Page 9 of Cross & Crown

“They didn’t. Get this. Best the Crime Lab can tell, they

wiped the motherfucking dust off the case to ruin the outline

of whatever objects were there.”

“Covering their tracks, or . . .?”

“I guess. At least slowing us down. Shouldn’t be hard to

find out what was in there, though,” Nick said, still staring

at the photos of the crime scene. He absently reached for the

cup on his desk, taking a sip before remembering it was coffee.

He turned his head and spit it out into the trash can,

coughing and gagging as Hagan laughed at him.

“Motherfucker,” Nick grumbled. He tossed the coffee cup

into the trash and glared at his partner again.

“Detective O’Flaherty!” Captain Branson called from

his office door. Nick turned in his chair and glanced over his

shoulder. The captain waved him over.

“What’s up, sir?” he asked when he got closer.

“The witness from the bookshop?”

“Yes, sir?”

“He’s here. You need to get in on this one.”

“Sure thing.”

Branson handed him a file. It was labeled John Doe.

Nick shook his head; all it contained was the report from the

hospital. He made his way to one of the interview rooms and

greeted the officer on the door with a pat on the shoulder.

When he entered the room, the blond man met his eyes.

“Hello, Detective.”

“How you doing?” Nick asked as he sat opposite him.

“I would say I’ve been better, but . . . I don’t really know if that’s true,” the man said with a wry laugh.

Nick snorted. “Still got your sense of humor at least.

That’s something.” He opened the file again. It was paltry at