Page 32 of Steal My Heart

“But there’s new evidence,” the officer said. The guy looked like he should be wearing diapers rather than a uniform. Hilliard wanted to tell Babycakes to keep quiet, but he decided to instruct him instead.

“Of a crime that Brian has already been convicted of, and you can’t try someone for the same crime twice.” Hilliard was getting miffed with the rookie. “Grant, I suggest you talk now.”

“We wanted to speak with Brian about what we found,” he said.

Hilliard shrugged. “I’ll see if he wants to speak with you.” He debated about letting them inside and decided against it. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’m here,” Brian said, wearing the same clothes he had last night as he stepped outside. “What is it you needed? I know no more than I did when I called you last night once I found the silver thing in my drawer. I didn’t put it there, and like Hilliard said, it wouldn’t matter if I did.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot, clearly nervous. “I didn’t commit that burglary in the first place.”

“Yes, I know that,” Grant said. “It’s becoming clear that someone wanted to shift eyes back to you.”

“You believe this guy?” Babycakes said.

“Yes, I do. I’ve seen the evidence, and he wasn’t here when the burglary took place. He was out with his grandfather.” Based on the look Grant gave him, Hilliard guessed that Babycakes would need a pacifier after the chewing-out he was going to get. “There’s video proof, so put your own hasty conclusions aside and listen. You might learn something.”

Babycakes snapped his mouth shut.

“Then what do you need?” Brian asked softly. Hilliard stood next to him and placed a hand gently at the base of his back.There was no way Hilliard was going to let Brian think he was in this alone. Besides, just the fact that Brian was going through this at all made him angry. He wanted to stand in front of him to protect him from everything the world had to throw his way.

“This seems very personal to me, and I’m trying to figure out who might have been able to do this,” Grant said, and Hilliard rolled his eyes. “I know you think it’s the original thief, but they would be much better off to simply keep their head down and wait for this whole thing to pass.”

Hilliard cleared his throat. “Look, I think your logic is off. For most crimes, you would look in that direction, but not this one. Have you been able to confirm that this was one of the items stolen?” Grant nodded. “Good. Then there is hope that Violet will get more of her things back. But this also tells us that the thief is close to Violet. She’s been ill and isn’t going out of the house. That’s what Beverly tells me. So someone close enough to her, who might visit when she’s ill, could be the one we’re after. We have a talk with her and explain what we have that will prove that Brian didn’t commit the burglary, and suddenly something that had been stolen shows up in his drawer? Then Babycakes here is off on a tirade to arrest someone he can’t. You’re all looking the wrong way again, spinning your wheels, and the thief gets away with it once more.” He was getting more than a little pissed off.

“Grant, everything I know I told you last night,” Brian said gently. “I don’t have any sudden insights, but I have to admit that I keep wondering who could hate me so much that they would do this to me.” He sighed softly. “I never stole from anyone, and yet the police, the courts, all of them decided that I did, and I paid for that. My lawyer sucked, and I had no idea then. I did what he told me to do, and I spent time behind bars for a crime I didn’t commit. So Hilliard and I are going to keep shaking the trees.”

“You should leave police work to the professionals,” Babycakes chimed in.

Brian scowled. “Right, because you’re a real rocket scientist.” Damn, Brian had a real set of claws. “I did that last time and look what happened.” The tension between them was as thick as the fog outside.

“That’s enough. Go sit on the car,” Grant told Babycakes, and he stalked away.

“Where did they find him?” Brian snapped.

Grant rolled his eyes. “It’s my job to train him and keep him out of trouble. I think he’s going to be the reason I retire.”

Hilliard shook his head. “Let me guess: Babycakes there is the sheriff’s nephew?” He couldn’t help smiling.

Grant hummed. “Sheriff’s wife’s nephew. I know it sounds like a bad sitcom, but in this case, life is stranger than fiction, and he’s all mine.” He turned to leave. “We’ll keep on this.”

“Thanks. So will we,” Hilliard said. “We’ll let you know if we find out anything concrete. Right now, I have a whole bunch of hunches but nothing to back any of them up.”

Grant nodded. “Me too. Pick the most likely, test the waters, and see if it pans out. If not, move on to the next one. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and there are a couple of things I’ve learned. Sometimes hunches are right, but above all, follow the evidence… and the money. I’ve been trying to figure out who might have stood to gain from this theft, and that has left me stumped. No one seems to have come into extra cash, and the goods haven’t hit the market as far as we can tell. Though I have to admit that with San Francisco and Los Angeles just hours way, goods come and go, disappearing into the city.”

“True, and yet they end up in Brian’s possession, which means that some of them are still around,” Hilliard said. “Thank you for stopping by. If we find anything, we’ll keep you informed.” He saw him to the door.

Grant stepped out and began laughing. “Babycakes. I can’t wait for that to get around the department.” He continued laughing until Hilliard closed the door.

“That was weird.” Hilliard was still trying to see the reason for the visit in the first place.

“Why? When it comes to this burglary and me, I’ve pretty much concluded that nothing is weird.”

Hilliard sat down in the chair nearest the door. “No matter what happens, you can’t be arrested or charged with a burglary that you’ve already been tried for. Grant knows that.”

“Then why even come here with such a flimsy excuse?” Brian asked. “To harass me?” He sighed.

“Maybe to give the sheriff’s nephew a lesson in keeping his mouth shut,” Hilliard said. “Babycakes seems hotheaded, and obviously Grant knew there was nothing the police could do right now. But Babycakes had his undies in a twist, and now he’s going back to the station with a new nickname he is going to spend years trying to live down.” That was worth the morning visit alone. “What do you have to do today?”

“Thankfully, I’m busy. I have two stops to make for estimates. It seems that word really is getting around, and people are believing it.”

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