Spritz’s nodded. “Oh yeah. It was him.”
“It’s pretty dark back here,” Wolf said.
“Hammes had been coming in with Mary lately,” Lizotte said.
“Is that right?”
“They both work at the casino. They come in here after work and have a few.”
“Ah, I see. And what about other people? Did Mary and Rick come in with other people from the casino after work?”
“Janine.”
“Her waitress friend from the casino,” Wolf said.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Lizotte said. “I don’t know, everybody comes in here. Best place in town.”
Wolf nodded. “Were you two working here last Monday night?”
“I was,” Spritz said.
“I wasn’t,” Lizotte said. “My day off.”
“Was Mary Dimitri here Monday night?”
Spritz nodded. “Yep. Came in after work. Had a couple beers.”
“What time did she arrive?”
“Um, like seven-thirty or something like that. She had dinner at the bar. Like I said, a few beers.”
“And was she with anybody?”
“Nah. She was first cut at work. Came in alone.”
"Did you speak to her that night?"
"Yeah, sure. I was behind the bar. She was sitting at it.”
“What did you two talk about?”
Spritz shrugged. “We were talking about Chris. You know, how he died and all. She was pretty broken up. Crying. I was pretty torn up too, you know? We had a couple shots in his honor."
“Did anybody else join you for these shots?” Wolf asked.
“Let’s see.” Spritz looked up, exhaling a long drag. “Just the normal Monday crowd. Couple of guys from town.”
“Derek and Larry?” Lizotte asked Spritz.
“Yeah, they were there.”
“Who are they?” Wolf asked.
“A couple old dudes who drink their pension away here.”
Wolf nodded. “Anybody else?”
“Not really. Not that late, when we were having the shots. That was right before I closed up.”
“And what time was that?”
“Eleven.”
“How about Kevin Koling or James Sexton?” Wolf asked. “Where they here Monday night?”
“No sir,” Spritz said.
“Eagle McBeth?”
“Nope.”
"When she left, did she drive?"
He said nothing.
“You can tell me the truth.”
"Yeah. It’s like five blocks."
“What did you do after she left?”
The cigarette fell out of Spritz’s hand but he made no effort to pick it up. “I went home.”
“And where’s that?”
“Over there a few blocks.” He pointed with his thumb, keeping his eyes on Wolf.
“And you drove?”
“No. I walked. I always walk. Why are you asking that? You think I had something to do with this or something?” Spritz stamped his foot on the cigarette. “I don’t have to talk to you anymore. I know my rights. This is bullshit. This is bullshit, Casey. I didn’t have nothing to do with no murder.” He marched around the front of the building and out of sight.
Wolf kept his movements slow and measured as he turned back for fear of scaring off Lizotte, too.
Lizotte’s arm was frozen, his cigarette streaming smoke across his wide eyes.
“Are you still working up at the mine?” Wolf asked.
“Huh? No.”
“Why’s that? It was good money, right?”
Lizotte looked like he was thinking about following after his friend, then took a drag of his cigarette. “It was until I dug a dead body out of the ground and dumped it onto the wash plant grate. Then all the money in the world wouldn’t be enough to get me to work up there again.”
“When you worked up there Monday morning, what exactly did they have you doing?”
“Like I told you guys earlier, I was just running the loader, putting dirt onto the hopper grate. I told that short detective guy. Hachet or something?”
“Detective Rachette. I know, I just want to make sure we have this correct. Where were the piles of dirt you were pulling those scoops from?”
“Just right there. Right next to the wash plant. They had them all lined up for me, ready to go.”
“Did you ever take a scoop from somewhere else other than those piles?”
“No.”
Wolf nodded. “And one more thing.” He paused. “Who do you think killed Chris Oakley and Mary Dimitri.”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”
“Who?”
“Rick Hammes.”
Chapter 25
Wolf went back and sat inside his SUV. He stared out the windshield, watching the neon-lit rain streak down, his thoughts bouncing between the living and the dead, landing on Piper Cain again.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled to her number. His finger hovered there for a moment before scrolling down to Patterson’s number and pressing the call button.
“Hello?” Patterson’s voice burst through his car speakers.
“How’s it going?” He could hear pots and pans clanking in the background, kids laughing and squealing. “Sounds like I’ve interrupted dinner. Can you talk?”
“I still have a few minutes. What’s up?”
“I’m up in Dredge.”
“Geez. You put on some miles today.”
He told her about his visit to Jackson Mine and his visit to The Picker.
“Do you like Spritz as our killer?” she asked.
“My gut’s telling me it’s not him. But let’s dig into his record. You’ll need his full name, Jake Spizzerelli.” Wolf spelled it out for her.
“Okay. I’ll look into him tomorrow.”
“I also want to know exactly what those miners did when we put them up in the hotel Monday night. Did they stay at the Edelweiss all night? Where did they eat? Dine in? Take out? Did they go for drinks somewhere? I want all three of their movements accounted for.”
“We really don’t have a probable to look into their financials yet. But, yes, I’ll dig into it. And FYI, Rachette and Yates went to County to talk to Hammes this afternoon, but were told he was out cold again. They’re going back up tomorrow to try to catch him when he’s awake.”
The noise behind Patterson died down and he heard a door close. “Are you okay? You sound tired. Why don’t you let us go up to Dredge tomorrow? My foot’s feeling better.”
“MacLean is retiring.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Charlotte came across some paperwork that got me suspecting. Then I twisted Margaret’s arm and she told me.”
Wolf squinted. “What did she tell you?”
“She told me MacLean wasn’t coming back. Is there more to tell after that?”
Wolf said nothing.
“Is Wilson taking that job in Denver?” she asked.
“Why are you asking that?”
“Never mind.”
They sat in silence a beat.
“I’ll go to Dredge tomorrow,” Wolf said. “Rest your foot and broken
