Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

T he ride back to the station was filled with comfortable silence, punctuated by the occasional comment from Harry about the old days.

As Sam pulled the cruiser into the parking lot, he turned to Harry, gratitude plain on his face. “I can’t thank you enough, Harry. Your insights have been invaluable to this case.”

Harry waved off the compliment, but a pleased smile tugged at his lips. “It’s my pleasure, Chief. I’m just glad I could help. If you need anything else, just give me a holler.”

Sam nodded, shaking Harry’s hand firmly. “I will. Take care.”

As Harry ambled off to his own car, Sam and Lucy headed into the station.

Jo, Kevin, and Wyatt looked up from their work as Sam and Lucy entered.

“How’d that go?” Jo asked.

“Found something interesting. The design on the pin we found out in the woods matches the bank’s logo. If it fell out of the helicopter during the heist, it points to someone from the bank being in that chopper.”

Wyatt’s eyes widened. “It’s a ten-year service pin, so it would have to be someone who had been there ten years. High enough up the ladder to orchestrate something like this.”

Kevin tapped his pen against his chin. “Maybe the same someone who was at the bar with Alex that night.”

Jo frowned. “But that was fifty years ago. They’d have to be pretty old by now.”

A glimmer of hope flickered in Sam’s eyes. “That makes our job easier, don’t you think? An older person would stick out in a bar crowd.”

Wyatt nodded. “True. But how do we prove the pin fell from the helicopter?”

Sam sighed. “That’s the tricky part. We might not be able to. But we still have one person to talk to that was in the bar that night.” He gestured to Jo. “Let’s go see if Amelia Donovan is in today and willing to talk.”

It was a short walk to Marnie’s campaign headquarters, and Jo and Sam could see the buzz of activity through the large windows as they approached. Of course, that also meant people inside could see them coming, and Sam wasn’t totally surprised to find Amelia’s desk empty.

Sam scanned the room. Members of the staff looked up at them, their faces a mixture of surprise and apprehension.

“Where’s Amelia Donovan?” Sam demanded, his voice cutting through the tense silence.

A young woman pointed toward the back of the office. “She’s in the break room, but I think she was rushing out…”

Sam and Jo exchanged a glance and hurried toward the back, their footsteps echoing on the tiled floor. They reached the break room just as Amelia was slipping out the back door, her purse slung over her shoulder.

“Amelia!” Jo called out, her hand on her holster. “We need to talk to you.”

Amelia froze, her eyes wide with panic. She glanced around as if looking for an escape route, but Sam and Jo had her cornered.

“Please,” Amelia said, her voice shaking. “Can we do this outside? I don’t want to cause a scene.”

Sam nodded, his jaw tight. “Fine. But no funny business.”

They stepped out into the alley behind the building, the cool air a stark contrast to the stuffy office. Amelia leaned against the brick wall, her arms crossed defensively.

“I know I lied,” she blurted, her eyes downcast. “But I swear, I had nothing to do with Alex’s death.”

Jo raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you lie about being at the bar that night?”

Amelia sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Because of my record. I didn’t want it to come out, to cause any trouble for the campaign. I thought if I just kept my head down, no one would find out.”

Jo’s expression softened slightly. “Okay, so you were at the bar. Did you see Alex there?”

Amelia nodded, her hands twisting together. “Yeah, I saw him. He was sitting in a booth with three or four other guys. I didn’t recognize them, but they looked like they were having a pretty intense conversation.”

Sam leaned in, his voice low. “Did you hear anything they were saying?”

Amelia shook her head. “No, I was too far away. But I could tell it was serious. But Alex also looked pretty drunk.”

Sam and Jo exchanged a glance, their eyebrows raised. “How did Alex look drunk?” Sam asked, his voice sharp.

Amelia shrugged, her eyes darting away. “He was weaving a bit when he walked to the bathroom. His friends had to help him walk. Needless to say, he got cut off.”

“Did you talk to him?” Jo pressed, her arms crossed.

Amelia shook her head. “No, I didn’t.”

Jo narrowed her eyes. “But you must have known him pretty well, though.”

Amelia shook her head again. “Not really.”

“Are you lying again?” Jo asked, her voice rising. “You mentioned something earlier about Alex smoking cigars with his grandfather. I don’t think you would have known that unless you’d been with the two of them. And if you were with his grandfather, you must have known Alex pretty well.”

Amelia’s eyes widened. “What? I never said I saw him with his grandfather.”

Jo frowned. “That’s what you told us.”

Amelia shook her head vehemently. “No. I might have said he smoked cigars with old men, and you assumed it was his grandfather. That’s what he was doing that night in the Drunken Moose, but his grandfather was already dead, so I have no idea who the old guy was.”

“One of the guys was an old guy?” Sam asked, thinking of Victor Sorrentino. Victor was only in his late thirties or early forties, but Amelia was young, so she might think he was old.

“Yep,” Amelia confirmed, her voice shaking slightly. “Gray hair and the whole bit.”

That left Victor out; he had dark hair.

“Could you recognize him if you saw him?” Sam asked urgently.

Amelia hesitated, her eyes darting between Sam and Jo.

Sam leaned in, his voice low. “I know you don’t want to get involved, but this could be important.”

Amelia sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Maybe. It was dark in there.”

Jo stepped forward, her eyes narrowed. “Was Alex still there when you left?”

Amelia shook her head. “No, he left around nine. The others practically carried him out.”

Sam frowned. Sternly, he said, “Amelia, we’ve seen the surveillance of the front door. He didn’t leave at nine.”

Amelia shook her head. “Not the front. They took him out the back.”

Jo placed a hand on Amelia’s shoulder, her voice gentle. “It’s okay. You did the right thing by telling us now. Just don’t run from us next time we have questions.”

Amelia nodded, her face pale. “I won’t. I promise.”