Page 41 of In the Nick of Time
Quickly and succinctly, he went over the events of the last three days, covering everything he’d left out at the last check-in, but skipping the part about sex. They didn’t need to know about that.
“What was Schoenhut doing here?” Doug asked. Behind him, Nick was remarkably quiet.
“Agent Schoenhut was on extended leave. That is all we can share with you.”
“Okay.” Doug didn’t like it, but he figured that extended leave meant he’d possibly been undercover. Or he really had been on leave and just got himself dead. “Agent Sedgewick and I went to the shopping center where he was discovered today. We weren’t able to stay long, but at a glance, we didn’t see any clues as to why that spot was chosen. I’m assuming SPAM now believes his death and the other MIA agents are connected.”
He wanted to bring up that at least two of the agents had been closely associated with him, but he didn’t want to scare Nick. Most likely it was coincidence.
Right. A bridge in Brooklyn, anyone?
“Yes, we do. Did you learn anything about Agent Carroll?”
“Ah, no. We had planned on returning to Nitti’s tonight, but that’s not going to happen.”
“Anything at The Ace of Clubs?”
Doug almost said no but then remembered what had happened to Nick in the bathroom. April was quiet for a long time after he shared the incident, so long that he worried they’d lost their connection. Finally, she spoke.
“Please put Agent Sedgewick on and have him describe the incident to me.”
Doug stood and gestured for Nick to take his seat at the desk.
“Agent Sedgewick,” said April, “please repeat what Agent Swanson shared with me.”
Nick obliged and April asked him several times to confirm what the man had looked like and what he’d been wearing.
“Would you say the headwear was a bowler or a porkpie hat?” April asked.
“A what?”
“Agent Swanson, would you please show Agent Sedgewick an image of both styles of hats?”
As fast as he could, Doug searched for pictures of the hat styles and showed them to Nick.
“It was a porkpie hat.”
“Thank you, Agent Sedgewick. Agents, continue to focus on The Ace of Clubs. If the man approaches you again, try to speak with him. We are working on our end to confirm his identity.”
“Um, okay? Over and out?”
“Over and out.” The screen went dark.
Nick released a breath of air. “So, more dancing?”
“More dancing.”
“Third time’s a charm and all that?”
“We can hope so.”
“Who is he? Do you have an idea?”
“I don’t, but I suspect SPAM does. They’ll tell us when they think it’s the right time.”
“But why the focus on his hat? And who calls a hat a pork pie? Were they going to eat it? Did it look like pie? I have questions.”
Doug had questions too.
