Page 27 of Red Snow
AFTER TELLING JUDGEAdam Bartow that we gathered information during an initial interview with our number one suspect, he immediately granted us a warrant to obtain the security footage from Chilkoot Charlie’s on the night Brenda Cox was killed. He didn’t give us any shit about it, he just rubbed his smooth, extra-large chin, and signed the document. I smiled like the Cheshire cat when we got the warrant in our hands and walked out of the judge’s chambers. I couldn’t get back to Koot’s fast enough. Unfortunately, we had to wait until they opened since the judge signed the warrant so early in the morning, but as soon as ten A.M. hit the clock, we were on our way to see Jim.
“Alright, I know this is a victory for us, but try not to give this guy too much shit about the video, alright?” Marcus tells me as we park the cruiser.
“What? Fuck that!” I snap, frowning. “This asshole had every chance in the world to just give us the tape yesterday. He could’ve avoided getting embarrassed before, but he decided he wanted to be a hard ass about. So, he’ll get the treatment he earned.”
“Jarrod, you called the guy a tranny dick.”
“He is a big, hairy tranny dick!” I snip, half smiling, half frowning. “If he doesn’t want to be embarrassed in front of his patrons and staff, then he’ll just give us the tape without even saying a word. Otherwise, he’s gonna get it. I’m not even thinking about this. Let’s just go get what we came for so we can make some progress in this case.”
“Alright, just don’t get the department sued, okay?”
“Shut up.”
My partner and I walk into Chilkoot Charlie’s with our heads held high. We told old Jim that we’d be back, so when he sees us sauntering towards him, I can see it in his eyes that he knows why we’re here. He lets out a loud exhale before straightening himself up, ever the strong, proud Alaskan.
“Good morning, detectives,” he greets. He’s wearing a thin, long-sleeved shirt, so his size is much more obvious now. He’s a big boy, but his big ass is going to give up that video today.
“Morning, Jim,” Marcus jumps in before I can say something smart. “We need to talk again. Can we go somewhere private?”
“If this is about the same thing we talked about yesterday, then you know I’m not interested unless you’ve got a court order. Since we just had that conversation less than twenty-four hours ago, I assume you don’t have a court order, so unless I’m being placed under arrest, I’ve got nothing to say to you two, not after the way you spoke to me last night.”
Marcus tries to speak again, but I put my hand on his shoulder and step forward, cutting him off.
“I figured you’d say something soft like that,” I growl. “What, were your big, hairy feelings hurt, Jim? You had the opportunity to cooperate with us last night, but you wanted to do shit the hard way. My partner is the nice one, which is why he asked to go somewhere private. I’m the asshole of the duo, and I’d much rather embarrass you right here in front of your staff. Contrary to what you believe for no apparent reason, we actuallydidspeak with a judge first thing this morning. His name was Judge Bartow, and he signed the hell out of this warrant. Take a look for yourself.”
Marcus fights back a grin as he reaches into his back pocket and removes the warrant signed by the judge only a few hours ago. He hands it to Jim and smiles an I-told-you-so smile as he reads it. Jim’s shoulders slump with disbelief, but I’m not here to cater to this ogre’s feelings. He had his chance.
“In case you’re struggling to read it, Jim,” I go on while he stares at the paper. “It basically says you had your chance to not be embarrassed, but the moment has passed, and now it’s time to get your ass to the back and fetch the goddamn security tape we asked you for. It says that your standing there reading instead of walking to the back to get the tape is annoying as fuck and a hindrance to our investigation, so you need to move your ass. And maybe you can’t see it because it’s written so small, like fine print, it also says go fuck yourself. Now let’s go to the back and get that tape.”
I smile at Jim as he finally brings his eyes up to meet mine. He’s livid, and I truly couldn’t possibly care less. He can be mad, but I guarantee he’s getting that tape.
“Alright,” he says, gritting his teeth. “I’ll be right back.”
“Uh, no,” I jump in. “You ruined the chance of being trusted already. I don’t know what you might do to the tape if we’re not watching you, so we’ll be following you. Lead the way.”
Jim looks around at the few workers who are in the room still opening up the bar for the day. I can see he feels humiliated, and that’s just the way I want it. The way I see it, he gave Brenda Cox’s killer extra time to roam the streets. He added hardship to our investigation, and I’m not okay with that when a woman’s head has been cut off.
Jim hands Marcus the paper with a huff as he turns around. The two of us are right on his heels as we follow him into a control room that shows all the cameras in the bar. He has to do some digging, but eventually, Jim finds the tapes from the night of Brenda’s murder. We tell him that we only need the one that shows us from nine at night until closing, and he hands it over without a word. He barely makes eye contact with either of us as he hands the tape to Marcus.
“Is there anything else?” he asks. He has a deep furrow in his brow, but he’s trying to fight it back.
“No, Jim,” Marcus says, trying to spare the man from my wrath. “This is it. Thank you.” Marcus turns around and walks out of the control room.
“You look pissed,” I say to Jim before I go. “I understand that. I’m pissed too, because you gave the killer an extra day. We could’ve started sifting through this footage last night, and possibly gotten our eyes on the murderer, but your pride got in our way, and that doesn’t sit well with me. She was a first grade teacher with two kids of her own. She deserves our best effort to bring her killer in, not bullshit like this. I hope you and I don’t see each other again.” Jim looks like he wants to speak, but he thinks better of it and lets me walk out without saying anything else.
“Alright now that we’ve got this, we’ve got to start looking through it,” Marcus says once we’re back in the cruiser.
“Yeah, and we also still need to go visit Anita Akers again. She lied to us, remember?” I ask rhetorically.
“Yeah. Alright, so who looks at video and who talks to Anita?”
“I don’t feel like looking at video footage,” I admit. “After the night I had, I’d fall asleep for sure.”
“Oh that’s right. You have to tell me about that still, but let’s decide this first. You know you’re not good at interviewing people.”
“What? Says who?”
“Says me, asshole,” Marcus jabs, laughing after his words. “You’re too blunt, man. I’ll talk to Anita”
