“That was a big risk bringing two deadguys to that house. Someone might have seen something.”
“I know. That part is inexplicable.”
“So Beatty and Smith had gone bad, then?”
“That’s what Kemper thinks.”
“And you? What do you think?”
“I don’t know enough to think anything, really. I’m still collecting information.”
“So what do we do?”
“We keep digging. Next up isBradley Costa, the banker. We’re going to his place of business first. And then his house. After that, we check out Michael Swanson. And then I want to go and talk to John Baron the Fourth.”
“Baron? Why?”
“Like I said before, I think he was lying about knowing some of the victims. Anyone who lies about something like that, I want to get to know him better.”
“Fromwhat you said, he seems like an interesting person.”
“Heisan interesting person. But that doesn’t mean he’s not involved in this.” He added thoughtfully, “I wonder why he stays in a town that hates his guts?”
“Maybe he’s a sucker for punishment.”
“Or maybe there’s another reason.”
Decker reached over and snagged the page of numbers off the counter andheld it up.
“What’s that?” she asked.
Decker explained about Zoe testing his memory.
“I think Zoe is really intrigued by you.”
“Not the point. I looked at the page again, after my concussion, and I couldn’t remember the last two numbers. Then I looked at it again and I could remember the last two numbers, but not some of the figures in the middle.”
“You think it’s connected to your head injury?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible. Maybe probable.”
He looked so glum that Jamison said, “Decker, your having a phenomenal memory is awesome. But it’s not the only thing that makes you great at what you do. You’ve been a cop for over twenty years. You see stuff. You figure stuff out, like no one else I’ve ever seen. And you don’tgive up.”
“Maybe.”
“There’s no maybe about it.”
“Thanks, Alex. I appreciate that.”
“Wow, maybe that concussion had somepositiveresults.”
“What do you mean by that?”
She sighed. “Never mind.” Jamison looked up at him, fingering her coffee cup. “Is Kemper really okay with us working this?”
“I think so. But even if she weren’tI’d still be doing it.”
“You never worry about the politics or optics of a situation, do you?”
“When it comes to murder, I never saw a reason to,” replied Decker.