Vero looked doubtful. “Iftheymissed a lead, how are we supposed to find it?”
“I think we need to figure out who placed that anonymous call.”
CHAPTER 7
Vero and I hovered over her laptop in the kitchen an hour later. The YouTube logo framed Riley and Max’s faces on the screen. We had watched every episode we could find related to the Dupree murder, including the most recent one in which Riley and Max revealed the details of Mrs. Dupree’s secret affair with the “newest suspect in the case.”
“We can’t just post a comment under their video asking them who their anonymous source is,” I pointed out.
Vero drummed her nails. “I say we show up at that little shit’s dorm, tie him to a chair, and beat the answer out of him.” She turned to look at me. When I didn’t outright reject the idea, she bolted out of her seat. “I’ll get the duct tape. You figure out where he lives.”
“Sit,” I said, pushing her back down into her chair. I glanced at the living room, where Cam and Mrs. Haggerty were engrossed in their game, careful to keep my voice down. “I’m not suggesting we resort to violence, but maybe the threat of violence isn’t the worst idea.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Riley and Max aren’t going to reveal their source without the right motivation. What would motivate two podcasters who are desperate to become famous?”
“The promise of two black eyes and several broken teeth?”
“A lead for a story that no one else has reported on.” I pointed out a phone number at the bottom of the screen. “Do you still have the burner phone you bought when we were at the police academy?” Vero nodded. “I think it’s time we phone in an anonymous tip.”
“What are you going to do? Make up a crime?”
I shook my head. “It needs to be a real one. If Riley and Max have connections within the police department, they might vet the lead. If they suspect it was a crank call, they won’t bother showing up.”
“What about those warehouse murders last year? No one was convicted.”
“Only because the guy who did it got off on a technicality. We need a cold case. Something that promises a big payoff if these two can solve it.”
Vero’s eyes locked on mine. A familiar spark lit inside them.
“No,” I said, slapping my laptop closed. “I know what you’re thinking,” I whispered, “and we are not calling Riley and Max with a lead on Ike Grindley’s case.”
“Why not? They were obsessed with it! They’ll jump at the chance to investigate the missing nephew of a dead loan shark from New Jersey. And the investigation here has already gone cold. The police in New Jersey are taking the lead on it now. What do we have to lose?”
“You really need me to answer that? We watched the man get crushed by a car, Vero!”
“He was trying to murder us!” she hissed over the squeal of tires coming from the television.
“That doesn’t negate the fact that we asked the Russian mob to get rid of his body!”
“Exactly! We can tell Riley and Max anything we want because no one’s ever going to find him. Think about it,” she whispered. “We know things about Ike’s case that were never revealed to the public. Riley and Max will definitely fall for it. It’ll be like taking candy from a baby.”
I chewed on that as I gnawed on my thumbnail. On one hand, I could see this playing out exactly as Vero had described it. On the other, given our intimate knowledge of Ike Grindley’s death, it felt like too much of a risk to take.
“This could actually work in our favor, Finlay. Ifwecome up with the lead,wecontrol the narrative. And if we wear disguises, Riley and Max will never know who they’re dealing with. We’ll make them surrender their phones as a security measure, copy the data, feed them a false lead, and send them on a wild goose chase to New Jersey. At the very least, it gets them out of our hair.”
I threw up my hands. “Fine.”
Vero leapt out of her chair and raced to her bedroom. She hurried back down with her burner phone in her hand. She typed the podcast’s tip number into a text message and handed me the phone. My fingers hovered over the keys as I considered what to say.
“Where should we meet them?” I asked. It couldn’t be anyplace we could be tied to. Or anywhere someone might accidentally stumble upon us. A remote farm in a distant county seemed like the safest option.
I started typing.
There’s more to the Grindley case than the feds are letting on. Meet me where they found his car if you want to know more. Tonight. 10pm.
Vero looked down her nose at me. “Ten o’clock?”
