Page 39 of The Burnt
“Nope. But that doesn’t mean it might not belong to the man in the brown coat. Maybe this time he parked it a couple of blocks away so it wouldn’t be noticed. Crooks do that, you know.”
“Katherine, you’re a one-woman neighbourhood watch.”
“I should have thought of it before. I figured you might like to see a picture.”
Declan’s eyes widened. “You took a picture of the car?”
Katherine nodded. “Pure dumb luck. On the day Archie died, that car was parked under a burnt-out street light that I’ve been complainin’ to the city about for weeks. I took the picture of the pole so I could report it for a repair. Then, after this morning’s encounter I got to thinkin’ about that car and the photo, and… Let me show you.”
She opened up her phone and scrolled through a few pictures. “Ah, here it is.”
Katherine turned the phone toward Declan and zoomed in on the car. It was an early 2000 model Chevy Impala. What was most significant was the licence plate—clearly visible.
“And that was parked there on the day of the murder?” he clarified.
She nodded.
“You didn’t happen to get a picture of the man in the brown coat, did you?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a smartass. But now that you say it, I wish I’d thought of it.”
“Can you send me a copy of this picture?”
She passed him the phone. “You do it.”
Declan found his number in her recent contacts and sent himself a text with the photo attached, then handed the phone back to her.
“It might be nothin’,” Katherine said.
“Or it might be something important,” Declan said. “I promise I’ll check up on it for you. And if the man in the brown coat comes back…call the police. If he did have something to do with Archie’s murder, they need to know about it.”
Declan took a small sip of his drink. “I have to go, Katherine, but I’ll let you know if I find out anything more.”
Declan put on his shoes and headed back to his van. He should call the police with this, but it might be nothing and he wanted tocheck it out on his own first. Declan had connections that could run a plate and track down an address. And if it did turn out to be something important, he’d give Sawchuck a call. If nothing else, it gave him something to focus on until he heard back from Charlie.
Declan drove back to the office and walked slowly up the stairs. Mrs B was seated at her desk like she’d never been away. She looked up, “Charlie phoned and said he won’t be in for a bit.”
“Did he say how his grandmother is doing?”
“She’s stable, but he sounded very concerned. You might want to reach out to him.”
“I will,” Declan replied. “By the way, did you send Simon Griffin’s contract?”
“Yes, and he signed it back. A paper copy’s in the folder in Charlie’s filing cabinet.”
“Good. Please email Mr Griffin and tell him that Charlie will be in contact with him in the near future once he’s completed some preliminary work.”
Mrs B gave Declan a hard stare.
“Don’t give me that look. If Charlie’s not back in a few days, I’ll start digging into the case. But Charlie’ll be back soon… I know it.”
“You’re the boss,” she replied.
Declan went into his office and closed the door. He pulled out his phone and texted Charlie.
Take as much time off as you need.
He hit ‘send’, then realised he probably shouldn’t have mentioned work at all.
