Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows) by Mell Corcoran

the manner in which you are handling this. We are the victims here...” Once again Dillon cut Vargas off before he could finish his sentence.
    “No, sir, no you are no victim. The three dead men in Arcano’s house are the victims, Casius Arcano is a victim.” Dillon walked around the conference table as he spoke, coming to a stop only when he was looking down his nose at the man. “It is I who object to the manner in which you are stalling our investigation. Unless you have some as yet unshared information as to where Mr. Arcano is, you are preventing us from finding him and that, sir, makes me wonder about you.”
    There was a long, awkward pause that seemed to last an eternity until the woman whom Dillon had previously referred to as Miss Brazil entered the conference room. She was holding what Vinny could only guess was the warrant Dillon had mentioned. Vinny took the document from the woman who was enthralled by the sight of Dillon standing up close and personal, looking almost straight down at the very pale Mr. Vargas.
    Vinny walked over to the men and made note of the fact that Dillon had yet to blink. “You want to take us to Arcano’s office now, Taylor?” He patted Dillon on the back then followed Peter Taylor out of the room. With one last glare at Vargas for good measure, Dillon followed Vinny’s lead and exited the conference room.
    They headed through the glass lined hall and noticed the eyes that followed them as they went. Vinny figured no one had expected them to get this far so soon. When they reached the end of the corridor, Taylor scanned his thumb on the circular pad that secured the double doors. Arcano’s office was ultra modern stainless steel and glass everywhere. There were a pair of siren red leather chairs in front of a rectangular slab of glass that served as Casius Arcano’s desk as well as a red couch perched against the wall opposite the spectacular view of the city. The chair that sat behind the desk and the telephone were siren red as well. Other than that, there was no color whatsoever. Vargas and Cabrillo had stayed behind in the conference room, no doubt to scrutinize the warrant, and Peter Taylor positioned himself off to the side of the room as Vinny and Dillon tended to business. Vinny noticed immediately that there were no files or papers on the desk at all, it was neat as a pin.
    “Has anyone touched this desk since Arcano left on Friday?” Vinny inquired.
    “I will have to check the log for the door to make sure but I would say it is highly unlikely. Everyone usually stops at my desk, unless they have an appointment or meeting on the books. Besides Casius, I’m the only one who comes in here regularly. No one is even supposed to be here today but we called everyone in to deal with the crisis.” Taylor started fiddling with his cell phone. “Security is gathering all the logs you requested but I just asked them to check the entry data for this office. I’m waiting for a reply.”
    “Thank you.” Dillon could tell that Taylor was stuck between a rock and a hard place. For all intensive purposes he appeared to want to help. “How was your relationship with Arcano?”
    “My relationship? I’m not sure I understand.” Taylor needed elaboration.
    “Well, was it strictly business? Did you socialize outside of work?” Vinny clarified for him. “Did you get along well or was he a bastard to work for?”
    “Oh, I see. No, not at all. Casius was an exceptional employer. While his standards were exacting, he was very considerate and always remembered personal things like my birthday, even my partner’s birthday.” Taylor appeared to be recalling events fondly. “He always invited us to his parties and he never made me work when I attended. Well, that is unless he specifically asked me to work them but that was very rare. Even then he always asked me way in advance, so there was no misunderstanding.”
    “Your partner you say?” Vinny remembered Jane mentioning she