“No,” he shouted. “Ask again, and I leave. Now. What is your favorite color?”
I bit my lip. “Green but I like pink a lot, too. What kind of car do you own?”
His eyes lit up. “A new Buick. Real fancy. You like fancy cars?”
“I truly do.” A newer car would have GPS in it, right? Oh, I had to get out of there.
Charles paused. “Wait a minute. If you don’t know where I live, how have you taken care of Snuffles?”
“Snuffles?” I frowned. “Who?”
“My baby.” His voice rose. “Oh God. Who has fed her? Oh no. You have to go let her out. She’s been in the house this whole, time? Oh, my baby.” He stood, his voice getting even louder. An orderly built like a building pushed off the far wall.
I held up my hand. “I’ll go right now. Give me your address and tell me how to get into your house.”
He calmed. Slightly. “Use the key under the pot by the front door.” Then he gave his address. His home was across the street from Thelma and Georgiana’s.
This case was finally coming together.
Chapter 35
Icalled Nick as I drove toward the retirement community.
“Basanelli.” He answered on the third ring.
“Hey. It’s Anna. I have permission to enter Charles Monroe’s apartment and feed his animal, who I’m assuming is a dog since it needs to be let out. Monroe seemed lucid when he asked me. Can I do this without a warrant?” I thought I could but needed to double check.
Nick was quiet for a second. “Yeah, there are exigent circumstances with an animal that has been left alone. You have valid concerns about its safety, and you do have permission from its owner.”
I didn’t like that I was thinking like a lawyer and not somebody concerned solely about the animal, so I sat with that for a moment. If we got the drugs off the streets, it’d save lives. Still, I wished for the luxury of just worrying about the pooch and not about evidence admissibility in trial. “If I check the GPS on his car, I might be able to find where the Beast lab is.” I filled Nick in on everything Monroe had said.
The pause was longer this time. “You will need a warrant for the GPS information. I’ll have Celeste type up the application and affidavit for you first thing tomorrow morning. You’ll have to take it to a judge since I’m heading up to Boundary county to handle several arraignments we can’t put off any longer.”
“Which judge should I ask?” I asked.
He exhaled. “Judge Hallenback is the easiest since he’s gone off the deep end, but you can only use him if he’s in the office. Since there might be some question as to your getting the information from a guy in the psych ward, I’d go for him. Anybody else might deny the warrant, and we really need to find that lab.”
Nick was right, but this felt kind of shady. Was the end result justified if it kept a dangerous drug off the street, or is that just how we lived with our decisions? “Okay,” I murmured. “I’ll check out the dog before heading home tonight.”
“Is the cop still on you?” Nick asked.
I looked in my rearview mirror to see Bud right behind me. “Yep.”
“Good. Devlin is back on the street. Pierce had a tail on him, but he lost the guy within five minutes.”
I swallowed. “I’m in no danger from Aiden.”
“Until you are,” Nick returned. “Don’t forget that Devlin has had more than his share of assault charges. Two with deadly weapons.”
I rubbed my aching temple. “That goes against everything I know about him.”
“That’s just it. You haven’t seen the guy in twelve years. You don’t know a thing about him.” Nick hissed out a breath.
I drove into the retirement community, impressed again by the organized landscaping. “I know.” I felt like I knew Aiden. Did I? “Let’s fight about that later.”
“Fine. By the way, I’ve finished interviewing all of the prosecuting attorneys and have now fired them. They can re-apply if they want. The DEA is still conducting interviews with former staff, and you’re up next. They want to talk to you about Scot, of course,” Nick said.
He’d fired everybody on a Sunday? What a butthead. “Of course.”
