Her eyes rounded and she nodded. “Called the house. Came by one time. Harassed the new tenants.” She thought for a moment, putting all the pieces together. "This had to be him. Can’t be anybody else.”
"Do you know what kind of car he drives?"
Lena thought about it for a moment. "The time he came to the house, he was driving a black four-door.”
"A Dominator GT?”
"What's that? I'm not really into cars," she said, a convertible Maserati sitting in the driveway.
"We’ll check with the DMV," I said.
I thanked her for the information, gave her my card, and told her I'd be in touch as things developed.
We walked back to the Revenant and climbed inside. I ran background on Ray through the online portal. He was shaping up to be a suspect, especially after what I found.
Ray served five years for aggravated assault. He had gang affiliations. According to the records, he turned a wrench over at Randy’s Garage. Ray’s current address was listed as the place he got evicted from.
I called Randy’s Garage. A receptionist with a delightful Southern drawl answered after a few rings.
“Is Ray working today?”
“He's not in today.”
"When do you expect him back?”
"Don't. Ray got fired.”
I lifted a curious brow. "What did he get fired for?"
She hesitated for a moment. "Well, I'm not really supposed to discuss employee business with the customers."
"I'm not really a customer," I said, then introduced myself as a deputy sheriff.
"Well, in that case, I really shouldn’t be talking to you.”
I laughed. "This sounds too interesting. Now you’ve got to share. You have my curiosity piqued."
"It's not all that scandalous. Ray kept showing up drunk and high. I know he was going through some hard times, but that ain't no excuse. Randy had to fire him.”
"When was this?"
"Oh, I’d say three or four days ago. It’s a shame. Ray was a good mechanic. He’d only been working here a few weeks. Maybe a month. I suspect he got fired from his previous job for the same thing."
“You know where he was working before?”
“Carlo’s Customs.”
"Thanks for the info," I said.
"Is Ray in some kind of trouble?"
"Could be.”
She laughed. "Now you’ve gotmycuriosity piqued.”
"Tell you what, if he's guilty, I'll give you a call, and you'll be the first to know."
"Well, thank you, darling. I look forward to your call.”
