Flinch Factor, The by Michael Kahn Page A

snoot buddy.”
    â€œShe should be back any minute. She had a court hearing out in the county at two-thirty. Afterward, she was going to stop by the Cloverdale City Hall to pick up my Sunshine documents.”
    â€œOh, yeah. How’s Frankenstein going?”
    â€œI’m taking Rubenstein’s deposition on Friday.”
    â€œGot any decent ammo?”
    â€œNot much. I’m hoping Jacki brings me back something to work with.”
    â€œYou better hope she brings back a photo of Rubenstein blowing a council member.”
    â€œAs my father would have said, from your lips to God’s ears.”
    He scarfed down another snoot and took a big gulp of beer.
    â€œHow are things going with your dead guy?” he asked. “The one who was banging my Subaru colleague?”
    â€œThat’s what I’ve been working on this afternoon.”
    â€œTurn up anything?”
    â€œI don’t know. I can’t figure it out.”
    â€œWhat do you have?”
    â€œA license plate and a name.”
    â€œTell me.”
    Without revealing the identity or anything else about my source, I told Benny about the license plate number from the pickup truck and its connection to Nick.
    â€œCops run the plates for you?”
    I nodded.
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œThe truck is registered to Corundum Construction Company.”
    â€œWhich is?”
    I frowned. “I can’t figure that out.”
    Benny crunched on another snoot as he thought it over.
    â€œMakes sense,” he said.
    â€œWhat makes sense?”
    â€œYour guy did renovations on homes. That means he dealt with others in the construction industry. We can safely assume he wasn’t the only fegala doing renovations. He must have met the other guy on a job site.”
    â€œThat was my thought, too. I called Nick’s secretary Linda as soon as I got the license plate information. She told me that Nick never did any work with that company.”
    â€œMaybe they were on same job site doing different things.”
    â€œIt’s possible, but Linda did a search of Nick’s records. She came up with nothing that indicated that Corundum Construction had ever been on the same job site with Nick.”
    â€œWhat kind of work does the company do? New homes? Rehabs? Commercial? Residential?”
    â€œI have no idea. I can’t find any information on them.”
    â€œWho owns them?”
    â€œAccording to the Missouri Secretary of State, Corundum Construction Company is the d/b/a of one R.S. Corundum.”
    â€˜Who’s that?”
    â€œBeats me. I checked the telephone directory. There’s no listing for Corundum in the business section and there’s no listing for anyone named Corundum in the white pages.”
    â€œUnlisted number?”
    â€œFor a construction company? That would be weird. How could people reach them? I did an Internet search, too. Nothing.”
    â€œMaybe they’re out of business.”
    â€œThen how do you explain the license plate?”
    Benny shrugged. “Hasn’t expired.”
    I frowned. “I suppose.”
    â€œYou’re saying Moran’s secretary had no information on that company?”
    â€œShe’d never heard of them.”
    â€œMaybe your police buddy can help. What’s his name?”
    â€œTomaso. I can’t go to him on this. At least not yet. He was willing to run the plate for me without any other information, but if I want anything more I’ll have to tell him how I found out about the plate, and I can’t do that.”
    He belched and gave me a playful grin. “You got yourself what I’d call a real Corundum conundrum.”
    â€œTry saying that fast five times.”
    â€œTry saying what?” said a familiar voice.
    We both turned.
    Standing in the doorway—indeed, filling up the doorway—was Jacki Brand, all six feet three inches and 250 pounds of her, dressed in heels, white blouse, and navy