Page 24 of Hostile Witness
“Does Tina still have you eating egg whites and sprouts?”
“Shut the eff up.”
Ethan pulled two huge bagel sandwiches from his bag and slid one the length of the table with the precision of a bartender delivering a whiskey neat. It landed three inches from Earl’s scribbling hand.
The older man’s face broke into a grin as he lifted the wrapper. “Nowit’s a good morning. And to answer your question, Tina made an egg-white, kale, and blueberry shake for breakfast. I poured it down the garbage disposal the minute she left for work. She’s determined to treat my slightly elevated cholesterol with a clean diet.”
“That’s what you get for marrying a woman some twenty years younger than you, boss.”
“Stuff it, kid.” Earl held the breakfast sandwich to his nose and inhaled. “Sausage, egg, and cheese. This is what breakfast should smell like.” He took a bite and closed his eyes. “Thanks. I’ve been up since four thirty and running on coffee.”
“Turkey sausage, and no problem. By the way, I saw the ride along late yesterday, and she mentioned kicking an object when she entered Margie’s kitchen, but the evidence files make no mention of it.”
Earl took another bite of sandwich. “Did you check the inventory log?”
Ethan nodded. “Yeah, of course. I stayed up late last night looking through all the files. There’s no info about it. Tia said she’d told whoever interviewed her at the hospital about kicking something across the room.”
Earl took a swig of his coffee. “First I’ve heard of it. Who turned in the report?”
“Carmichael, and he’s a thorough investigator.”
“Maybe the ride alongthoughtshe told the interviewer. She was treated for shock.”
“Possibly, but she was quite certain that it came up during the conversation. And considering her relationship to the chief, she’d understand that details like that are important, shock or not.”
“True. But we haven’t found anything unusual inside the crime-scene perimeter. The struggle took place in the great room. That’s thirty feet away.” Earl tapped his pen on the table and ruminated while he finished his sandwich. “Wanna take a ride to Glen Cove Road and look around?” He crumpled the wrapper into a ball and tossed it at Ethan.
Ethan lobbed their garbage into the can. “I was hoping you’d say that. You want to go now?”
Earl patted his middle section. “Yup. I’m all fueled up. Go sign out a vehicle.”
“Let’s take my truck. It’s ready to go.”
“Make sure you bring camera equipment.”
“Got it.”
“And leather gloves in case we need to move heavy shit.”
“Got that, too.”
Earl rose and slipped into his winter jacket. “You think you’d bring me another one of those sandwiches tomorrow? I’ll buy.”
Ethan held the door open. “Sure. Why don’t you just take the cholesterol med the doctor gave you and forget about it?”
“Bug off, Son. Getting older ain’t for pussies. It seems like every time I go to the doctor, I walk out with some new medication. It’s out of hand. I eat decent, work out, got a good body-fat ratio, but my cholesterol continues to rise.”
“I think they call it heredity, Earl.”
“Well, screw that.” He stormed out the front doors of the precinct. “They say too much medicine can affect how the equipment works.”
Ethan barked a laugh. “That’s what you get for marrying a woman only a few years older than me. She’s a lot to keep up with, I’m sure.”
Earl slid into the passenger side of the truck and shut his door. “Just for that, I’m gonna make your life miserable at the next hell workout. You wait, Son.”
“You’ve always exceeded my expectations, sir. I’ll look forward to it.”
Earl ran a hand across his head as they pulled out of the lot. “I need a haircut.”