Page 30 of Smoke Screen
“She denies knowing him.”
“Of course,” Phin said. “You know she walks the Center every day, right? She’s regimented. She likes to interact with the visitors. Get their reactions so they can improve the place.”
“Yeah. And?”
Fucker.Phin looked at Zeke, held his hands wide, frustration frying his fingertips. “Shetalksto people!”
“Easy, bro” Zeke said.
Phin pinched the bridge of his nose. Damned pressure. Zeke was right. He needed to get hold of himself. He shook his head, eased out a silent breath. “Look, Ash, maybe they met at the Center. He liked her and followed her home to see where she lives. Who the hell knows what he could have been up to?”
“Oh-kay. I’ll play. Your theory works except for one problem.”
Ash’s dripping sarcasm didn’t bode well. “What’s that?”
“He was at her housebeforehe shows up on the Thompson Center footage.”
Uh-oh.Thatwas unexpected. “How—”
“We ran facial recognition on three months of footage from the Thompson Center. The guy only shows up that one time before the heist.”
“You’re saying she knew him prior?”
This from Zeke, while Phin envisioned his brains scattering over the pristine office.
“That’s our working theory.”
“Your theory sucks,” Phin blurted.
“It might. But it’s worth exploring. We’ve asked her to come to headquarters for an interview.”
“Did she agree?” Zeke asked.
“Yes. She’s getting a lawyer. Interesting, no?”
Who could blame her with such a big case? “No.Notinteresting. Why would she agree to have y’all interrogate her without a lawyer? I’d do the same thing.”
“He’s right,” Zeke said.
“I gotta get back. I’ll send you the timestamps. Keep me updated on anything from your end. And, Phin, look, I’m not sure what’s going on with you regarding this woman, but we’re following up on anything and everything. If she’s clean, we’ll lay off.”
Phin made apffttingnoise. Made a show of his shocked disgust. “There’s nothing going on with me other than she seems like a decent person who has a passion for her work.”
“I guess we’ll see.”
“We sure will.”
Phin punched the screen, then boosted out of the chair, wandering to the side wall. “None of this makes sense. If she’s involved, she’s one hell of an actress.”
Zeke rocked back in his chair, propped his feet on the desk. “I’m not feeling it. Someone on staff could have told the unsubs her habits.”
Phin snapped his fingers. “I’ll call HR. Maddy CC’d me on an e-mail to them this morning regarding their employee list. Aside from the employees, they have three hundred volunteers.”
“See if you can get start dates for employees and volunteers. And let’s get a screenshot of this guy with the tattoo. See if we can find him.”
“I’m on the employee and volunteer lists. You get the screenshot, and I’ll start calling some shady jewelers I know. Maybe one of them knows the guy from a previous heist.” Phin strode to the door. “And, full disclosure, I’m sending Priscilla Randolph’s number to Maddy.”
Phin, during one of his many schmoozing assignments, had met Priscilla, a thirty-five-year-old Charlotte defense attorney known among prosecutors as the princess of darkness. She’d given him her card in case he ever needed anything. Say a talented lawyer to get him out of a jam.
