“I’m on my way there now.”
“The cops already have samples,” her daughter pointed out.
“True, but after careful consideration, I believe it’s in my best interest to appear like I’m trying to help, to assist in the investigation.”
“You want me to go with you?”
“It’s your call. I’m sure the cops are gonna ask me a bunch of questions.”
“Between the two of us, maybe we’ll have the answers.”
“True. You were there during the engagement party.” Carlita told her she was around the corner and would pull into the alley to wait for her.
Zigzagging through the back streets, she arrived in a flash and found Mercedes standing on the stoop waiting for her mother. As soon as she stopped, her daughter hopped in. “That was fast.”
“So were you,” Carlita said. “I haven’t seen much of Autumn lately. How’s she doing?”
“Good. Busy. I haven’t seen much of her either.”
“And the tenants? Cool Bones, Bubba, both are happy with no issues?”
“None at all. Bubba is quiet. Cool Bones, you know how he likes to play his saxophone. I guess it doesn’t bother our new resident because he hasn’t complained.”
Carlita told her how she’d noticed classical music coming from his apartment the day she stopped by to check on him.
“I heard it too. He doesn’t seem like a classical music kind of guy.”
“Do you know what he does?” Carlita asked.
“I think I heard but don’t remember. The company he works for has a weird name.”
“Southern Subterranean Group. He told me he’s an underground mechanic.”
“Subterranean means underground. Maybe he digs tunnels.”
“He can give Elvira a few pointers,” Carlita joked. “On second thought, she’s cooled her jets on searching for treasure in the tunnels. We might be better off keeping quiet.”
“Maybe he’s a miner.”
“Mining what?” Carlita changed the subject. “Did Dernice mention Elvira hacking into the hospital’s surveillance recordings? We have a lead on a potential suspect.”
“Yeah. A woman with a tattoo. She said you were going to Sonny’s brother’s place later to try to find out how he died.” Mercedes told her how Dernice thought maybe the hooded figure was a member of the bike club. “It’s possible if she was the last person to visit Sonny before he died.”
“Elvira and I were his last visitors. Regardless, if we can find out what killed him, we might be able to figure out who. My money is on the hooded person.”
“Or hospital negligence. Sonny’s condition was improving and then, bam.” Mercedes slapped her palms together. “He dies under suspicious circumstances.”
“It’s a thought. We’re here.” Carlita turned into the parking lot. “I’ll be right back.” She ran inside, thinking it would only take a minute to pick up the samples.
There was some confusion at the front desk, and at one point Carlita thought they had accidentally disposed of them. Finally, the woman she’d talked to on the phone, the one who had given her the test results, stepped into the lobby.
Carlita explained who she was. “You promised to hold on to the samples. Hopefully, you didn’t dispose of them.”
“I put them off to the side, waiting to hear back from you.” The lab worker stepped out of the room. When she returned,she was carrying a large paper bag. “All the samples are here. I checked.”
“Thank you.” Carlita exited through the front and returned to her car. She set the samples on the floor behind the driver’s seat and climbed in.
“What took you so long?”
