Paige looked across to Christopher for confirmation, and when he nodded, she took out her badge.
“I’m Agent King and this is Agent Marriott, and we need to talk to you about those sharks.”
She pointed to the tank as she said it.
Paige saw Toni frown slightly. “What about them? Wait, are you the woman who called before?”
“Yes,” Paige admitted. She was more interested in the way Toni was reacting. Paige thought that she saw a bead of sweat on her brow, and her eyes were darting around nervously. “What is it you’re so worried about, Toni?”
“Worried? I’m not worried about anything. But you can’t just come barging in here like this. I’m trying to run a business here.”
“We just want to ask you some questions,” Christopher said.
“What about?”
“About sharks,” Paige said. “And about an order for them that would have come in yesterday.”
“I’m not sure if I remember anything about that,” Toni said. “Look, it might be better if you both left.”
“Could you check your records?” Christopher asked. “I’m sure you keep records of everything. Especially when the purchase would only have been yesterday.”
Toni started shaking her head, though. “We can’t just go around handing over our records to the FBI. Some of our clients are important people. They rely on us to be discrete.”
“They’re buying huge fish tanks with exotic species,” Christopher replied. “I’m not sure that discrete comes into it. What are you trying to hide, Toni?”
“I… this is all entrapment, or something. You can’t do this, coming down here, pretending that you were a customer over the phone, trying to get me to admit to something.”
“Admit to what, Toni?” Paige asked. “You’ve been nervous ever since Agent Marriott and I walked in here. Is there something going on here that we need to know about?”
“Or perhaps that Detective Sanchez of the Las Vegas PD needs to know about?” Christopher said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the store owner said.
“So if I were to call her, and suggest that she come here to check every piece of paperwork you have for the import of so many exotic species…”
Paige could see that he’d hit a nerve there. Toni actually flinched. Paige wondered exactly which of the creatures there she was worried about. Maybe the sharks, maybe some of the exotic coral, maybe something even more special.
Apparently, Christopher could see it too. “Then there’s the question of whether you’re keeping the animals safely, and in the right conditions, and of course, I could call the IRS too, to check that you’re paying everything you should in import taxes…”
The message was clear: he could make Toni’s life very, very difficult if he wanted. Paige knew that was her cue to play good cop. She did her best.
“Toni, we’re trying to catch a murderer. The man who bought a tank from you drowned someone in it last night. That’s all we’re interested in. Not your paperwork, or your tax receipts, or anything like that. Just catching the killer.”
Paige saw the store owner considering. “And if I do that…”
“Then we won’t have enough time to start looking into your business,” Paige said. “We really do just want to catch a killer. You want to help us do that, don’t you, Toni?”
“Yes, of course,” the store owner said. “Of course I do.”
“Then what do you remember about the order for the sharks?” Paige asked.
She saw Toni pause as she tried to remember. “It came in yesterday afternoon. An urgent order, but the guy was willing to pay extra for a rush delivery. He said it was vital to a show.”
“Did he come in here?” Christopher asked, obviously hoping that the killer had walked into the store and been caught on whatever security cameras the place had.
“No, the order was placed online,” Toni said.
“Do you still have details of that order?” Paige asked. “Credit card details? A delivery address?”