Brand’s cellphone pinged and he swiped the screen to view his text messages. “Hanks says he can meet with us in fifteen minutes and to send Swede all the surveillance footage, including the information we have on Monte Adams so he can run background checks on Adams that we can’t get access.”
“I’ll get the conference area set up for the meeting,” Loverboy said.
“Do I have all the files on Adams to send to Swede?” Brand asked.
“I think I still have a zip file that I collected that you’ll need,” Rookie said and he went to his computer and typed a few keystrokes before coming back. “You should have it now.”
“What if after us focusing so hard on Adams it turns out not to be him?” Jett asked. “What if we find out we’re back at square one?”
No one spoke for a few moments, but the looks exchanged were grim.
Finally, Brand spoke up. “Let’s not go there. All the evidence has pointed toward it being Adams. He had motive, Reilly was the one who got him thrown off the force.”
“But why wait so many years before acting on it?” Rookie asked. “Five from the time he was dismissed until Flynn was killed.”
“Opportunity.” The single word came from Jett’s mouth captured their attention. “Sometimes it takes the right opportunity for someone to act. Maybe if we hadn’t been going to play the exhibition game at the arena where Adams worked as a security guard none of this would have happened. But we werethere two times a week practicing since July, getting our skill set honed for one night’s game.”
“That was two more times a week than he’d seen Flynn since he was kicked off the force,” Loverboy said, finishing the set up.
“Exactly,” Jett said. “And Adams was always hanging around the rink watching us practice. Or it seemed that way. Maybe he was really fixated on Flynn, coming up with a plan to get rid of him.”
“I hate to play devil’s advocate,” Rookie said. “But what if this is all conjecture?”
“We’ll know soon enough,” Brand broke in as the monitor on the wall lit up and the face of Hank Patterson came into focus. “Good morning, Hank. How are things out in Montana?”
“We’re already digging out from under a foot of snow,” Hank said. “The kids are already out building snowmen this morning with my Pop. What about Chicago?”
“Cold and blistery as usual,” Wyatt replied.”
“Sounds like we’ll both be having white Christmases this year. Now about this homicide you have on your hands. It’s an unusual situation from the information you’ve provided us.”
“That it is,” Brand said. “We thought it was an accident, but within a few hours the situation escalated to suspicious and then when the Medical Examiner called it a homicide, we were floored.”
Swede walked into view, taking a seat at a computer in the background raising his arm and waving at them.
“Hey Swede, great to see you again,” Loverboy called.
Hank adjusted the video camera to allow for him to be seen more easily from their end. “And you are liking this on ex-officer for the murder, yet he claims he’s innocent?”
“That’s pretty much sums it up,” Rookie said. “We saw for ourselves that he didn’t have the tattoo that the guy in thesurveillance had, but we also know there could be explanations for this.”
“Of course there can,” Swede said.
“Don Juan is out checking with local tattoo parlors to make sure none of them remember the guy visiting to get one,” Wyatt explained.
“I’m pulling financials and phone records,” Swede said. “It won’t take long. Have you considered make up coverup? They make really good stuff that hides birthmarks and scars these days.”
“We have,” Loverboy said. “Why do you ask?”
“Because he’s been buy that stuff,” Swede said, flashing his familiar grin.
“How do you know?” Rookie asked.
“His credit card statement shows he’s purchased it twice since July,” Swede said. “What other reason could he have for doing that unless he was covering up something like a scar or tattoo?”
They heard the tap, tap, tapping of the keyboard and then Swede chuckled. “Found it.”
Hank walked over to stand behind him and look at the computer screen. “Ah. His job.”
