Sketch of a Murder

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

As Nita walked back to her office, her cell phone vibrated. She fished it out of her belt holster and flipped it open. "Sergeant Slowater."

"Have you had lunch yet?" Dawn asked.

"Where are you taking me? You pick and I'll buy."

"What about conflict of interest?" Dawn's voice held a teasing note.

"I'm the one paying. Meet in a half hour?"

"Bobby Jo's Barbeque. Friend of mine owns it. She'll let us use the backroom." Dawn quickly rattled off the address and directions then hung up.

The door into Bobby Jo's Barbeque was tucked between a nail salon and a shoe store on Fifteen Street on Capitol Hill. Nita dodged a pair of purple-haired kids then turned and stared as they continued down the sidewalk. Male, female, or one of each? Between the spiked hair, the multiple piercings, and the androgynous clothes, damned if I can tell. If they're catching my eye, I must be getting old. The lower half of the door was dark wood while the upper half was a large pane of glass. Painted on the glass was a round table with three pigs gathered around it, smiling, eating sandwiches. As she passed through she grimaced. Might be cutesy, but looks pretty cannibalistic to me. Hope that doesn't bode ill for the quality of the food here.

A girl in tight black jeans, tight stretchy black tee, black step-in shoes with clunky heels, and black eyeliner and lipstick stopped in front of her, menus clutched to her well-endowed chest. "One?" The girl asked in a pleasant voice.

"I'm supposed to meet a friend here..." she began when the bells on the door jingled an announcement of someone entering.

"You beat me here," Dawn smiled at her then turned to the girl. "Angie, how's school?"

"Way more." The girl practically beamed at the reporter.

"If you think it's way more now, wait till you hit fourth year."

"Hopping in place."

"It's exciting all right. Say, is anyone in the back room?"

"You want it?" Angie didn't wait to hear a reply as she led the way, weaving among two-seater tables, over two-thirds of them filled.

The back room could have been a very large closet, but it had a solid wood door that shut out the low hum from the other room. Angie delivered pulled pork sandwiches on homemade hoagie rolls stuffed with succulent meat and accompanied by mouthwatering coleslaw and copious amounts of Sun Tea to wash it all down. Nita and Dawn, with unspoken agreement, left the business discussion for after lunch.

When they finally shoved their plates to one side of the four-seater table, Nita sipped her glass of tea.

"You letting me go first?" Dawn playfully widened her eyes.

"Yeah."

Dawn pursed her lips. "Hmmm, and buying me lunch? Should I be worried?"

Nita tucked a stray strand of hair behind one ear. "Don't think so."

"Gareth going to be okay?"

Nita sucked in a breath. She hadn't expected that question for some reason. "We don't know. He's still in a medically induced coma."

"Damn." Her head drooped. After a moment of silence she raised her face, cleared her throat. "Are you doing anything at three-thirty this afternoon?"

"What should I be doing?" She raised her eyebrows.

"How about sitting in Director Peritsky's office and telling her why you feel she should cooperate with you on the identity of the woman in that sketch?"