Or dick-sy.
“Anyway,” Ethan offered, “maybe the person worked with sugar, and it transferred?”
Gene didn’t think so.
“It was hot sugar. So it wouldn’t be transferred. It would be contact from something hot—plus don’t forget the sand.”
How could he?
It was chaos.
“The ME said it was so deeply in the clothes that it wasn’t washed away by ocean water. That’s a hardcore transfer.”
Yes, yes, it is.
Gene was curious, and wanted to make sure he wasn’t making a huge mistake. Their lives depended on his gut being accurate.
“What else did you find out about Maria Barada?” he asked, hoping she might be able to tell them who was targeting her.
Ethan shared.
“She’s legit into Voodoo. She has a business page on social media, and allows partial access to look into her personal life. She’s got money. As someone who likes expensive shoes and clothes, she’s wearing designer things as she’s handing out Vampire’s Erections in her club.”
Gene thought about that.
“Did you know that most bars and restaurants fail within the first two years. It’s something like ninety-four percent of them.”
Ethan knew where he was taking this.
That meant she had an influx of capital to keep it afloat.
“You think that it’s a front?” he asked. “You think maybe Esmerelda isn’t on the up and someone isn’t actually after her, but someone she’s hiding?”
He shrugged.
“Like with any of our cases, we need to figure that part out. It makes sense, but we need to find the evidence to say that.”
Yes, yes, they did.
Ethan looked around.
“Anything up here?” he asked. “You said only condoms and no porn. Anything like a boyfriend or girlfriend?”
Gene shook his head.
“Nah, Jarod was either celibate, or he was married to his job. The cops did say he was theONLYdecent agent here—which likely freaked the killer out.”
Ethan was staring at the wall and shaking his head.
“What?” he asked.
Ethan explained.
“It sucks that he was likely killed because he was good at his job. They probably didn’t want him to catch on to what was going on, and by killing him, they assumed it would be one of the other agents—who supposedly aren’t great at their jobs—toget the case. All the killing is sometimes overwhelming. I think I need a vacation from our vacation.”
He laughed.
Why?
