“That can’t be a coincidence,” Bishop said.
Austin nodded grimly. “There are no coincidences in a murder investigation.”
“He robbed her,” Tucker said, and though neither of our guests turned, they both nodded. “The bastard made her withdraw a bunch of money, then he bit her.”
“Or, he bit her to scare her, then made her withdraw the money,” Bishop said, but I was already shaking my head.
Vance shrugged. “Or, he just happened to see her withdraw ten thousand dollars for some other reason, and he robbed and bit her.”
“There’s no way any of those things happened unless he bit her in human form. And most strays don’t even know that’s possible.” I could tell from the looks on their faces that neither Bishop nor Austin had known.
“We’ve been assuming there were two of them,” Austin said, confirming my suspicion. “Likely one in cat form.”
“That’s why you haven’t killed Nolan Blake.” Suddenly, accosting him in a public bar made more sense.
“We were trying to get him to come with us. For interrogation,” Bishop said. “We want him dead, but not before we know who else was involved.”
Austin sat straighter in his chair. “Though, you’re saying it’s possible thatno oneelse was involved?” He turned to Bishop before I could reply. “We would never have known that without their help.”
“I’m also saying it’s possible Nolan has nothing to do with this.” I’d only known him for a few months, and only as a bar patron, but I couldn’t imagine him biting and robbing a human woman. Especially a woman he knew to be related to the two vengeful gentlemen sitting in front of me, practically baying for his blood. “What footage are we talking about? What did it show?”
“Security footage,” Austin said. “I couldn’t get the bank’s footage without a warrant, and obviously no judge would issue a warrant based on a woman who died two days later of an infection apparently unrelated to her bank withdrawal. But the convenience store across the street had two cameras, and the night manager was more than willing to let me watch their footage when I caught him selling beer to a minor. One of their cameras showed Yvette entering the bank, then leaving ten minutes later.”
“And Nolan was with her?” Surely they would have led with that, if it were true.
“No. But two minutes before she arrived, an old blue Chevy pickup drove slowly past the bank. The same blue Chevy that’s sitting in your parking lot right now. One guess who it belongs to.”
FOUR
“Holy shit,” Vance whispered as the door clicked shut behind him. He sank into the guest chair Austin had just vacated, running one hand over his scalp. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah.” I pulled my bottom desk drawer open again and grabbed the tequila.
“We’ve investigated infection and murder before,” Vance said as I poured myself a shot. “But this…”
“Yeah.” I threw the drink back and slid the bottle and the glass toward him.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” he said as he poured one for himself.
“Not one bit.”
“Robbery at gunpoint?” He threw the shot back. “Sure. But at incisor-point? That seems complicated to pull off, and…unlikely.”
“And Nolan Blake?” I shook my head. “He’s not a thief.”
“And he’s certainly not a killer.”
“So then, why was he at the bank when Yvette withdrew ten grand?” I shrugged. “Maybe thereissuch a thing as coincidence in a murder investigation.”
“Or it wasn’t his truck. Surely Chevy made more than one blue truck.” Vance closed the bottle and pushed it back toward me. “We need to see that footage. To verify the model and year. And the license plate, with any luck.”
I nodded. “Titus will want to see it too.”
“And we need to talk to Nolan again.” Vance stood. “Want me to write up the report for Titus?”
“Yes, please.” He knew how much I hated paperwork. “But I’m going to go ahead and call him.”
“Now? You know you could just email him.”
