One Step Ahead

We've Got Another One

      Sanger glanced at his watch, and noted that it was 8:07 PM, which meant that he should have been home for at least two hours. But since Nora was covering for a co-worker, and Adam had a date, he sat at his desk, carefully reading the photocopied sheets left for him by Marlena Whitman, and jotting notes on the notepad under his hand. He was less than one-third of the way through the pile of paper, and had already become more concerned than he already was. He had currently found mention of no less than eight violent crimes, four of which he was able to identify simply from the description, and had no doubt that he would find several more when he read further. As he moved to the next page, his desk phone rang, and he picked it up. "Yeah, Sanger here."

      The voice of the desk clerk came through the receiver. "Yeah, Lieutenant, there's a lady on the phone who says that Detective Whitman was looking into something for her, I thought you might want to talk to her."

      "Good call. Put her through."

      A few seconds later, a Southern-accented female voice said "Hello, is someone there?"

      "This is Lieutenant Garrett Sanger, to whom am I speaking?"

      "My name is Briar Malveaux, I spoke to Detective Whitman about my cousin's murder several days ago, and she asked me to come in to identify Sylvia's necklace. I had a visit at work this morning from that slug Elton Keel, and he said that she was dead, and that y'all think it had something to do with that."

      Sanger shook his head and exhaled heavily. "Mr. Keel certainly gets around, doesn't he? You're the second person today who's complained about him. Did he happen to mention what gave him that impression?" 

      "No, sir, he didn't, he just threw it out there, probably hoping he'd get some kind of juicy quote. Then he started being his usual obnoxious self, and pissed me off, so I gut-punched him, and ran him off with a taser. I'm honestly kinda surprised that he didn't call y'all on me."

      This caused Sanger to let out a small, but genuine, laugh, for the first time since he'd gotten the news about Marlena. "Keel might be, as you said, a slug, but I'm pretty sure he knows that any officer he called would be more likely to recommend you for a medal than give you a citation, because he's basically made a habit of pissing off most of the department.  Hell, I'd probably ask the mayor to give you the key to the city myself. You say that he showed up at your job? Where might that be, if you don't mind my asking?"

      "Paramount Studios. He was apparently waiting for me, cause he popped up almost the second I got out of my car. But honestly, Lieutenant, do you think there's anything to what he said? About Detective Whitman, I mean? Did looking into these murders get somebody after her?"

      "I can't say for sure right now, but that is one possibility we're considering, yes. And while I have you on the phone, I'd like to set up a time for us to meet, if you don't mind. I'll be in charge of the investigation now, and I'd like to review some things with you."

      Her voice firm and decisive, Briar replied, "I don't mind at all, Lieutenant, I'll do anything I can to help. But now I'd like to ask you something. When I was there looking at the jewelry, she said something about a person who had found the new evidence she was checking on, and turned it in. I was wondering if you might be able to put me in contact with that person, so I can maybe find out if they saw something that might help me understand exactly what happened to Sylvia."

      He considered the request for a moment. "I can't actually do that, Ms. Malveaux, but I am meeting with this individual tomorrow, and I can ask if they would be all right with you joining us, if you'd like."

      "Yes, please, I'd like that very much. And if they don't want to meet in person, you're welcome to give them my information, if they'd rather do it that way."