“Like his son,” Wade said.
“Or Timo. Or Duke Fallon or Sam Appleby. It could be anyone.”
Wade gestured to the cleaning cart. “Get me a few plastic bags.”
Charlotte did as she was told and came back, holding the bags open so he could drop the lingerie into them.
“I don’t know why you are bothering,” she said. “These are worthless as evidence by virtue of the illegal manner in which they were collected.”
“I don’t think virtue is going to be an issue,” Wade said and slammed the locker shut.
“Charlotte is right,” Mandy said, sitting across from Wade in a booth that Sunday morning as he worked his way through a stack of pancakes between shifts. “Just because Glory had a nightie in her locker doesn’t mean that she was screwing Ethan Burdett.”
“The nightie was La Perla,” he said.
“Which I can get on eBay for twenty bucks. Want me to?”
“Used lingerie?” Wade asked. “Yuck.”
There were only three or four others in the restaurant that morning, and they made a point of sitting as far across the restaurant as they could from Wade. He didn’t take it personally.
“The locker might have been where she stashed her naughty stuff so Mom would keep on thinking that she was a good girl,” Mandy said. “You should have seen what I had in my locker at school.”
“You weren’t a good girl?”
“I’m still not,” she said. “But you already know that.”
“I’m thinking that Glory brought Seth together with Timo to start moving drugs into Havenhurst,” Wade said between mouthfuls of pancake. “Maybe she was even getting a cut.”
“If that’s true, I’ve got to hand it to her-she was working every angle to get out.”
“Look where it got her,” Wade said.
“You don’t know if that’s got anything to do with why she was killed. I haven’t heard you mention anything that sounds remotely like a motive.”
“That’s mainly because I haven’t come up with one yet,” he said. “When did you start becoming interested in detecting?”
“When I started fucking you,” she said.
“You like saying ‘fucking.’”
“I like saying it because it reminds me that I’m doing it,” she said.
“You can sleep with me without helping me investigate these killings.”
“First off, we’ve shared a bed, and we’ve done plenty of fucking, but I haven’t slept with you yet,” she said. “Secondly, I have an interest in you, and you’re investigating, so I want to help.”
“I have an interest in you,” he said, “but you don’t see me making pancakes.”
“I see you coming in here and eating a lot of them,” she said. “Same thing.”
He supposed it was.
Billy came into the restaurant and approached their booth. He was holding a folder, which he set on the table beside Wade’s plate.
“This was faxed to you,” he said, then nodded at Mandy. “Good morning, Ms. Guthrie.”
“Billy,” she said. “Please call me Mandy.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
Wade opened the folder and started reading it.
“And never call me ‘ma’am,’” she said. “It makes me feel old.”
“You got it, baby,” he said.
“Much better,” she said.
Wade looked up at them. Billy smiled. So did Mandy, who gestured to the folder.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“The autopsy report on Glory Littleton. It lays out in detail her physical condition at the time of her death and the injuries she suffered. The conclusion is that she died Monday morning of injuries consistent with a fall or blunt force trauma, specifically as a result of massive internal bleeding.”
“You knew that already,” Billy said.
“But there’s plenty here that I didn’t.”
Mandy slid out of the booth. “Makes for wonderful breakfast reading.”
“More like dinner,” Billy said. “It’s his bedtime, in case you’re interested.”
Both Wade and Mandy looked at him.
“What? We’re all adults here,” Billy said, taking Mandy’s place in the booth.
“I shot you once,” Wade said. “I can shoot you again.”
“I keep hearing about what a dangerous place Darwin Gardens is,” Billy said. “So how come you’re the only who has taken a shot at me?”
“Somebody shot up your station,” Mandy said.
“While it was empty, and I’m pretty sure that was Timo, acting on his own,” Wade said. “Duke is giving us safe passage while we look into those dead women.”
“Because it serves his interest,” Mandy said.
“And because, so far, I’ve only been arresting junkies, sheriff’s deputies, and liquor store robbers. I haven’t taken a run at him yet.”
“You shot up his sign,” Billy said.
Wade nodded. “And since he hasn’t retaliated, that tells me he’s showing restraint to see how our murder investigation goes.”
“What happens after that’s over?” Billy asked.
Wade shrugged. “It’ll be interesting to see.”
Mandy put her hands on her hips and looked down at Billy. “Can I get you anything from the kitchen?”
“One of those big Injun doughnuts would be great.”
Mandy turned to Wade. “You really shot him?”
“I did,” Wade said.
“I don’t blame you,” she said, then looked back at Billy. “One fry bread coming right up.”
“We’ll take it to go,” Wade said, closing the file.
“Where are we going?” Billy asked.
“Havenhurst.”
Billy looked confused. “Why? When Glory was killed, Seth was on a county work detail out on the highway, under constant supervision of deputies, and his dad was in a room full of lawyers, so they’re both off the hook.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“Even without their kick?ass alibis,” Billy said, “you haven’t established a credible motive for either one of them.”
“So I’ve been told,” Wade said. “Why do you sound so lawyerlike all of a sudden?”
“I watched Lesbian Legal 7 last night. It’s the DVD I found at the station. It’s like Boston Legal, only with lesbo action.”
Wade took the file and slid out of the booth. “I’ve got to grab some stuff at the station. Meet me there in five minutes.”
“You want to borrow the DVD?” Billy asked.
“No, thanks.” Wade walked away.
“Your loss,” Billy said, calling after him. “It really makes you appreciate our legal system.”
Chapter twenty three
