Page 41 of In the Line of Ire

"I knowit." She jogged away and pulled a card box from the middle shelf,which she opened and showed to me. "Is this it?"

"Yes!That's exactly it!"

"Great."She tucked the lid in and handed it to me. "I'm Tansy. I work inthe back office, collecting all the merchandise you sell out front,and stocking shelves after hours, organizing the bags and supplies.You know, that sort of thing. We'll probably see a lot more of eachother." She smiled warmly. "You can also hide in here anytime ifyou don't like the breakroom upstairs."

Thistime, I smiled too. "Thank you," I said as I gathered up the boxedbag.

"Abouttime," said Magda under her breath when I finally handed her thebox. She checked her watch. "Your shift is over. You can go homenow."

"Okay,"I said as I sped away. I retrieved my jacket and purse from thelocker in the empty breakroom and prepared to make a fast exit.First, I checked every unlocked locker and looked into the smallamount of cabinets that made up the kitchenette. The only thing Ifound was a solo glove on the floor by the lockers. Made of softleather, it looked expensive. Someone would definitely miss it so Iput it on the table for the owner to find. There was nothing else Icould pry into inside the breakroom and no point in hanging around.As I burst out the door, I collided with Maddox.

"I waslooking for you," he said, taking me by the arm and steering meback inside. He leaned his hand against the door, preventing anyoneelse from entering.

"Why?Did something happen?"

"Mysuperiors want to have a meeting with the agency andMPD."

"Okay,"I said.

"Sincewe're all involved here in some way, we need to make sure none ofus will inadvertently trip each other up."

Ichecked my shoes. I wasn't going to trip in these heels. They mighthave been heels but they were that miracle in footwear that everywoman dreams of: comfortable shoes.

"I meantfiguratively," said Maddox. "Can you tell your boss to expect acall?"

"Willdo," I said as I waited for the phone in my pocket to vibrate. Whenit didn't, I figured Solomon must have heard our conversation butsaw no need for a reply.

"I heardfrom a buddy at MPD that an arrest was made today in your murdercase."

"Anarrest? Who?"

"No ideabut I thought you might want a heads-up."

"Thanks." I made a mental note to find out why my brotherdidn't fill me in on this newest development. He knew I was aninterested party.

Maddoxstepped out of the way and I flashed him a brief smile as I exited;then the door banged shut behind me and I hurried out of thestore.

Solomonwaited in the back of the van. I hopped in and unraveled my mic."Did you know about the arrest in Alison Shore's murder case?" Iasked.

"News tome too," said Solomon. "How was your day?"

"Asboring as yours."

"Soundedlike it. Any useful observations?"

"Notparticularly but I did get to see inside the store room where themerchandise is kept. Tansy, the woman who works back there, isfriendly so I'll use that as an excuse to go visit her when I'm ona break and try to have a better look around. The code on the doortells me only store employees can access that area but I don't knowif that means just the accessory department employees or ifeveryone in the store has access."

Solomon's phone rang and he answered it. "Feds," he mouthedto me. I tried to listen in but there wasn't much to hear otherthan a few brief pleasantries and some yeses. "We're meeting in themorning before your next shift," he told me when he hung up. "Theydon't seem pissed."

"That'sgood news. I'm going to call Garrett and see what he knows." I hadthe phone dialing before I finished speaking.

"Lexi,now isn't a good time," said Garrett.

"I'llmake it quick. Did you make an arrest in the Alison Shoremurder?"

"Yes,and I might as well tell you. We booked the boyfriend. Or theex-boyfriend. Colin Strickland."

"Really?You're sure?"

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