Page 11 of Deep Tide

Nicole stepped into the office and pulled the door shut behind her. Emmet occupied the only chair. He still looked hungover, but the supersize Mountain Dew in his hand was probably helping.

“I talked to that witness again,” Nicole said, following up on the conversation she’d had with Brady over the phone. “The surf shop manager clocked in at five twenty-two. Didn’t see any activity in the alley at that time.”

“She’d probably been there awhile by that point,” Emmet said. “I talked to one of the ME’s people, and he estimated the body had been there about twelve hours, give or take.”

“How’s the evidence looking?” Brady asked Nicole.

“Well—” She darted a glance at Emmet because she didn’t want to step on whatever he’d already reported. “We found the victim’s purse in the dumpster behind the café. The keys were there, along with a wallet that had her ID in it, but no cash and no credit cards. No cell phone either, just some makeup. So at this point—and it’s preliminary—it’s looking like maybe a robbery that got out of hand.”

“And the murder weapon?”

According to the ME’s people, the victim had been stabbed in the back—a fact Brady had probably already learned.

“We’re still searching for the knife.” She glanced at Emmet. “Last I heard, we hadn’t found it.”

“We combed a four-block radius,” Emmet said. “Dumpsters, trash bins, everything. Nothing turned up, so we think he took it with him.”

Brady leaned back in his chair and frowned. “So, you’re thinking she was killed over cash and credit cards? How much money would a twenty-five-year-old barista likely have on her?”

It was a good point, one that had been bugging Nicole all morning.

“Probably not a lot,” she said.

“What about the café?” He looked at Emmet. “You said the register was full?”

“That’s what Siena told me,” Emmet replied. “She’s one of the shift managers. They were short-staffed yesterday because of the wedding. Then a couple of people called in sick—Wade Tallow and Rachel somebody or other—”

“Davies,” Nicole put in. “I interviewed her at her apartment several hours ago.”

Emmet nodded. “This girl Rachel was supposed to take the wedding cake to the reception venue and then work the party, but she came down with a stomach bug and asked Amelia to do it.”

“And she never made it over there,” Brady stated.

“That’s right,” Nicole confirmed. “According to Rachel, Amelia was working by herself yesterday afternoon because everyone else was either out sick or helping with the wedding. So, Rachel told her to close up a few minutes early and take the cake over there around six.”

Brady frowned as he listened to all this.

“From the looks of it, the victim was surprised in the alley behind the building as she was closing up shop,” Emmet said.

“In broad daylight,” Brady said, still sounding skeptical.

“Apparently.”

“Any drugs on her? Drug paraphernalia?” the chief asked.

Nicole shook her head. “No.”

“And no obvious sign of sexual assault,” Emmet added.

Of course, they wouldn’t know for sure until they heard from the medical examiner.

Nicole looked at Brady. “When is the autopsy?”

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk. “I just got off the phone with the ME. It’s scheduled for oh seven hundred.”

Emmet’s eyebrows shot up. “He couldn’t do it today?”

“He’s got his hands full with a pair of traffic fatalities.”

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