“Not yet.” He didn’t mention that Bliss had a conversation with Archman in the hospital. Tony already thought Bliss’s involvement was hilarious.

“Who else on this list needs interviewing?”

Neil glanced at the whiteboard. “We talked to Fang and Kelly Quantz. We need to speak to Leeds, Bains, Archman, and Brickle. And we need to move on this fast.”

“I have a dinner date, so I’ll do one interview this afternoon. How about you take Archman while I pay Bains a visit at his office? Best if you stay away from him. Tomorrow we’ll tackle the other two — Leeds and Brickle. I’ll leave Miss Bliss to you.” He snickered. “Unless you call for help.”

“Fuck off, Tony. I can handle Cornwall.”

Another round of laughter erupted from the other side of the office door. This time it subsided only to surge into a wave of hooting and foot stamping.

Neil threw open his door and leaned out. Five officers — almost his entire day shift — surrounded a computer terminal. Only Thea and Dwayne hung back. Dwayne’s face was an unflattering shade of mottled pink and red, while Thea stood stony-faced with arms crossed.

Bernie spotted Neil and his hand moved.

“Don’t touch that mouse, Bernie.” Four officers moved aside to let Neil shoulder his way in. “Run that video from the beginning.”

“Yeah, Chief, you might not want to …”

“From the beginning, Bernie.” Tony hung over his shoulder, anxious to be let in on the joke.

The video from the dashcam showed Dwayne. And Cornwall. Neil’s eyes narrowed as he watched. He tried to keep his face immobile, calling on his drug squad experience to keep the emotions from his expression. He didn’t know whether to laugh or have that stroke he was expecting.

At the conclusion of the video, some of his officers tried to sidle away. He fixed them with his eyes. “Nobody move.”

“Again,” he told Bernie. The room was so still, he could hear the rumble of somebody’s stomach. “In my office, Dwayne. The rest of you, get back to work. I want the house-to-house reports within the hour. I hope I don’t need to mention that this video is proprietary, so if it gets out to the public, or appears on YouTube, someone’s head will roll.”

He shut his door on Tony’s amused face and rounded on Dwayne. “What the hell were you thinking, Dwayne?”

Dwayne swallowed audibly. “I can’t help it, Chief. She aggravates me every opportunity she gets. Her lights and windows were obscured by snow and ice. It wasn’t safe, and I had to pull her over.”

“How many other motorists did you pull over today for obscured lights?”

“Well, Bliss was the only one today. I was busy with the house-to-house inquiries, then I went for lunch. She was the first driver I saw when I pulled out of the Wing Nut.”

“I know she pushes your buttons deliberately, Dwayne. But here’s a tip. Don’t engage her unless you see her committing an armed robbery or assaulting someone. It’s just not worth it.”

“But, Chief …”

“This isn’t up for debate. Now get back to work.”

“But … her attitude …”

“We can’t charge her for having a bad attitude.”

Dwayne’s shoulders slumped. Before Neil could say anything more, another round of laughter, this time accompanied by clapping and cheering, rattled the door. He could hear Tony’s hoarse chuckle underlying the other sounds. His right eye began to throb and, with a fatalistic shrug, he opened his door to usher Dwayne out.

This was not a good day. Cornwall stood in the middle of the squad room. His officers applauded and high-fived her. She looked perplexed, then Thea said something to her and her face lit up with understanding.

“Oh, that. Glad I gave you guys a laugh today. I know how stressful your work can be.”

She caught sight of Neil in the doorway with Dwayne. Her smile widened. Her expressive eyes, enhanced with makeup, sparkled at him. “Uh, got a minute, Chief? I might have some information on our murders.”

CHAPTER

twenty-three

Tony shoved in behind me and flipped over the whiteboard. Redfern shuffled the crime scene photos together, then sat on the edge of his desk with his arms folded. I glanced from one to the other.

“You’re not as fast as you think you are, Tony. I saw my name on your suspect list.” I crossed my arms as well and waited for Redfern to explain himself.

It turned into a staring contest. I won, because I can go for ten minutes without blinking if I want. After only three, Redfern’s eyes watered and he looked away. “Hah.” I turned to Tony. “Who put my name on that list? Is this a joke or something?”

“Well, it wasn’t my idea, Miss Bliss. You know how by-the-book our chief here is.”

Redfern gave Tony a disgusted look. “You’d throw your own dog into a cat fight, wouldn’t you, Pinato?”

“Hey, man, I’m not taking this lady on. I heard what you said to Dwayne.” At Redfern’s surprised expression, he said, “Your voice carries.”

At the mention of Dwayne’s name, I forgot about Redfern’s suspect list. “How about that idiot? Do you know what he stopped me for today?”

“He told me about it. And the entire station saw the video.”

“Well, then, you know how ridiculous he is. His actions are bordering on police harassment.”

“If you followed the rules, you wouldn’t find yourself under his scrutiny so often.”

“Hey, Bliss.” Tony stepped between us and pushed me away from Redfern. “Where did you learn those moves? Pretty sexy. I especially loved that little pouty wave and air kiss at the end. Too bad we don’t have audio.”

“I’m a porn pro. Just call me Peaches. Can I see the video?” I hadn’t taken my eyes off Redfern’s face.

His fair skin began to turn a telltale red-brick colour. “No. You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said so. And because it would be against regulations.”

“What regulations?” All men have a screw loose, and some have looser screws than others. I opened my mouth to tell Redfern what I thought about his stupid regulations, which I followed most of the time anyway, but Tony butted in again.

“God, you two act like a couple of teenagers. Do you fight about everything? Is it some kind of weird foreplay? If so, Neil …”

Redfern turned on Tony and said, “Mind your own business,” at the same time I said, “It’s not foreplay, you horse’s ass.” Let them wonder who the horse’s ass was.

“Neil, you know Bliss pisses in the eye of authority, so quit making it so easy for her. And Bliss, cut Neil some slack and show a little respect for his job at least.”

“Thank you, Dr. Phil.” I clomped toward the door, making sure my heels hit the old wooden floor as heavily as I could manage. Redfern hated it when I did that. Unfortunately, UGGs don’t make much of a noise statement.

“Wait a minute,” Redfern called after me. “Why are you here? You said you had some information.”

I didn’t. I only said that because every eye in the outer office was on me when I came in. I dropped in to see how things were going and to ask what plans Redfern had for dinner. Now I didn’t give a shit.

“Never mind. From here on in, you needn’t worry about me interfering with your investigations. Since you so clearly find me a nuisance, I’ll just keep anything I learn to myself. You won’t have Bliss Moonbeam Cornwall to insult any longer.”

“Before you stomp away, may I ask if you have the yearbooks in that bag?” Redfern’s voice dripped icicles. Freaking control freak.

I yanked the yearbooks out of my tote. I knew he expected me to pitch them at his head, so I placed them carefully on the desk and lined them up precisely square to the outer edges.

I left the office door open, nodded at the cops in the squad room, and took my time making a grand exit. Grand until the wind flung snow in my face, causing me to miss the last step onto the sidewalk. I landed on my ass in a pile of slush.