“We met a few interesting people like Candy, several bad guys, but not, I think, anybody who directly caused Jenna problems.”
“Regretfully, same conclusion,” Evie said.
“But your list of twenty-seven is slimming down. Same time tomorrow?”
Evie gave a nod. “I’m not going to turn down that offer.”
“I figure if you’re going to be working on your weekend, I’ll at least keep you company.”
“I’m getting more coffee,” Evie announced, stopping at the conference room door. “And whatever I can find to toss in the microwave. I saw popcorn packages in the vending machine. Want your own bag?”
David turned from his laptop. “Sure.”
She nodded and left. He’s had a good day, she thought. He’d been humming before he realized she was at the door.
Back with bags of popcorn for both of them and a full mug of coffee of her own, she decided the warmth was worth the slightly stale taste indicating too long in the pot.
“My timeline narrowed,” David said casually, only underscoring his relief. He saved the page and closed the document. “I’ve confirmed Saul’s movements for part of Saturday. Around four p.m. he was talking with a Neil Wallinsky, spelled with a y, who lived over in River Glen, a good two hours west. The age was right, but it wasn’t the Neil he wanted. From there I have him back in Chicago just after eight p.m., talking to a guy in Arlington Heights about the location of a card game maybe happening in Englewood.”
Evie glanced over the whiteboard’s list of Saul’s active cases, spotted the one she remembered. “The husband thought to have returned to his gambling problem.”
David nodded. “Sounds like it. The guy died in a car accident about a year after Saul disappeared, so I can’t ask him if he was playing a game in Englewood that night. But it fits why Saul would be asking about a game.”
“Tell me about the guy who remembers this nugget.”
“Okay. That’s Brad Olmer,” David replied, satisfaction in his voice. “The guy was in Saul’s book as an occasional source—he worked security at clubs, after-hours parties, and the occasional off-the-books card game. Saul paid him fifty bucks for solid answers to his information needs. Brad heard there was a game going on, but didn’t know where, didn’t have any solid info for Saul. He remembers the date from when he told Saul it was his sister’s birthday. Saul peeled off a hundred, said to make it a nice birthday gift, and Brad was feeling guilty about that.”
“Not his sister’s birthday.”
“Not by a couple months. It was the last time they spoke.”
“According to Saul’s sister,” Evie remembered, “Saul was flush with cash, had been getting some things repaired for her, and the spontaneous gesture fits him.”
“Feels that way,” David agreed. “Let’s say Saul persists in trying to track down the card game, drives around Englewood, spots his gambler’s car, maybe stakes out the game to get a photo of the guy leaving. That puts him in the area until two a.m. or later Sunday morning.”
“Could Saul get himself in trouble simply watching till the game breaks up?” Evie asked. “Guys leaving a location . . . it’s hard to jam someone up over that kind of photo. The husband is in trouble only because the wife already suspects what’s going on.”
“Security on a card game maybe is going to rough him up if they think he’s there to bother the game. But kill him? Not for sitting in a car watching a parking lot.”
“Crimes in the area at that time? He saw something else and took a photo of it, or someone thought he had?”
David nodded. “That’s where I’ll look next. Saul’s neighbors didn’t see him coming or going that weekend, didn’t see lights on at his place. He missed watching the Sunday football game with the usuals at the neighborhood pub. That suggests he didn’t make it home from Englewood Saturday night.”
“He works odd hours, maybe neighbors simply missed it.”
“True. In which case he got home early Sunday morning, maybe went out later with his marked newspaper looking for a new place to rent, and walked into trouble. Unfortunately, the newspaper that would tell me that is probably in the front seat of his car, wherever that is.”
Evie laughed at his dry tone. “Been there. Solve the crime first, and you can have all the evidence you need for what and how. Any more sources like Brad Olmer in Saul’s notebooks?”
“Thirty or so,” David replied. “Cops talked to them, but I’m making the full rounds again. Time gets people more willing to talk about facts safely in the past.” He gestured to the numbered list on the whiteboard. “Another five names also got crossed off the possible list. They’re glad Saul disappeared, but I didn’t get vibes that any of them had been involved.” David took a handful of popcorn. “Anyway, that was pretty much my day. Yours go anywhere interesting?”