Page 37 of Breaking Rules

Sam nodded, grabbing a chocolate glazed donut. “That’s the plan, but let’s give it some time to warm up. It’s frigid out there.”

Jo eyed Sam. “Are you sure you even want to? It’s been decades, and it’s a long shot there is anything there.”

Sam shrugged. “I know, but it’s been bugging me, and you know how I hate to leave any stone unturned.”

The team gathered around the box of donuts, sipping their coffee. Lucy watched each bite intently, her tail wagging in anticipation of a crumb falling her way. Major sat perched on the edge of the filing cabinet as if paying attention to the conversation.

Sam leaned forward, his expression serious. “Before we get started, I need to fill you all in on something Mick discovered about the Eric Feldman case.”

The team exchanged curious glances as Sam continued. “It turns out there was an investigation into a loan between the bank and Convale, and all the records were destroyed in the robbery explosion.”

Kevin’s eyes widened. “You think the robbery might have been a cover-up for the fact they wanted those records destroyed?”

Sam shrugged. “Maybe. It’s convenient, but we don’t have any positive proof. It’s all just hearsay right now.”

“Do you think this is related to Alex’s murder?” Wyatt asked.

Sam held up a hand. “I’m not sure, and it’s not something we should be focusing on right now. Our priority is finding Alex’s killer. We can’t spend too much time on this old case, but it’s something to keep in the back of our minds when considering motive.”

Reese handed a paper to Sam. “Joe from the crime lab faxed this over. They found some fingerprints on the suitcase and money we found at Alex’s. Some match Alex Sheridan, and some are unidentified.”

Sam looked at the paper and nodded. “Well, that doesn’t help much right now. Maybe if we can make an arrest, we’ll match those unknown prints.”

Reese nodded. “So what’s next?”

Sam stood up, grabbing a donut. “We’ll search the area the other money was found at this morning. It’s a long shot that we’ll find anything related to Alex’s case there, but I want to be thorough.”

“I got some coordinates from the files of the original case.” Reese licked a blob of cream from the side of her donut. “Put it on your desk.”

“Good work,” Sam said. “That will help narrow it down. And I invited Harry to join us. Figured he might remember something.”

“I fired up the metal detector earlier. Works fine.” Wyatt pointed to a gizmo leaning in the corner. They didn’t use the department metal detector too often, but Sam figured it might come in handy this time.

“Sounds good. That should help with this snow cover.”

“I found something interesting too…” Wyatt wiped his hands with a napkin and headed back behind his desk. “About Amelia Donovan.”

Sam raised a brow. “Oh?”

Wyatt leaned forward, his expression serious. “Amelia has some trouble with the law. A restraining order was taken out against her a few years ago. Turns out she might be a bit of a stalker. The restraining order was from a boyfriend that tried to break up with her.”

Sam rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe Amelia didn’t just want Alex’s job. Maybe there was more.”

“And maybe that explains why she wasn’t around yesterday,” Jo said. “I’d be curious to see if she’s in today.”

“Right. Don’t want to jump to conclusions. She really could have just taken the day off,” Sam said.

Jo sipped her coffee. “Sure, but there’s another thing too. Remember Amelia mentioned something about Alex drinking and smoking cigars with his grandfather?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, thought that was weird.”

“How would she know that if she didn’t know Alex a lot better than she says she did?” Jo asked.

“Good point. Guess she would have had to know him on a personal level to be with him and his grandfather,” Sam said.

“Unless she just ran into them around town,” Wyatt interjected.

“So you never got to ask Amelia why she lied about being at the Drunken Moose the night Alex was killed?” Kevin asked.

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