“So someone lifted him between 8:45 and the argument the two men had at 10:10.
“Broad daylight. And yes, I already checked. No surveillance anywhere on the block.”
Pretty much what Tom expected. “Any other footprints from where we stopped.”
“Nope. I checked the side streets. A car may have picked them up. I’m canvassing all the businesses and houses in a three-block radius for witnesses and home cameras.”
“Sounds right. I’m going back out on patrol in a minute. I’ll poke around, too.”
Carmen sighed sharply, not containing her frustration. “She wants to help.”
“She told me. Tell her to keep monitoring social media and listen for chatter at school. Those kids can’t keep a secret, especially if more than one of them knows about it.”
“So you’ve concluded it’s kids?”
“The place to start around here is always with those responsible for the pranks. Any questions?”
“So she’s going to help?”
“In a way that keeps her out of trouble. When did you go to forensics school?”
“Two years ago.”
So more current than him. He needed to do something about the knowledge gap. “She’s in class now, but fresh eyes don’t hurt.”
Carmen snorted. “Professional eyes.”
“I’ll take educated community eyes if they get us there.” Tom pushed off from the door frame. “And Mia’s are learning eyes. Still useful.”
Carmen set her hands on her hips and stared down the hall, thinking it through. “Learning eyes. Great. Fine. I’ll work with that.”
Tom kept his face neutral. “Keep at it. I’m going to question Slade.”
“I talked to him.”
“Figured. I’m going to talk to him, too. You talk to Clem again. We’ll compare notes. Make sure you ask him who was in the restaurant during the time frame because this town is nosey. A patron may have seen something, but not thought anything about it.”
“Good point. Am I keeping Mia busy or sharing details?”
“We’ll share if it’s relevant. Did Matt get over to do prints?” Matt Parker had volunteered to learn the ropes so they could downsize their lab processing times.
“Yeah and brought in the cords that were helping Santa stand upright. Cut.”
“As soon as we get results, we’ll take the next steps.” Tom fished for his cell phone. “Anything else?”
“Nope.” She executed a nice pivot on her black ankle boots and walked away. Again, answer professional, walk had an attitude.
He glanced at his phone. Text message from Summer.Adelina tomorrow night okay?
Tom hesitated, then slipped his phone back in his pocket, trying to shove down the restlessness clawing at him. He hadn’t played his guitar in months – around the same time Summer took the long contract in Chicago.
He typed back a quick agreement to her plan before he could overthink it. Avoidance was easier than admitting his irritability wasn’t normal. Get it together, Applegate.
He shoved his phone deeper into his pocket. Hot chocolate sipped during the incoming cold front? Fine. Time with Summer? Always his favorite part of any day. A stolen Santa investigation going nowhere? Annoying, but it would shake loose eventually. Carols with rusty guitar skills and a voice to match?
Merry freaking Christmas.
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