Page 80 of Lion & Lamb

Now to the means and opportunity for said crime(s).

I know you like to tease me about my tortured dating life. And it is tortured. But it used to be tortured with a purpose. Since I’m in a confessing mood,and since this document will never see the light of day (right, V.?), I’ll admit that when I was a tabloid reporter, I preferred to date useful individuals.

“Useful” meaning in a lowly position yet connected to the halls of power. (It didn’t hurt if they were a little hot too.)

A few years ago, before I came to work for you, one of my useful dates was a guy named Prentiss Walsh. A bit of a smacked ass, to be honest, but ambitious. He’ll probably be mayor someday. And he just so happens to be the executive assistant of Charles Castrina, divorce attorney to the Philadelphia stars.

Well, last night I called Prentiss. He was very happy to hear from me. He suggested I go to his place. I told him I was a little tipsy and happened to be at a bar right around the corner from his office. He told me he’d be right over. I told him I’d have another drink while I waited. He told me to have two. I had nothing stronger than a club soda with lime.

Well, hellos led to flirtations, which led to more drinks (whiskey for him; club soda masquerading as gin and tonic for me), which led to my bold suggestion that we raid his boss’s high-end liquor cabinet. I mean, it was just around the corner, and I knew Prentiss had the pass card and keys…

I know what you’re going to say, and believe me, I already said those things to myself. But remember what I told you about the other side not playing fair?

Anyway, this wasn’t a long shot; I know a few things about Prentiss. For one, he has a larcenous streak, so the idea of getting hammered on Chuck Castrina’s expensivescotchwhile possibly making out with a former reporter on Castrina’s ten-thousand-dollar Chesterfield leather sofa…well, this would be too great a temptation to resist. And the other thing about Prentiss? He’s pretty much a lightweight. We made it to the sofa…and that was it before he passed out.

I helped myself to the file cabinet. The keys were on Prentiss’s ring.

I found Francine Hughes’s file.

And V., let me tell you, I wish I’d had a few drinks before opening that folder of horrors.

I scanned everything and dropped it into this folder. Take a look for yourself. Just be warned—it is entirely awful.

Chapter84

REPORT TO C. LAMB BY V. SUAREZ

Saturday, January 29

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

Some quick but extremely vital updates. Please read carefully, boss. I’m going to call you after I end this to follow up.

And I know you’re going to ask me about sources, and I’ll share what I can with you at a later date if you really need to know. But in the past, you’ve expressed strong disinterest in all of my “dark-web geek stuff,” as you call it. So it’s up to you. Just know that this information comes with the usual caveats.

I have a very solid lead on Roz Cline’s killer. Yes, killer. Her death was no accident; this was a one-hundred-percent professional hit.

What’s interesting is who they hired. The job didn’t go to local muscle—and that upset the local muscle a great deal. Instead, the job went to an upper-echelon gunman who works out of both Vegas and Atlantic City. Expensive as they come, and absolutely bold and brazen. My sense is that he’s the guy you bring in when you have champagne problems. The local muscle grumbled about it, but it’s clear they’re afraid of him, so they didn’t grumble too loud.

Why bring in a hitter this expensive for a casino hostess like Roz Cline? It stands to reason she must have had some expensive information about Archie Hughes in her head.

I’m still working on identifying this hit man. Even an alias will help me track him, although I doubt he’s still on the East Coast.

I’m also searching for who hired him, though the clients in these situations are always very well shielded (as you can imagine). But even if I can’t find the client’s identity, knowing what channels he or she used will be helpful. There are only so many ways you can find a killer for hire, and the method of communication will tell me a great deal about the client.

More updates as I learn them.

But I can’t stress this enough: Watch your back out there. You know me, boss. Very little frightens me. Well, I am very frightened by the types of people who are involved in this investigation.

Keep your head low. You know your tendency to take a wild leap, maybe piss off the wrong person? Yeah, don’t do that. At least not until you hear from me again.

Chapter85

6:03 p.m.

VEENA LIONfound herself sitting across from Cooper Lamb in his backyard (althoughbackyardwas a stretch for the concrete slab behind his brownstone), both of them on rickety beach chairs, knees touching, passing a cold bottle of Yuengling Lager back and forth. There were four more holstered in the cardboard carrier at their feet. The beer would stay perfectly cold. The sun had set, and outside felt like the inside of an industrial freezer.

“Can’t we take these to your kitchen table?” Veena asked.

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