Page 14 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

“Me too, kiddo. Me too.”

Donovan followed right on our heels, but interestingly enough, Borrowman was halfway in Carol’s doorway, asking her to join us. If he was asking for her, then there was something wonky going on here. More than I already knew, anyway.

Borrowman had been on a weight loss journey, and I could tell it was working since he appeared trimmer. I think he’d gotten a haircut recently, too, as his dark hair was gelled. He looked sharp in his dark navy suit and well rested.

“Borrowman.”

He turned, giving me a wave. “Hey, Bane. Oh, who’s this?”

“This is Abby, my apprentice.”

“Ah-ha,” he intoned, offering a hand to her. “We meet at last. I’ve heard lots of things about you, Abby.”

“Me too.” She shook hands, a delighted smile on her face, but then, she knew in a glance Borrowman was good people. She’d dressed for work today in a jean skirt and white button-down, but I could tell Borrowman saw a teenager, not a psychic on thejob. “Nice to finally meet you. Will you help us with Dwayne’s case?”

“That’s the goal. I understand you were the one who first spotted him?”

“I was.” Abby’s chest thrust out. She was very proud of herself.

As she should be.

We congregated in the conference room, and that was when I had to sigh. There were at least eight boxes full of evidence and reports, all waiting to be gone through. I wanted Dwayne out of prison, I really wanted that, but looking at this mountain of paperwork to slough through made me want to binge watch a show or something.

Abby hadn’t seen a full case record yet and she stopped dead in her tracks. “Allthat’s case related?”

“Yup. Got a few more boxes in the car, actually.”

“I can give you a hand,” Donovan offered, to the surprise of no one.

“Sure. Let’s haul them in.”

Abby looked like she’d just been given a final project, due in two days, with no warning or prep. Which was pretty much the case.

I put an arm around her shoulders and guided her to a chair. “Here’s the thing they never accurately show on TV. Crimes produce paper. All the paper. Boxes and boxes of paper. A small case will produce about a thousand pages of reports.”

The way Abby looked at me, she really, really wanted me to be exaggerating. Her eyes pleaded for me to stop joking.

“I wish I was kidding, but that’s the fact of it. I kinda expected this much to go through, but…” I looked around at the boxes, knowing more were coming, and sighed from the depths of my tired soul. “It’s going to take a while. Fortunately, we have a team of people to do it.”

Borrowman and Donovan came back, Donovan carrying three boxes to Borrowman’s one because he was sexy and strong that way. I loved it when he did something like this and I could watch all those lovely muscles flexing. Yum.

Whoops, better stop, couldn’t be drooling over him in the office.

Carol came out of her office at a speed walk, dress flapping around her ankles as she moved. She wore heels to offset her short stature, and she was actually wearing makeup today and had attempted to tame her brown curls. Ohhh, in her lines I saw she had a date later today. Made more sense why she was so dressed up.

“Carol, they tell you anything about this?” Borrowman asked as he set the box down on one of the only clear spots on the table.

“Basics. Dwayne’s innocent of the crime, and we’re working a cold case. Pretty much all I got.” She huffed bangs out of her face and sighed. “I really need a haircut. Anyway, can I have a CliffsNotes version?”

Abby perked up as well.

“I didn’t work this case, so CliffsNotes is about all I can offer.” Borrowman sat at the head of the table, a resigned air about him. His line of determination pulsed, growing stronger. “First thing, this case was Solomon’s.”

Carol groaned and flopped over the table. “Noooooo.”

“Sorry. I’m not thrilled either.”

I’d been sidetracked before I could fully fill Abby in on Solomon, so I did that now. “We have a long, long history with Detective Solomon and none of it is good. He’s the type who grasps at straws and leaps to conclusions, so most of the cases he’s worked end with him arresting the wrong person. Usually, someone is able to untangle the mess and let the innocent party go, but not always. That’s how we have situations like Dwayne’s.”

---