Page 134 of Buried Too Deep

He looked up. “Stone can get it,” he said, interrupting whatever topic they’d transitioned to. Phin wasn’t sure how long his mind had been spinning, but he’d missed the first part of the new conversation. He’d apologize later. “The handwriting sample. Tandy knows about Stone and Delores, but her father doesn’t.”

“It’s a possibility,” Burke allowed. “We’ll have him go by the gallery tomorrow. The other option is Joy. I’ll find out if Patrick has signed a get-well card or something. I haven’t met the man yet, but is his body type consistent with the man who shot Joy? We can’t even find a full-body photo of him online. Only his driver’s license photo. You two saw him.” He gestured to Val and Phin. “What do you think?”

Phin and Val looked at each other, considering.

“I don’t think so,” Phin said slowly. That he was relieved was an understatement. If Patrick hadn’t shot Joy and stolen their laptops, maybe he wasn’t involved.

Or maybe he’d had help.

Val nodded her agreement, then sucked in a breath. “Shit. I didn’t think about this before, but his right hand trembled, too. Just a little. It was when he shook my hand goodbye when I was showing him to the door.”

“Fuck,” Phin muttered. “I keep hoping for Cora’s sake, but it doesn’t look good.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Burke said. “We need to confirm where he was exactly on Tuesday morning when Joy was shot and the laptops stolen. He told Cora he was out of town, but let’s follow up on that.”

Phin rubbed his face again. “Dammit, I didn’t want it to be him. That he could kill Cora’s father and then insinuate himself into her life…That’s scary-cold.”

“So cold,” Antoine agreed. “We may need to bring Clancy in on this, guys. If we ask Patrick these questions, he might bolt. If Clancy asks, he can have him confined to an interview room in NOPD headquarters. And if we don’t trust Clancy, we can bring André in.”

“Let’s start with Tandy,” Phin suggested. “If she leaves here angry that we’re asking about her father, she might tell him and he’ll still bolt.”

“Clancy might come to the same conclusion we did.” Val slid down in her chair, hands folded over her stomach. She resembled Burke in that moment and Phin might have laughed had the topic not been so serious. “Detective Goddard had to have told Clancy about the trace elements found on Jack Elliot’s pants and what they mean in terms of art restoration.”

“And Clancy isn’t stupid,” Phin said. “He might have already gone to the gallery to talk to Patrick himself.” He winced. “Tandy might be mad before she even gets here. If we’re going to get a handwriting sample, we should do it as soon as possible.”

“Hold on.” Burke took out his phone and dialed a number from his favorites list.

It rang twice before Joy’s voice came through the speaker. “I thought you’d forgotten about me, boss.”

Burke smiled. “Never gonna happen. How are you, Joy?”

“Fine,” Joy grumbled. “Ready to go home, but this doctor says I have to stay. What does he know, anyway?”

“Lots of stuff he learned in medical school?” Val ventured.

“Lotta nothin’,” Joy snapped, and then her voice softened. “Hey, Val. How’s that adorable boy of yours?”

Val smiled. “Elijah is good. He and Kaj were going to stop by and see you.”

“They did. Elijah brought me a stuffed coffee cup—a plush toy. He said that he knew how much I liked my coffee, but that the doctors wouldn’t let me have any. So he got me a substitute. I don’t even know where he’d get such a thing, but that boy sure is a cutie.”

“He is,” Burke said. “Have you had a lot of visitors?”

“Phin and that new lady friend of his stopped by,” Joy said cagily. “They were holding hands.”

“You’re too late with that gossip,” Phin said. “They already know.”

“We saw him kissing her,” Val said in a singsong voice. “We got the scoop on you, Joy.”

“Well, shit,” Joy muttered. “Taking away all my fun.”

“Who else came by, Joy?” Burke pressed.

There was a momentary pause, and then Joy must have taken them off speaker, because she became suddenly clearer. “Why?” she demanded. “What’s going on, Burke Broussard?”

“You really thought that line of questioning would work without making her suspicious?” Antoine asked Burke. “She’s way too smart for the likes of you, boss.”

“That is the truth, right there,” Joy said. “Who else is with you?”

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