The Little Grave (Detective Amanda Steele)

“I’d say all of them are telling me the truth when they say they know nothing about it. Well, beyond Freddy saying that Palmer gave it to him.”

“Did you tell them what was on it?”

“I might be a rookie, but I’m not an idiot. Why would they confess knowledge of it if they realized what it had on it?”

Amanda smiled, not that he could see it, but she was pleased to witness Trent growing a backbone. Maybe being out on his own had been the best thing for him. He’d probably become a better detective than he would under her shadow. Then again, he might have already picked up some of her sass. Though he must have possessed some already given that he’d run ahead at a crime scene and got himself shot.

Trent continued. “They were really lost on why I was so interested in a stupid bracelet. And, trust me, I pressed all of them hard and none crumbled. I believed them. Now, Courtney did give me something that might be useful. I was getting ready to call you about it as I just finished speaking with her. To start with, she was at Denver’s Motel from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning.”

“She lied to us. Why am I not surprised? Also explains the extra towels Palmer requested.”

“Yep.”

“If someone lies once…”

“I know, but I’m sure she really doesn’t know about the bracelet.”

“You said I might find something useful; she’s a liar, is that all?” She stopped for a traffic light a few blocks from Central.

“Nope, it’s that I think she might have seen Casey-Anne Ritter at the pawnshop the day of the accident.”

They hadn’t been able to make the connection without conjecture. “She saw her pawn the bracelet?”

“Can’t be certain.”

“Okay,” Amanda dragged out. “But I’m struggling with why Courtney remembers this from over five years ago. What was so special about Casey-Anne?”

“Apparently she was flirting with Palmer while she was pawning some of her things.”

Some women were more prone to jealousy and possessiveness, and it wasn’t too far a stretch to imagine Courtney could have remembered the interaction.

“Let me guess, she doesn’t remember what she was turning over?”

“Would be nice, but she was too blinded by the green-eyed monster. I did show her Casey-Anne’s picture though, and she was quite sure that could have been her.”

The light turned green and she hit the gas.

Amanda ran through the interview she and Trent had conducted with Courtney in her mind. They’d asked if she knew Casey-Anne and Courtney had said no, but that was explicable if she’d just been a random customer to her. They hadn’t thought to show her Casey-Anne’s photo.

“Okay, so what about our other leads?” She realized she’d said our after it was out.

“I asked Wheable about the empty compartment in the back of the Caprice. He claimed not to know anything about it. He did say Courtney’s the one who took the car from him. Stands behind ‘what happened with it after that wasn’t on him’ and that he has no idea.”

“Like hell. He would be who Freddy was fearful of, I bet. You told me Wheable served time for robbery. I bet he’s back in the game. And Courtney was at Denver’s Motel, the same day Lorraine Nash saw the Caprice. She was probably delivering the car to Palmer that day.”

“Could very well have been. She didn’t admit to that, but I have reached out to the Property Crimes Unit and passed along Wheable’s, Courtney’s, and Freddy’s names with our suspicions. What they do with it from here is their business.”

Amanda turned down the street where Central was located. Trent had filled her in on the bracelet and the car, but one piece she was interested in had been missing from his update. “How did you make out with the coin?”

“It’s not Freddy’s, Courtney’s, or Wheable’s.”

“Well, it was just a thought. Now following the coin might not lead us to Palmer’s killer—but let’s rule it out first. Look up local AA groups and see if they’ll give you a list of everyone who was issued a twenty-year sobriety coin. There can’t be that many.”

“Guess we’ll find out. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Hey, I’m just about to pull into Central. You there?”

“No, I’m following up the taxi angle still. Figured I’d visit the companies in person.”