CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Frank was glad to see Ava cracking jokes as they left Katz’s Diner. For just a moment, he thought he’d seen a flicker of anger in her eyes when he’d mentioned Clarence’s killer. He figured one of these days, he’d learn that lesson. No matter how long they were together, she would never be okay with him mentioning Clarence’s murder. He understood it, so he wasn’t sure why he couldn’t just keep it out of his mouth.
Also, her humor made him think that her obsessive nature might take a back seat today. He knew that such a trait could often help a detective but he’d also seen it cause detectives to lose track of the case—to focus so intensely on one certain aspect that other important facets went overlooked.
As he and Ava rode back out to the Candle’s Wick, Frank started trying to unpack the case as he saw it. He was fine trying to start all over from the very beginning. After all, there was no new evidence to convict or free Carter Epps so it was easy to view it as if they were starting over. The scary thing was, though, that the scant evidence that had placed Carter into a holding cell in the first place would absolutely be seen as enough to convict him of murder. And the longer he worked with Ava, the easier it was for him to understand how wrong that was. If the races were reverse and Carter Epps was a white man who had been found on the scene with no real evidence to convict him of having killed a black man, he likely wouldn’t even have been arrested at all. No, in a case like Carter’s the notion of innocent until proven guilty just didn’t exist.
This lack of justice made Frank just as determined as Ava to find some way to free Carter, and to find Monty Lincoln’s real killer. He knew how the law worked (or, rather, how it didn’t work) and that an innocent man’s future and livelihood rested in their hands.
Frank was fully prepared to arrive at the club only to find that no one was there. After all, most clubs weren’t open at 9:10 in the morning. But when they parked in front of the Candle’s Wick, he saw that the front door was cracked open. Tony stood just inside the door, sweeping his floor. When he saw the car with two detectives inside—detectives he was likely tired of seeing—he did his best not to look annoyed. But Frank saw it, all the same. It was in the furrow of his brow and the slight downtick along the left side of his lips.
Before stepping out of the car, Ava reached over and took Frank’s hand. “You lead the questioning this time around, okay? I’m going to try something, and I need you to cover for me.”
“What am I covering?”
“I don’t know just yet. It’s an idea that just came to me and I don’t even know if it’s going to work or not.”
“Okay,” he said. “Just don’t do anything to get us into hot water. We get in the least bit of trouble and this day is going to be over a lot sooner than we’d hoped.”
They stepped out of the car and Tony continued to do his best to seem as if he wasn’t bothered by their presence. He smiled at them and held the door open, nodding to the pile of dust and debris he’d collected with his broom. “Come on in, but watch your step.”
They both made sure to step around the pile and waited as Tony scooped it all up with a small piece of cardboard. He then dumped it into a trashcan by the door and wiped his hands on a work apron he wore around his waist.
“Looks like we’re interrupting the morning routine,” Ava said.
“Not much of a routine,” Tony said flatly. “You need something?”
“Just to ask you a few more questions about what happened here.”
Tony’s annoyance was clear to see. He sighed and shook his head. “That’s fine, but can we make it fast? I’m trying to clean the place a bit. I had a guy do it for me up until a few weeks ago but that damn stock market did its thing and now…well, there’s not really enough money to throw around on things like that.”
“I promise we’ll do our very best to make it as quick as possible,” Frank said. He glanced over to Ava to see if she was going to make any move to let him know what sort of plan she had in mind.
“Yeah, sure,” Tony said, though it was obvious he was annoyed. He’d apparently tapped out on patience at some point yesterday.
“Great,” Frank said. “We were curious to know if you had any idea that Leon was romantically involved with the singer of Carter’s band.”
Tony took a seat at the nearest table. His eyes wandered around the room and Ava thought his mind might already be on how he could make up the time he was losing by talking to them.
“I didn’t know for sure,” Tony answered. “But I had a feeling. Just the way they looked at each other, and how Leon would try to be closer to her when he didn’t think anyone was looking. But I never said anything. Not my business, you know?”
“Does Leon seem like the sort of man who would respect a woman?” Ava asked.
“Yes, I think so. He’s a stand-up guy, you know? A good egg.”
“How did he end up working for you?” Frank asked.
But before Tony could answer, Ava spoke up with a slight tone of embarrassment to her voice. “So sorry, but could I use your restroom?”
“Yeah,” Tony said, the annoyance now clear in his voice. He really didn’t want them here. Ava assumed he was already worried about what a prolonged police presence might mean for business at his club if word got out. “All the way in the back. And just be sure the water doesn’t keep running when you flush. Tony said he was going to fix that but I don’t know if he ever got it to work.”
“Thank you.”
Frank watched as she made her way quickly to the hallway in front of them and slightly off to the left. He supposed this was probably part of her plan and that she’d need him to buy some time. He was good with that, as he had no problem coming up with heavy-handed questions. All he needed to do was keep Tony busy with an interview for the next few minutes while Ava disappeared around the corner of the hallway to do whatever she had in mind.
***
Ava walked to the thin hallway at the back of the building, the same hallway that also contained Tony’s office. When she was halfway down the hall, she turned around to make sure she was out of sight of both men. She could still hear their voices, but she was indeed out of their line of vision. With this bit of security, Ava moved quickly. She stepped into Tony’s office, not sure what she was looking for. But what she did know was that Monty Lincoln had had his eyes set on this place before he died, and she knew that money and power typically drive men to do vile things. She couldn’t help but wonder if there was some paperwork or some other form of evidence buried in Tony’s office that might reveal some unspoken secrets between the two men—maybe financial secrets that would be worth killing for.