Page 24 of Last Date
“How long do we have to stay?” the Hispanic woman asked.
“I don’t know, but by arguing with me, you’re probably slowing things down.” I made a shooing motion. “Come on. Go sit down and cooperate with the police when they ask questions. We all want to find the thief, right?”
“Of course.” The bald guy grimaced and turned to the others. “He’s right. The sooner we talk to the cops, the sooner we can go home.”
I secretly gave a sigh of relief that they were now obeying. They wandered off to sit at the tables, and I continued to keep watch over the exit. It didn’t take long for the cop cars to show up. Red lights flashed outside the building as uniformed police officers wandered in and out of the hall. At one point, an officer took over my spot at the door, and I was finally free to leave my post.
Merrick intercepted me. “You should drive my mom and yours home. They look exhausted.”
“Sure. I didn’t know if that was allowed yet.”
“Yeah, they already gave their statements to the detectives.” He let out a tired sigh. “God, I really just want to go home and sleep.”
I frowned. “Can’t the detectives handle this?”
“Of course, but Mrs. McGillivray is having a meltdown and wants me to stay.”
I was surprised he was giving in to the needs of a hysterical old lady. I studied him, taking in the lines of fatigue on his face. A strange protective feeling settled in my chest as I watched him. “I thought your job was mainly administrative? Isn’t hand-holding at a crime scene something you could delegate?”
“Usually.” He sighed. “But Mrs. McGillivray is pals with Mayor Rodriguez. My calming presence has been strongly requested by the higher-ups.”
“That’s kind of ridiculous. If Mayor Rodriguez is so concerned about her bestie, why doesn’t she come down and hold her hand?”
His cheek flinched. “She’ll be here shortly.”
“Oh.”
He cleared his throat. “Anyway, get our moms home, okay?”
“I will.” I glanced over to where Mom and June stood near the front entrance. “Do you have any suspects yet?”
Generally, he’d ignore my questions about anything police case related, but surprisingly he said, “Mrs. Stanley said she saw some raggedy-looking guy hanging around outside the hall.”
“Could be a vagrant?”
“Possibly.” He added, “We’ll check the security footage if there is any. The cameras don’t always work because the rats eat through the wires. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“I have to say, I find it hard to believe a vagrant just wandered in and grabbed the money box without anyone noticing him.”
“I agree.”
“Maybe there was no raggedy man. Maybe it’s an inside job.”
He sighed. “Could be. It’s hard to say this early on.”
Since he was being so forthcoming and I was feeling nosey, I decided to try one more question. “How much was taken?”
He hesitated and then said softly, “Three grand.”
I bugged my eyes. “Seriously?”
“According to Mrs. Stanley, there was a head count of a hundred and fifty people who paid for entrance tonight at twenty bucks a pop.”
“Jesus. I had no idea they made such good money on these nights.”
“Well, the grand prize is three hundred dollars. Paying twenty bucks for a chance to win three hundred seems like a good deal, I guess.”
“True.”
