A Garland of Bones by Carolyn Haines

Author:Carolyn Haines
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

18

We called another Uber and headed back to the heavy equipment business. Sure enough, there were cameras focused on the front door, the supply shed, and the mechanic shop. It crossed my mind that Colton had deliberately not mentioned the security footage, but I reminded myself that neither Tinkie nor I had thought to ask. It could be innocent.

Colton was out on a job, but the office manager showed us where the camera feed was stored—after I convinced her we were working on Colton’s behalf.

“Colton is supposed to review the footage and delete it every day, but he doesn’t,” she said. “He forgets it until I think of it and remind him. How far back do you need to go?”

I didn’t recall a specific date that Colton said he was hired, but it could have been only a day or so before it happened. Otherwise he would surely have come to his senses and thought to check with “Bricey” again to be sure she still wanted to destroy her car. Then the fake phone number—and ultimately the fake ID—would have come into play. “Let’s go back a week.”

“Colton is a good man, a truly decent guy. He doesn’t deserve what’s happening.” The receptionist sat us down at a computer in a small room. “Knock yourself out. I hope you can prove who hired him. Otherwise we all know he’s in a pickle.” She was at the door before she turned around. “Would you like some coffee?”

“Best offer we’ve had this morning,” I said. Watching grainy, boring videotape was going to require some caffeine if I wanted to stay awake. “I take mine black and so does Tinkie.”

We were already going through the footage when she returned with two steaming cups of freshly brewed coffee. She was about to leave when I stopped her. “Do you remember the woman who hired Colton to fill up the car with cement?”

She shook her head. “She must have come at lunchtime when I wasn’t here. I never saw her, and I haven’t missed a day of work.”

Interesting. “Do you go to lunch at the same time?”

She nodded. “Twelve-fifteen to one-fifteen. I meet my sister.”

“Thanks so much.” She’d just helped us more than she knew. We could skip a lot of footage and just explore the times she was away from the office at lunch. That would cut our search time by hours, and lucky for us the security footage was time stamped.

“This woman who hired Colton had to know he was here alone at lunchtime,” Tinkie said.

“You’re right. This was a setup from the get-go.”

“It has to be someone who either knows his schedule or was told.” Tinkie was biting her lower lip, which was a sign of either concentration or male manipulation. In this instance, the former.

“A friend? You think a friend would set him up like this?”

She tilted her head. “Someone in his circle of business acquaintances or friends.”

We kept going through the video, slowing considerably as we reached the hours between eleven and two.

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