The police cruiser drifted past the cluster of cars jammed around the curb at the open house. Dinah eyed the cars in brief glances torn away from the fat file on her knees. “No violations but close,” she muttered.
Sam sighed, “Can we stop prowling the Court for a few? I want to get out and stretch my legs.”
“You wanted a serious case? Now you got it.” She held up the cover sheet of the file with its muddy images of a burly, tattooed man. “If we’re the ones to find this guy, we’ll finally have the stuff to back your promotion proposal.”
Sam stole a glance at the photos as he steered. “He looks like a perp, not a victim. Look at the rap sheet.”
“He’s somebody’s baby too, Sam. Even if some vigilante shot him in the head during a robbery attempt, it’s a crime. His wife reported him missing and we’re gonna do our best to at least find a trace of him. If he’s anywhere in the Court, we’ll deliver him.”
Sam slammed on the brakes, throwing Dinah and the loose papers into a jumble.
“Sorry,” he cooed. “There’s a trash can rolling down the Daniels’ driveway. I didn’t want to hit it.”
Sam parked the cruiser and dashed up the driveway, scooping up the empty barrel. He set it back into the wooden frame beside the garage and brushed his hands together. Dinah had the file stacked together again when he returned to the driver’s seat. She smacked the file against her leg to make the papers fall back in together.
“How are we going to even get a clue about where he is if he’s in here?” Sam wondered, his eyes straying up to the garage.
“Here’s where our knowledge of the Court comes into play, Sam. That and our plain old gut instincts. For example, we know Sugar Daniels never comes out of her unit, probably because she’s a hopeless t.v. addict. The old lady next door doesn’t go very far because she gets all confused. They both shut themselves in and never get visitors. So we can mark them off our list and move on. Besides, I don’t feel like he’s anywhere near.”
Sam nodded. “Yeah, I’m digging around in my gut and all I notice is that I wish I had some tortilla chips and salsa about now.”
Dinah shook her head. “I’ve never seen anyone eat so much in my life. You have to remember your oath as an officer of the law. You can’t ‘protect and serve’ if you can’t run the bad guys down.”
“That’s why I think we need to shift gears a little and get out on our feet.”
“Okay, but only in the Court park and not down by the convenience store.”
“Darn.”
