Kyle shook his head slightly. “Fuck, man, my ears are roaring.”
“Even if there were employees around when that truck was stolen from the back, I can now see how that happened. If you’re inside, you can’t hear anything happening on the outside.”
As they climbed into Kyle’s pickup, he started the engine, then sat for a moment. “You know, it takes balls to steal a vehicle in broad daylight. Whoever did it had been in that building before. They knew that no one on the inside was going to hear them start the engine and take it. They also knew that once it made the morning run to bring linen in, it was going to sit there for several hours until it was time to start taking linen back. And they knew there was no security camera.”
Alex shook his head and said, “Todd and Birdie checked out the other employees. They were all working and there’s not a blemish on their records. There’s nothing to tie them into the theft at all.”
“Might not be somebody who works there. Could be somebody who’s been there just to check it out.”
“Then, with the number of people going in and out with their laundry and dry cleaning, that could be hundreds of people a week that had been in that building.”
Sighing, Kyle pulled onto the street. “Let’s do some digging into the Hope City Linen company. Maybe there’s something up with them. Shit, anything to see if we could tie them into Kilton Pharmaceuticals.”
“You know this is a fuckin’ long stretch, right?”
“I know, but I’ve got nothing else right now but loose ends. Something’s gotta start tying them together.”
Kyle stopped at the coffee shop next to headquarters, getting the biggest coffee he could, dumping creamer and sugar into it. Alex refused to pay for coffee when he could get it free at the station, but Kyle was afraid that sludge would eat a hole in his gut.
Back at their desks, he pulled up his laptop and tried to find information about the Hope City Linen and Uniform Service. Once on their website, he started searching. Within ten minutes, he was ready to throw in the towel. “Who the hell knows how to dig through this business shit to figure out who owns the company?”
Alex looked up from his desk and said, “What about Harlan?”
Detective Harlan Peters was a new hire from the surrounding county. “He’s a nice guy, but what makes you think he can do this?”
“Because I pay attention when info comes out about a new hire. He came from a financial fraud background. He’s probably good at this shit.”
Brows now raised, Kyle stood quickly and hustled down the hall to another workroom. Eyes landing on his prey, he called out, “Harlan? You got a few minutes?”
He explained to Harlan what he needed, and the young man nodded. “I can help you out with that.” The two walked back into Kyle and Alex’s area and he handed his laptop to Harlan, who immediately began searching.
Harlan was scribbling notes on a pad, occasionally mumbling as he worked. After almost an hour, Harlan looked up and grinned. “I think I’ve got it, but I don’t know that it’ll do you any good.”
“Let’s have it anyway,” Kyle said.
“Okay, so I just wanted to double-check what the laundry owner told you. And that’s true, Ying Laundry Service has a contract with Hope City Linen and Uniform service. Now, HC Linen is a subsidiary of Artog, Incorporated, an international shipping company.”
Harlan paused and looked at Kyle with a big smile on his face. “Fascinating stuff, isn’t it?”
Kyle wondered if his expression was as glazed over as it felt. One glance at Alex, and he could see his partner was in the same boat. “Gotta tell you, Harlan, it doesn’t thrill me as much as it seems to excite you. But, so far, you’re not giving me much.”
Wiggling his eyebrows, Harlan said, “I’m not finished yet.” Turning back to his notes, he said, “Artog is huge and owns a lot of different companies, but I couldn’t find a tie in until I came to one that’s local. Delmont. When I dug into it, it looks like it’s a holding company. Doesn’t really do anything except just give the owner a chance to have tax write-offs and whatever the fuck else they want to hide under it. But it’s tied into Montgomery Dell.”
“The congressman?”
“Ding, ding, ding… give the man a prize!” Harlan called out. “Now, keep in mind that it’s