“Yeah, so he may not have a ton of money coming in,” he said, “but maybe he’s got a job.”
“There was something about him being lazy, remember?” she said, studying the traffic, as they headed toward an old apartment building. As they got out and looked around, she said, “This doesn’t saywealthyordecent job. This saysrundown, out of luck, andhaving a tough time with life.”
“And that could be part of the shooter’s motivation,” Rodney said.
“Meaning that you think he’s getting money for these hits?” She looked at him in surprise.
“No, that’s not what I meant at all.” He frowned. “Are you thinking these are pros?”
“No,” she said, “not at all. It was your comment about the money aspect. I’m wondering if he’s just angry about his lot in life. Like maybe he feels like the world owes him or maybe there is some connection that we haven’t found yet between him and the victims.”
Rodney replied, “So far, we haven’t found any connection. Not schools, not religious groups, not online chats, nothing. Nothing that connects the victims and nobody in common who would allow us to connect to him. But now that we have a name, we can carry on and see if he’s involved with them somehow. At the moment, we’re just talking to the one next puzzle piece we have to work with. That’s all this detective work is. But, in the best of times, you track down every lead, and you chase down each piece of information and hope that, at the end of the day, you’ve gathered up enough information and puzzle pieces that go together in a coherent pattern, and then you find your suspect.”
“Agreed,” she said. “Some days that’s easier to do than others.”
He laughed. “Yeah, some days it seems like we just make it more confusing instead of less. That’s where persistence comes in. Our job is not for everyone.”
“No,” she said; then she chuckled. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
As they knocked on the apartment, there was no answer. They knocked again and then waited. They heard an odd shuffling sound inside. They shared a look, and Rodney whispered, “I’ll go to the other hallway there.”
She nodded and knocked again. Still no answer. She stealthily walked to the opposite staircase. With each of them at either end of the hallway, they sat here and waited. They waited a good forty-five minutes. Finally their patience was rewarded when the door opened, and a younger male stuck his head out slowly, checking in both directions. When it seemed clear, he got out, closed the door quietly, and headed down the hallway toward Kate’s position.
He walked with a limp, and it was obvious that his arm was injured too. Although neither injury looked new. She frowned at that thought. When he got closer to her, she stepped out in front of him. “Hi, Tex.”
He froze, then looked at her in absolute terror and said, “Who are you? What do you want?” His voice revealed his stress level and came out in a high-pitched squeak.
She pulled out her badge and said, “Well, we want to talk to you.”
He squealed, turned, and bolted right into Rodney’s arms.
Quickly subdued, still standing in the hallway, Tex turned as she approached him. “Why did you run, Tex?”
He shook his head. “I had nothing to do with it.”
“Nothing to do with what?”
“Whatever you want me for,” he said. “I can’t do nothing, see? I’m injured.”
“Well, I can see that you’re injured. What happened?”
“Some guys beat me up a while ago,” he said in a resentful voice.
“Was this about three to four years ago? Because you stole from them?”
He stared at her and then shrugged. “Maybe, but they didn’t have to do this to me,” he snapped. “I was just trying to get ahead.”
“And I gather they didn’t appreciate you getting ahead at their expense.”
“No,” he said, “but they crippled me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “I guess they really didn’t like you stealing their stuff.”
He shook his head. “No,” he said, “but they didn’t have to do this. I would have given the shit back.”
“I wonder though,” she said, looking at him. “Maybe they’d dealt with a bunch of people who made them believe you wouldn’t.”
“Maybe,” he said, staring at her, “but you can see this has got nothing to do with me.”