Page 73 of Pied Sniper

Maddox looked toward the parking garage and asked, “Do they know something?”

“Maybe, but not the identity of the kidnappers. Although…” I thought about it. If Solomon’s contact could identify the laser sight, could he identify the gun too? And if he could, would he know who owned one? I hoped so. Keeping my fingers crossed, I hoped it would turn out to be a rare and unusual weapon. “We came to ask about the weapon that might have been used in the abduction. I doubt we’ll get any amazing revelations but it might come in useful if you and Garrett make an arrest later.”

“A where-to-point-us-next clue? Works for me,” said Maddox. “Kind of weird that your contact lives across the street from this parking garage that might have been used by the perps.”

“What’s even weirder is that Solomon didn’t just park in there.”

“The garage is closed,” Maddox said, pointing to the barriers. “The guard says their electricity shorted out last night and none of the lights or the elevators work so they decided it wasn’t safe to open.”

“What about cameras?” I wondered.

“Similar electrical issue. Seems to be on the fritz more often than not. Farid is talking to the guard right now about getting any footage from the date on the ticket. I’m trying to figure out why someone would want to park there.”

“There are a lot of businesses in this area,” I said, glancing around. I could see a grocery store, a deli, a nice-looking wine shop, a pet store, a dentist and two hair stylists all on the block closest to me. The upper floors could contain apartments or offices too, but it was hard to tell.

“Before you ask, most of these shops have parking in the rear for their employees so I’m thinking whoever parked here was visiting one of the businesses.” Maddox’s gaze stretched across the street towards the gun range and I knew what he was thinking: did the perpetrators practice there? “It’s a longshot but I’m going to canvass the area and see what kind of security footage we can dig up. I’ll get the boyfriend and PA to take a look at any likely figures. See if anyone stands out.”

“Can you let us talk to the firing range owner before you question him?” I asked. “I can see you putting together an equation.”

“If it’s as simple as two plus two make four, then yeah. Doesn’t mean I’m right though. I can give you some grace but I will want to talk to him. I can see he has cameras and his records should be good.”

“I can mention it to him and perhaps they’ll be extra helpful?”

“Best not,” decided Maddox. “I’d rather our visit were a surprise.”

Solomon walked back to the full parking lot and raised one hand to wave. I wasn’t sure if it was a hello to Maddox or a tacit “move it” to me.

“Garrett said I should attend the press conference later,” I told Maddox. “He thinks someone might show up.”

“Sounds good. Our faces have been onscreen, but you’re still fairly anonymous.”

“Except for the people who identified me online as a first responder to Tiffany.”

“That’s only your name. Your face is still unknown. Plus, even if someone did know you were hired, they wouldn’t necessarily expect us to be working together. That works in our favor.”

“Someone might have identified me properly by then.”

“We’ve looked through the comments on Tiffany’s latest videos and all the chat about you dried up pretty fast. Mostly everyone’s speculating on whether she’s dead or not, and if her body will be found… and in what condition it might be if it is.”

“Disturbing. I also feel irrelevant but given the rest of the speculation, my feelings are irrelevant.”

“Your poor feelings,” said Maddox and for a moment, I thought he might pat me on the head.

“Did you speak to Flavia?” I enquired.

“Next on my list.”

“I’d better go now,” I said. “I’ll call you and tell you when we leave.”

“No need. I’ll notice. You’ll probably cause some kind of carnage on the way out.”

I huffed at that but crossed my fingers as I jogged across the street to where Solomon waited. “What’s he doing here?” he asked. “He didn’t follow us.”

“You have a very suspicious mind.”

“My businessissuspicion.”

“This is the location of the parking ticket you found at the apartment overlooking Tiffany’s. Do you think there’s a connection to the gun range? Maddox is considering it.”

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