Page 59 of Lost Hours
“Sure.” El stood and rested against the end of her cubicle, her posture relaxed but her gaze sharp.
Mina shared their morning conversations with Palmer, Daisy, Wade, and Paisley. “One thing we can determine with the escape room set up is that we’re dealing with premeditated murder and not a murder of passion. It’s likely one of our suspects has it out not only for the mayor but the LLL team too as the killer has tried to pin the murder on them.”
“Or they could simply have killed the mayor just to get one of the LLL team put away for murder,” Abe said.
“You could be right, but as of now, we don’t have any reason anyone might have it out for them.”
Abe stared at Nolan. “Since you opened your business, have you failed to bring someone home alive?”
Nolan shook his head. “I know odds say it’s going to happen, but we’ve been spared that outcome so far.”
“Could mean it’s not related to any past cases, but we should still look into them,” Abe said.
“I think it’s a waste of time, but you’re right. We have to look at every possibility.” Nolan gave Abe a tight smile. “I can have my team take care of that.”
“As long as it’s not Jude doing the looking,” Mina said.
“Point taken,” Nolan agreed.
She shifted her attention back to Abe. “We have nine suspects, and I’ll need your help to narrow that list down.”
“Nine?” El asked. “Mind listing them out for me?”
“In no particular order,” Mina said, “we have the Smythe fella who we keep striking out on his true identity and where to find him. Number two is Jude.”
“Not really a viable suspect,” Nolan said.
Mina agreed. “But he’s the only team member who has a personal connection to the mayor and needs to remain on our list until we can somehow confirm his alibi. Same thing with Harmony’s alibi. She stays on the list until we’re sure she’s not involved. My gut says Patriotic Puzzle could be our guy. He’s the first person who’s been overtly negative about the mayor other than the guy the mayor argued with at lunch.”
“Trouble is, we don’t know either of their identities,” Nolan said.
Mina resisted offering a frustrated comeback that wouldn’t help at all. “Next up is the mayor of Seaside Harbor, then the brother-in-law, Wade. We have Becca, and lastly, the woman he had lunch with whose perfume may be lingering in his house.”
“Long list.” Abe creased his forehead. “Especially for a force our size to pin down.”
“We’ll just have to do the best we can with the resources we have.” Mina gestured at Nolan. “At least we have Nolan and his team to help us.”
Abe started to roll his eyes, but Mina stared him down.
He stopped. “Before we go any further, I should tell you that Deputy Gibbs said he saw Mayor Sutton about a month ago at around three a.m. with a woman in his car. He turned onto the street for his private residence, so Gibbs thought the woman was Becca and didn’t think anything more of it.”
Mina raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t he mention that last night when I saw him at her house?”
“He’d forgotten about it, but then I specifically asked every deputy if they’d seen the mayor acting out of character.”
“Good thinking,” Mina said.
Abe thrust his chest out. “Yeah, well, it’s a good idea because when I asked Gibbs, he remembered seeing the mayor.”
“Might not have been Becca, though,” Nolan said. “If not, that could reinforce our affair theory, though bringing a married girlfriend to his favorite restaurant where he’s well-known and visible wouldn’t be a wise move.”
Mina nodded. “What about his phone records? They could help give us her identity. Any progress on getting them from the phone company?”
“I served the warrant.” Abe’s chest deflated. “But we haven’t heard back from the provider. I’ll put pressure on them today.”
“And what about his financial records?”
“Same thing. I’ll keep after the bank.”
