Page 59 of Liar's Point

The clerk stared at him wordlessly. Then he swallowed.

“I’ll need to talk to my manager?”

“Sure.”

“One sec.”

He walked out from behind the counter and went to the back.

Adam stepped out of the store and gazed at the security camera mounted on the corner of the building.

“Looks pretty new,” Adam said.

Emmet hoped so. Some of the businesses around here had cameras that barely worked and were mainly for show, as though some cheap-ass camera was going to deter an addict who was desperate for money.

A balding guy with glasses came out from the back, trailed by the clerk.

“May I help you?”

Emmet pulled out his badge again. “Detective Davis, LBPD. I’d like to see your security camera footage for the afternoon of February fourteenth.”

The manager frowned for a moment, clearly not excited about getting involved in a police investigation.

“Which camera? There are two.”

Emmet tucked his badge away. “The one facing Eighth Street.”

“This past Saturday?”

“That’s right.”

The man heaved a sigh. “Come on back.”

***

The bullpen was strangely empty when Nicole walked in at lunchtime.

“Where is everyone?” she asked Denise.

“We just had a call,” Brady said from his office.

Nicole stopped at the chief’s door. Brady had his laptop computer open and a Tupperware container of salad in front of him. Nicole was pretty sure she’d never seen him eat anything green before, but she didn’t comment.

“What happened?” she asked him.

“Injury accident downtown. Someone hit a utility pole.”

“You want me to go?”

He shook his head. “I sent Emmet and Adam. I need you here with Owen. Our phone dump just came in, and we need to analyze it ASAP.”

“I’m on it.”

Nicole strode through the sea of empty cubicles. Their newest patrol officer sat at a desk, talking on the phone, but other than that the bullpen was empty. She found Owen in the conference room with his back to the murder board and papers spread out in front of him.

Nicole’s gaze snagged on one of the grisly autopsy photos as she sat down.

“When did this come in?” she asked.

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