“Not now. Do you have any other regulars around here?”
He shook his head. “Not really, although a couple come in every once in a while.” He shrugged. “Bill comes in more often. The other day he came in and wasn’t happy when somebody was sitting in his chair, so I guess he comes in enough that he considers it his spot.” The kid gave her a one-arm shrug. “In fact, when the other guy up and left, Bill moved over and sat in the same damn spot.”
“Oh, that’s too funny. But people get comfortable in their habits, even proprietary, though they don’t always have any reason to.”
“Yeah, that’s Bill.” He shifted his gaze, then nodded behind her. “That’s him coming in now.”
And, sure enough, as she turned, a man maybe in his forties walked in and headed to the counter. She stepped off to the side slightly.
Bill moved into place. “Morning. I’ll take the usual.”
“Sure, no problem, I was just talking to this lady about you.”
At that, Bill turned to look at her. “Cop?”
“Yeah, detective, good eye.”
“You can smell them all a mile away.”
“You were on the force, huh?”
He looked at her in surprise, then nodded slowly. “Yep, I was actually. How’d you know?”
“I can smell an ex-copper a mile away.” She gave him a knowing grin.
He looked at her with respect. “Not too many people know that.”
“Maybe not, but it’s all good.”
He snorted. “It depends. You getting anywhere in this damn case here?” he asked. “People are dropping like flies around this place.”
“I hear you were here the day of the latest accident.”
“Both days. I was here early enough to see the one, while I was sitting here, but I didn’t see the other one though.”
“Yeah?” she said. “Did you see anything helpful?”
“Sure took you guys long enough to get around to this place. It’s got a bird’s-eye view.”
“I know. That’s why I’m here. I also needed coffee and some more food.” At that, her stomach rumbled.
He shook his head. “I remember that on the job. Seemed like we never had any time to get a meal in.”
“True enough. So, did you see anything?”
She studied him, as he turned and looked over at the kid behind the counter, watching as he made up the coffee for him. “Not really. Nothing I could count on, at least.”
“Anything you can’t count on?”
He turned toward her. “You really got nothing, huh?”
“Not a whole lot,” she said cheerfully. “Of course everybody is pretty thin when it comes to having any information.”
“That’s normal. What about the cameras?”
“The cameras here are broken,” she said.
Bill looked at the guy behind the counter. “Really, kid?”