Page 48 of Lion & Lamb

LION: Wouldn’t her employment history be in her rental application?

HINGSTON: If she were the one paying the bills, sure. But a private company takes care of it.

LION: Go on.

HINGSTON: What do you mean, go on? What else is there? I hardly know her, and you’d have to pay me a hell of a lot more than a grand if you want me opening up her personal files.

LION: I don’t need her files.

HINGSTON: What, then?

LION: Just tell me about her.

HINGSTON: I don’t know what you mean. Who cares what I think about her?

LION: When you see her walk through the lobby, what goes through your mind? Pretend I paid you a thousand dollars to tell me the truth.

HINGSTON: (Pause) Honestly? I think,Who does that bitch think she is?

LION: Well, that was candid.

HINGSTON: It’s not just me. Everybody here hates her. She’s a lousy tipper. And I don’t care how good-looking you are, that doesn’t give you permission to treat people like dirt. Swear to Christ, some of the people in this place are horrible human beings.

Chapter47

REPORT TO C. LAMB BY V. SUAREZ

Wednesday, January 26

(Sent with encryption and red-flagged, with delivery confirmation)

Take a look at the attached video clip and isolated frames, then come back to this document.

Yes, that is Francine Pearl Hughes in that video. (Rest assured, I used a facial-recognition program to confirm the match.)

I didn’t start out looking for Ms. Hughes in this particular location. I had been attempting to place her near the art museum on the night of the murder. I was not successful, so I expanded my search geographically and chronologically.Within minutes, I had a match elsewhere in the city, three days before the murder.

Details on the video:

Ms. Hughes and her male companion are on the 100 block of Chestnut Street, closer to Second Street, in front of a Belgian restaurant/brewpub. This was at 9:47, according to the time stamp from the surveillance camera.

I don’t know if Francine and her companion dined at the restaurant before the images were captured; a standard check on all of their credit cards came up with no record of either of them dining anywhere that evening. It’spossible that they paid cash. I have a call in to the restaurant’s owner; I’ll update you when I know more.

While it is difficult to make out specific details from the video, I took the best single frames, enlarged them, and used image-enhancement software to bring things into focus. As you can see, Ms. Hughes and her companion are holding hands, hugging, and embracing.

Even without image enhancement, you can probably recognize the identity of her companion. He’s a hard man to miss: Eagles tight end Jimmy Tua.

Chapter48

COOPER LAMB / VOICE MEMO #0126-735

To whom it may concern: This evening I’m headed back down to the Linc, the very place where Eagles dare, on Sunday, to clinch the NFC championship. By my side is my faithful companion Lupe, who is expert at working the crowds. Even a crowd as hostile as the one I’m about to face.

Yeah, it’s safe to say the Birds ain’t gonna be happy to see me. I am definitely a distraction they don’t need.

But you know what? I don’t give a shit. I’ve got questions that demand answers. Questions for Mr. James “Jimmy” Tua. Specifically, this: Why were you fooling around with your best friend’s wife just three days before he was murdered? As the kids say, it’s not a good look.

What do we know about Jimmy Tua? For one, he’s kind of a genius. Scratch that—he’s acertifiedgenius. Victor found the test results and everything. And that high-powered mind is encased in two hundred and seventy pounds of sheer muscle.

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