corner of his mouth and pulling down his eyelid so that it looked like he was winking. A nervous tic? Was he feeling guilty after all? "I thought it might make matters worse."
He had a point. The police might see an affair as another motive, not proof of innocence. That's if they believed him in the first place.
"We convinced him it wouldn't," Jenny said. "We did the right thing, didn't we?"
I didn't answer straight away. I was trying to think like Scarface and Will, seeing the situation through cop-eyes.
"I knew it," Corey snapped. He paced around in little circles. I got dizzy watching him. "I knew I shouldn't say anything. Come on, let's go." He strode off, his hands buried in his jeans pockets.
"Wait!" Jenny teetered after him. Taylor passed her with his long strides and caught his arm.
I hung back while the three of them spoke in hushed tones, but I tried to read their body language and lips. There were a lot of glances directed at me, some rubbing of jaws and hands thrust on hips, but I gave up trying to decipher what it all meant. Eventually they returned to me.
"There's something we forgot to tell you," Jenny said, taking my arm again. She removed her sunglasses and I saw that I'd been right. Her eyes were red, the skin beneath dark and puffy. She looked like she hadn't slept all night.
"Not forgot," Taylor said, glancing at Jenny. "Just…failed to mention."
"What is it? And what does it have to do with you getting me here at this ungodly hour?"
Jenny drew in a deep breath. "I saw Angel leave Corey's room at four in the morning. After Frank died."
I pulled free and stepped back. "Come on, Jen. I wasn't born yesterday."
"It's true!" She blinked wide-eyed back at me, hurt mingling with the red lines of sleep deprivation.
"It is true," Taylor said in his gentle, urgent way. "Angel was seen coming out of Corey's room at about four. She had messy hair and was half-naked."
"That doesn't mean she'd been in his room the entire time," I said. It also didn't mean that Jenny had seen her leave. It was just too neat to be true.
"You're right," Corey said, standing alongside his colleagues. He was fair to their dark, yet the three of them together made an impenetrable wall that dared anyone to breach it. "The cops will want other evidence before they drop the charges. That's why we're hiring you."
"Hiring me to do what?"
"To find that other evidence, of course," Jenny said.
"Um, wait. I'm not sure I'm qualified."
"But you made the papers!"
"You saw that? In L.A.?"
"No, Silly," Jenny said, bursting my bubble. The waitress at Mama Lina's told me that day we had lunch when you went to the bathroom. She said you solved a murder and an armed robbery that was, like, decades old."
"Only twelve years. But it had been a big case."
"See?" said Taylor, pointing his coffee cup at me. "You're definitely the investigator for us. We'll pay you."
"I'm not cheap." It was hard to keep a straight face and say that.
"Doesn't matter," Jenny said. "Angel's loaded now she's inherited Frank's money."
Another strike against her. Did they really think the police would let her go so easily?
We walked up to the front steps of the station, but I hung back with Jenny. "What about finding your money?" I whispered. "I'm still looking into it, right?"
She shook her head. "Take Angel's case instead. Clearing her name is more important than finding my money. Besides, I wouldn't want to bring any more trouble to her door."
"What do you mean?"
"She inherits Frank's fortune, and his debts. If you prove that Frank stole from me, then she'll have to pay me back, not him. I don't want her to go through that. It's not her fault."
"Well, okay I guess." I admit that I didn't get it. Not until I exchanged Gina for Angel, and then…yeah.
Inside, I asked for Detective Harrison Forde, Scarface's real name. The officer on the duty counter pressed his lips together like he was stopping a smirk escaping. I couldn't blame him. Scarface was nothing
He had a point. The police might see an affair as another motive, not proof of innocence. That's if they believed him in the first place.
"We convinced him it wouldn't," Jenny said. "We did the right thing, didn't we?"
I didn't answer straight away. I was trying to think like Scarface and Will, seeing the situation through cop-eyes.
"I knew it," Corey snapped. He paced around in little circles. I got dizzy watching him. "I knew I shouldn't say anything. Come on, let's go." He strode off, his hands buried in his jeans pockets.
"Wait!" Jenny teetered after him. Taylor passed her with his long strides and caught his arm.
I hung back while the three of them spoke in hushed tones, but I tried to read their body language and lips. There were a lot of glances directed at me, some rubbing of jaws and hands thrust on hips, but I gave up trying to decipher what it all meant. Eventually they returned to me.
"There's something we forgot to tell you," Jenny said, taking my arm again. She removed her sunglasses and I saw that I'd been right. Her eyes were red, the skin beneath dark and puffy. She looked like she hadn't slept all night.
"Not forgot," Taylor said, glancing at Jenny. "Just…failed to mention."
"What is it? And what does it have to do with you getting me here at this ungodly hour?"
Jenny drew in a deep breath. "I saw Angel leave Corey's room at four in the morning. After Frank died."
I pulled free and stepped back. "Come on, Jen. I wasn't born yesterday."
"It's true!" She blinked wide-eyed back at me, hurt mingling with the red lines of sleep deprivation.
"It is true," Taylor said in his gentle, urgent way. "Angel was seen coming out of Corey's room at about four. She had messy hair and was half-naked."
"That doesn't mean she'd been in his room the entire time," I said. It also didn't mean that Jenny had seen her leave. It was just too neat to be true.
"You're right," Corey said, standing alongside his colleagues. He was fair to their dark, yet the three of them together made an impenetrable wall that dared anyone to breach it. "The cops will want other evidence before they drop the charges. That's why we're hiring you."
"Hiring me to do what?"
"To find that other evidence, of course," Jenny said.
"Um, wait. I'm not sure I'm qualified."
"But you made the papers!"
"You saw that? In L.A.?"
"No, Silly," Jenny said, bursting my bubble. The waitress at Mama Lina's told me that day we had lunch when you went to the bathroom. She said you solved a murder and an armed robbery that was, like, decades old."
"Only twelve years. But it had been a big case."
"See?" said Taylor, pointing his coffee cup at me. "You're definitely the investigator for us. We'll pay you."
"I'm not cheap." It was hard to keep a straight face and say that.
"Doesn't matter," Jenny said. "Angel's loaded now she's inherited Frank's money."
Another strike against her. Did they really think the police would let her go so easily?
We walked up to the front steps of the station, but I hung back with Jenny. "What about finding your money?" I whispered. "I'm still looking into it, right?"
She shook her head. "Take Angel's case instead. Clearing her name is more important than finding my money. Besides, I wouldn't want to bring any more trouble to her door."
"What do you mean?"
"She inherits Frank's fortune, and his debts. If you prove that Frank stole from me, then she'll have to pay me back, not him. I don't want her to go through that. It's not her fault."
"Well, okay I guess." I admit that I didn't get it. Not until I exchanged Gina for Angel, and then…yeah.
Inside, I asked for Detective Harrison Forde, Scarface's real name. The officer on the duty counter pressed his lips together like he was stopping a smirk escaping. I couldn't blame him. Scarface was nothing
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