Chapter 34
I grab my cell phone.
“Alex?”
“Sup?”
“I think I have something.” I want to blurt it out to Alex now, but his paranoia about surveillance and surreptitious recording has gotten to me. It doesn’t help that I now know for sure someone is following me.
“Come right over,” Alex says immediately.
“Thank you.” I look at the still nearly full marg, and instead of feeling a rush of shame, I’m a little proud of my investigative skills. Hours and hours of those podcasts are finally paying off.
—
“I remembered something,” I say as soon as I walk in.
“The pizza menu?”
I’ve thought about that long and hard. It’s not a coincidence.
Lutrino’s is far away from where the menu was dropped—a good hour’s train ride given the poorly functioning state of the subways lately.
To have the very menu turn up with the man who stabbed Amaya means something.
I have half a mind to go over there and confront Sal Lutrino.
Maybe he killed for money? I remember all the past-due bills on his desk.
But how would he earn money from James’s death?
We need something more than accusations without proper proof.
“Oh, no. It’s more than that,” I respond. “So, you were running after…Magnus Mouse. He’s weaving in and out of people…”
“He was fast even in that bulky suit. I wonder what kind of workout he does—”
“Alex!”
“Oh yeah, sorry.”
“So as he’s running away, I remember a glint of something. At first, I thought it was the knife. But it was on his wrist…” I say, waiting for it to hit Alex. True crime rule number twelve: There are no clues too small in a criminal investigation. You don’t know what will break the case wide open.
“A watch? I didn’t see anything, I mean, he’s ducking in and out and around and dashing in front of cars and then, well…” Alex trails off sheepishly. Alex is getting into CrossFit, and being fit enough to run and catch someone in a bulky mouse suit seems like the basic requirement of entry.
“Well, he couldn’t wear his white mouse gloves to stab Amaya, so his hands and wrist were visible. I saw a watch that looked…unique. I think it had a blue band. It had gold and diamonds in an intricate pattern on the face.”
“Are you sure?” Alex asks, looking unconvinced.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“Well, a ton of watches probably have that design.” I’m a little surprised at Alex for saying this. He is a connoisseur of watches.
“Actually, only one brand makes those watches. Rolex.” I beam. Thank you, Google Image Search.
“Okay, so where does that leave us on identity? Perhaps the pizza place hired him?” Alex asks.
“Maybe.”
“The coincidence just seems to be too much. Did Sal seem, like, I dunno, suspicious? Capable of hiring a hit man?” Alex asks.
“He seemed sad that his friend was dead. I couldn’t really discern much more than that.” I’m not a human lie detector, I want to add.
Alex rolls his eyes like I’ve missed some critical clue because I was too busy feeling sorry for the guy.
“Well, let’s see what we can do.” It’s not the ringing battle cry Watson would have for Sherlock, but I’ll take any help I can get.
—
“So how do we find this guy?” Alex asks. “We don’t even know what he looks like. Even if I could remember some defining characteristic of the guy, we can’t find him on description alone.” New York City is home to over eight million people, and we don’t even know if he lives here.
“I guess we could start at the Rolex store. Alex, you know people at the store.” I know this for a fact because Alex has more than his fair share of those watches.
“Oh yes, you’re right,” Alex says, as if he’s forgotten he has a small fortune of wristwatches in his walk-in closet upstairs.
“Yeah, I mean, I’ve given the sales associate on the floor so much commission. Maybe he’ll help me out if I offer to buy another watch.”
“Alex, you don’t have to do that for me.”
“I’m prepared to make such a sacrifice for you,” he says with a wink that I find both charming and incredibly irritating. Dropping thousands of dollars on something so frivolous annoys me. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to afford heat next week. “So should we go?”
“It’s past ten p.m.”
Alex just shrugs and I’m reminded that, if you have enough money, any door will open for you.