Free Some Degree of Murder by Frank Zafiro, Colin Conway

store. It pays well and because I speak Spanish they said they might make me a manager.
    That was all she had written. I wondered if it were true for a moment, that she had started work at a grocery store, but guessed it was a lie. Who writes home and tells the ugly truth? The postcard wasn’t addressed, so that was no help.
    I slipped the postcard into a small paper bag and initialed the bag near the top.
    The bottom drawer of the nightstand was empty, except for the standby Gideon Bible. I almost closed the drawer, but then I noticed something. Reaching inside, I pulled out the Bible and examined it. There were two bookmarks. I opened to the first one. It was in Psalms. None of the chapters or verses were marked in any way. I flipped to the second bookmark. It was in the book of Matthew. Once again, no marked passages.
    I made an X on both book marked pages, in case the bookmarks fell out and slid the Bible into an evidence bag. Wandering over to the door, I glanced outside to see where Billings was. He wasn’t at the door. I looked down at their car and saw him seated in the driver’s seat, reading a paperback. I shook my head in disgust.
    “What’s wrong?” Lindsay asked. He held a bag full of toiletries and was initialing the top.
    I thumbed toward Billings. “Your partner’s a lot of help.”
    Lindsay stepped over and looked outside. His face showed no surprise. When he looked back at me, he said, “He’s, uh…he’s about ready to retire.”
    “Ready? I’d say he already has and the paperwork just hasn’t caught up to him yet.”
    “He works his cases,” Lindsay said weakly.
    I gave him a knowing look. “I’ll bet he does. I’ll bet he works the hell out of them.”
    “His clearance rate –“
    “Let me guess. His clearance rate is satisfactory. Which means he works just enough cases to keep Crawford off his back and suspends the rest because he’s just too busy.”
    Lindsay didn’t answer. I could see he was torn between defending his partner and admitting the truth. I had to wonder how much slack he was picking up for Billings, but I didn’t ask him.
    There was a silence. Then I asked, “Would you and Billings mind helping me put this stuff on the books? It’ll go faster.”
    He waved me off. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get it. Go on home.”
    I wished I could. But I had at least one more job to do tonight.
    “Thanks, Lindsay.” I told him.
    “Sure.”
    We packed the bags down to their car and loaded them into the trunk. Billings didn’t look too pleased about the prospect of checking in the items at property.
    I gave Peggy the key to the room and told her we were finished. She took the key from me without a word.
    Lindsay and Billings drove off and I started my car. The phone booted up and I dialed. Three rings and Teri answered. Our conversation was short and she said staying with Ben was no problem. We said our goodbyes and I hung up.
    The streetlights were coming on as I pulled out onto Sprague and headed east toward the Club Tip Top.

Wednesday, April 14 th
Natalia Romanov’s House, Early Afternoon
VIRGIL
     
    After I knocked, I could hear footsteps run to the door. The heavy wood door swung open and a young, dark-haired girl stood in the doorway. She wore tight black shorts and a black sports bra over barely forming breasts. Sweat was on her forehead and I could hear a workout program on the television in the front room.
    “Natalia?” I asked.
    She eyed me with suspicion.
    “I need to ask you some questions about Fawn Taylor.”
    Her eyes softened.
    “You’re Natalia?”
    “Yeah,” she said with the barest of accents. It was probably a learned trait from other household members and she’d lose it completely by the time she was an adult.
    “Can I come in and talk with you?”
    She shook her head. “No one’s allowed to come inside when my parents aren’t here.”
    “Can we sit on the front steps then?”
    She thought about it for a moment before stepping out of