asked.
“Yeah. I heard a rumor from our wonderful local reporter that the Cupids gave most of their bounty from the Clumsy Penguin robbery to the women’s shelter. Is that true?”
Pierce sighed. “You’re a witness, Albertini. You’re not investigating that case.”
“I’m just curious. Trying to put pieces together, and I won’t get in your way, I promise.”
“Huh.” He didn’t sound convinced. “All right. They did give probably three quarters of the jewelry they stole to the animal shelter and probably about the same amount of stuff from the Clumsy Penguin to the women’s shelter.”
I sat back. “They kept a quarter of the loot for themselves?”
“Yeah. We’re checking pawn shops in all the outlying areas and have ongoing online searches for some of the jewelry taken.”
“They took jewelry off patrons at the Penguin?” Thank goodness they hadn’t tried that with Nick or me. Nick would’ve gone to the mat for that ring.
Papers shuffled loudly across the line. “They also took cell phones,” Pierce said.
“How much cash did they get at the Clumsy Penguin?”
“About five grand, and they donated three of it.”
So they weren’t so charitable. “They kept the cash,” I murmured. “Interesting. Any line on who those guys are?”
“Just Lenny, and I don’t have anything on him so far.”
I bet Thelma would find out more about the guy than Pierce’s detectives. “Do you know what he did before he retired here?”
“Yeah,” Pierce answered. “He worked as an assemblyman in a factory in California. Something to do with bolts used on engines. He retired here about five years ago.”
“Huh. So, no connection between him and any other crimes?”
Something creaked—Pierce probably leaning back in his chair. “He doesn’t have a criminal record. Again, you are not investigating this.”
“No, I’m not. I was just curious,” I admitted. “I’m sorry to bug you.”
“You’re not bugging me. I just don’t want you involved in an investigation where you’re a witness. It could screw up any case I develop.”
The last thing I wanted to do was mess up the situation. “I know that. I’m a lawyer, Pierce. You don’t really think Nick killed his dad, do you?” I purposefully and abruptly switched topics.