Page 33 of Pied Sniper

I knew he wanted me to say Solomon, or Delgado, or someone with police or military training like they had. But sometimes, another perspective was needed. “Lily,” I said.

“You betcha!” yelled Lily.

Garrett sighed. “I should have guessed.”

“Do you want me to bring her to the police station too?”

“No!” yelled Garrett.

“I’m hurt,” said Lily softly with a toss of her hair.

“You’ve hurt her feelings now,” I relayed into the phone.

“Then I won’t rub salt into it by telling her to butt out. I’m only inviting you because you’re a PI and Tiffany’s manager hired you.”

“Aww. I’m one of you!”

“The hell you are,” said Garrett.

“Fine, I won’t come.” I pouted at Lily and she stuck her tongue out.

“I would appreciate your expertise as a PI and someone on the right side of the law…” Garrett trailed off with a mumble I couldn’t be sure I heard correctly.

“Did you just say ‘this time’?” I asked.

“Call me when you’re on the way!” said Garrett, brighter now.

“Wait. Any other developments before I go?”

“Here? If there were, would I… Scratch that. I might as well tell you. We found the van the kidnappers used. It was abandoned in an alley five miles from the apartment. They bought it for cash a couple months ago from a small plumbing firm that went out of business but no one registered it. I figure it must have sat in a garage all this time while they made their plans.”

“That’s a lot of time to iron out the details. Is it too much to ask if the alley had any cameras?”

“None. It’s behind an unused strip mall slated for redevelopment. The kidnappers were careful. Like you said, they took plenty of time to plan.”

“Did any cameras pick up the vehicles nearby?”

“There’re a few cameras within a mile but with that volume of traffic? Nothing concrete. I figure they swapped it with a generic-looking vehicle that wouldn’t stand out. A car with a big enough trunk, which could be any. We got the van on camera heading towards Tiffany’s place but there’s only the driver. He’s wearing a cap and gloves, possibly a wig, and a face mask like people who get sick and don’t want to spread their germs. Like I said, they were very careful.”

“I appreciate the update.”

“Call me when you’re on your way in.”

I agreed before I hung up. Lily fired up the engine and we pulled out into the street. As she drove, I filled Lily in on what my brother said, just in case she hadn’t heard every single word.

“That still doesn’t explain how they got herintothe vehicle,” said Lily. “Or where it was parked. You’d think he would have given you that information too.”

“Good point. I was so interested in what he did tell me that I failed to ask about the rest. I guess it didn’t seem important once he told me they identified the vehicle and knew how she’d been moved. Otherwise, I would have asked about her car but I guess her kidnappers ignored it.”

As Lily drove, I continued to scroll through her phone screenshots she took of comments on Tiffany’s last video. “People say some really weird stuff,” she remarked. “Like one person who said if Tiffany weren’t so selfish and got married and lived with a husband, this never would have happened! Another one said it served her right for flaunting her wealth until everyone made retaliation comments to that person.”

“I bet they don’t even use their real names to post that stuff.” I zoomed in; I was right. Most comments came from anonymous-sounding handles. LittlePinkBear893 was particularly vicious.

“Most don’t. I guess it’s easier to say mean stuff if no one knows who you are.”

“I never understood that. Why not just own your mean disposition?”

“But that would mean admitting they’re mean. Find the one that says ‘Haha hope you die and your funeral is a hot mess LOLZ’. LOLZ! Who says LOLZ in that context? What is there to laugh about?”

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