“Am I supposed to guess what you found out or are you going to tell me?” Dak leaned back in his chair, clicking the pen he held in his hands.
“I could make you guess.” Sid tapped his lip as though thinking. “But, nah. It’d take too long.”
Sid crossed and pulled out one of the chairs opposite Dak’s desk, angling it so he could see both of them.
Kevyn bit the inside of her cheeks to keep from hurrying Sid along. He could be so melodramatic sometimes.
“I looked at Andrews’ schedule for the past month. Most of it was pretty standard. Appointments, an hour block for lunch, you know. Normal.” Sid’s legs bounced continually and his head wagged from side to side as he encompassed both her and Dak in the conversation. “But. There was one day about three weeks ago when he had a block on his schedule for a full hour. I thought maybe it was an appointment or something. When I asked the office manager, she said that was the day that their office hosted a blood drive. And guess what company was involved.”
This was it! Their connection between Andrews and the other victims. They’d all donated blood to the same company.
And she’d be willing to bet that Lorelei Divers had been one of the phlebotomists on duty at the blood drive.
“The office manager confirmed that Andrews had signed up to donate during that time slot.” Sid leaned forward slightly. “And you know what? She said she was pretty sure there was a loud blonde with a southern accent drawing blood. I have a call out to the blood bank to see if they can confirm Divers was there that day, but I’m confident she was.”
It did sound likely.
She glanced at Dak. “Has anyone confirmed yet if Divers was on the mobile unit that Cummings frequented?”
“Yes.” JD’s voice came from the doorway.
Dang. The man moved like a ninja! She’d been so focused on Sid’s antics that she hadn’t realized JD was there. Yet he leaned against the doorframe as if he’d been there for a while.
“Lorelei Divers is low man on the totem pole at her office. As the second newest employee, and the least senior phlebotomist, she ends up with the assignments no one else wants. Which includes manning the mobile unit.” JD shook his head in mock sympathy. “I guess spending all day in a bus or hauling their equipment into a place of business isn’t everyone’s favorite assignment.”
“Imagine that.” Dak’s dry tone indicated no surprise. “Is it always the same team that goes out on the mobile unit?”
JD stuffed his hands in his pockets. “It varies, depending upon the size of the event. There’s usually a nurse and two phlebotomists. Divers is almost always one of the phlebotomists. It’s always the same nurse, too, but the other phlebotomist position seems to rotate.”
“I wonder how Divers likes always being the one doing the mobile drives.” Based upon what she knew about Divers, she suspected Divers wasn’t one who enjoyed taking orders.
If Dives hated the assignment, it might make her more prone to selling information to a black-market organ ring.
“No idea.” Sid’s answer to her musings pulled her out of her own head. “But Andrews’ office manager remembered thinking that the blonde phlebotomist was ‘arrogant and petulant.’ Her words.”
Sid punctuated the words with air quotes.
“Oh. And she also remembered Andrews and a few of the other male staff members tripping over themselves to have Divers draw their blood.”
Sid was assuming – and probably rightly so – that the blonde phlebotomist was Lorelei Divers.
“Okay.” Dak placed his palms on the desk and leaned forward. “Sid, let me know when you get confirmation that Divers was the blonde at Andrews’ office. And work on a warrant. I’d like to see records of every draw Divers has made in the past month. Make sure all our vics are on the list.”
“We could talk to Divers. Drop all the names and see how she responds.” Kevyn couldn’t help thinking that would be faster than getting a warrant and digging through records.
Dak shook his head slightly. “I’m not ready to tip our hand yet. We already know she’s a good actress. I want to hit her with proof, not suspicions.”
Made sense, even if she was itching to see how Divers responded when she realized they were onto her.
“JD, let’s look at Divers’ lifestyle. See if she’s living above her means. If she’s getting paid on the side, there should be some evidence of it somewhere.”
JD saluted. “You got it.”
“Kev.” Dak turned toward her. “See if you can track down some of Divers’ friends. Maybe they can shed some light on her extracurricular activities. I’m going to pressure the analysts for those bank account records.”
Fresh energy tingled through her limbs.
This Divers lead was promising. If it panned out, it could blow the whole case wide open.
And, hopefully, bring their victims home.
₪ ₪ ₪
Tio flipped the pen around in his fingers.
Mitch wanted in. Or so he said.
But could he trust him?
There was a time when the answer would have been obvious, but Mitch had been lying to him lately. A lot.
Plus, Mitch had always had this weird moral code. Oh sure, it shifted to suit Mitch’s needs at any given time, but murder had always been outside Mitch’s realm.
Although money could change that.
But would it?
Truth was, he could use Mitch’s help. No one could manage the books like Mitch. Especially since accounting had never been Tio’s strong suit and he didn’t trust anyone else to do it.
Argh.
He rubbed his jawline.
Something had to give. He couldn’t keep Mitch here, under surveillance, indefinitely.
Maybe he could spin it right. Maybe if he presented how many people were being saved, not how many
