Randall nodded eagerly.
“Yes,” he said. “He knows something.”
“Not about the tunnel, I hope,” I said.
“No, about the Evil Lender,” Randall said. “Something that’s making him wish he hadn’t taken the job.”
“Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe he’s just figured out that we’re not the raving lunatics the Evil Lender’s PR department has been trying to make us seem. That we’re a town of basically normal, mostly pretty nice people caught in a bad set of circumstances and trying to make the best of them. Maybe he realizes that even if what the lender is doing is legal, it’s not very nice.”
Chief Burke stirred slightly in his chair. He was probably exhausted and dying to go home to bed.
“And maybe none of this is relevant to the murder,” I said. “But maybe it is. Just what made him think he was on the wrong side? Did he figure it out by himself? Or was it something Colleen Brown told him?”
The chief had taken off his glasses and was rubbing his forehead as if feeling a headache coming on. Or maybe doing it helped him keep from dozing off.
“It’s an interesting theory,” he said. “At least it would be if we knew of any connection between Mr. Denton and Ms. Brown. Apart from the fact that they both worked for the Evil Lender.”
“And were seen privately arguing and behaving furtively when discovered,” I said. “According to Muriel Slattery,” I added, preempting what I knew would be the chief’s next question. “Who does have a bee in her bonnet about wanting to be hypnotized in case there’s more useful information lurking in her subconscious, but is in general a pretty astute observer.”
“So that’s what she was going on about.” The chief grimaced slightly. “When she talked to me, she was so focused on the hypnosis part that she failed to mention those bits of useful information that she actually did remember.”
“Hypnotized?” Dad said. “I could probably find someone who could hypnotize her if she really wants to be hypnotized. In fact—”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” the chief said. “Juries tend to mistrust hypnotism, and a sharp attorney would have a field day with a witness who’s been hypnotized. I will explain to Ms. Slattery tomorrow that for now we prefer to preserve the integrity of her potentially valuable testimony. And maybe then I can actually get her to tell me what it is.”
“You should confront Denton with this,” Randall said.
“I plan to,” the chief said. “But Mr. Denton has already told me that his relationship with Ms. Brown, and for that matter with the several other FPF employees stationed here, has grown increasingly testy during the three weeks of his employment.”
“Let me guess,” Randall said. “They kept pressuring him to come up with some information they could use, and didn’t believe him when he said he couldn’t find any.”
The chief nodded slightly.
“Speaking of pressure, Fisher’s been asking me when they can get their building back,” Randall said.
“It’s a crime scene,” the chief said.
“That’s what I keep telling him. And when I do, he says that the crime scene is in the basement, and can’t they have the rest of the building back.”
The chief glowered.
“Are you instructing me to release the rest of the building to FPF?” he began. “Because—”
“Not what I was getting at,” Randall said, holding up his hands as if in surrender. “I’m just telling you they seem to want back in pretty badly. Don’t know about you, but it raises a red flag in my mind. Makes me want to keep ’em out another day or two until we can figure out what they’re up to.”
The chief relaxed again and smiled ever so slightly.
“I’ll have it checked out. And make sure the deputies on guard there are aware that FPF may be trying to regain access. Horace, how long can you stay tomorrow?”
“Depends on the crime lab,” Horace said. “I’ll call first thing tomorrow to make sure they’re not closing early for the holiday.”
“In other words, the Fourth could add even more than a day to our wait for results,” the chief said, with a sigh.
“If anyone asks why it’s taking so long, send them to me,” Randall said. “I’ll give them my speech about the difference between TV and real-life forensics.”
“As I said, I’ll call and make sure someone at least stays to receive the evidence tomorrow afternoon,” Horace said. “If I can make it sound interesting enough, I might get someone to come in over the holiday and work on it. No guarantees, though.”