Chapter 23

“How the fuck did he do that?” one of my guys said.

“Do what?”

“Count the words while you were talking.”

“The boss may be brass,” I said, “but don’t ever discount his brainpower. He’s an extremely smart guy.”

“Yeah, or maybe he made the number up and we fell for it. Repeat what you said, very slowly, so this dufus can count the words.”

“Okay, guys,” I said, ignoring him. “Let’s brainstorm this a bit and decide where to go from here.”

An hour later, everyone on the team had gotten their marching orders and had left to carry them out. I spent the rest of the morning catching up with the never-ending paperwork, wondering if I would live long enough to see a paperless investigation. Shortly after lunch, my phone rang.

“Martin,” I said.

“Good afternoon, George, this is Jack Parker in St. Augustine.”

“And what can I do for the oldest city’s finest?”

“I’ve got something interesting to show you. I can be there in forty-five minutes, if you’ve got the time.”