selling drugs, he must have been doing it somewhere else.”
Cooper looked around at the pin-neat living room. “I’m surprised the cops left this place so neat.”
“Oh, I straightened up,” Lisa admitted. “They let me. I told them I just wanted to do something for Miguel. I know that sounds dumb since he wasn’t ever coming back here.” She sniffed.
Touched by the young woman’s gesture, Cooper smiled at Lisa. “That was very thoughtful of you.” Then, a thought occurred to her. “Does this unit come with a garage?”
Lisa shrugged. “Got me. Miguel drove some clunker he bought from Love’s. I wouldn’t bother renting a garage for that car.”
Cooper suspected Lisa spent a good deal of time observing Miguel’s movements.
“This whole thing must have been quite a shock for you.” Trish gazed at the girl sympathetically and they chatted for a few more minutes, but Lisa didn’t seem to know anything more about her neighbor than she’d already told them. Casting a longing look around the room, she eventually returned to her own apartment.
A few moments after Lisa left, Phil returned with a small tin can of orange juice. It was the kind stocked in hotel minibars and Cooper wondered where on earth he’d found it. She thought she caught a whiff of vodka as he reached over to hand Trish the juice. It seemed as though Phil helped himself to a screwdriver now and then in the privacy of his office.
Again, she felt guilty for deceiving him. “I like this complex, Phil. This unit seems sad to me, as though there’s been some kind of loss here.”
“Wow, you’re good,” Phil uttered in astonishment.
Trish rose from the sofa on wobbly legs. “Does this unit come with a garage?”
“We have several garages available at the moment,” was Phil’s cryptic answer.
“Well, we’re sure there are plenty of suitable apartments for Delilah’s employees, even if she hasn’t found the perfect one today.” Trish wiped the can lid with a tissue and took a small sip of its contents. “I would be glad to take a few brochures along with me, Phil. You’ve been so kind. An angel, really.”
Phil beamed.
Back in the Mercedes, Trish and Cooper reviewed their findings.
They’d walked back past Miguel’s parking space and had noted his aged Chevy Cavalier. The car’s exterior was dented and scratched in several places and the interior appeared to be empty. It told them nothing about its owner.
“Time to pass the buck to Quinton, I’d say. I’m sure the police went over Miguel’s car carefully, so that’s of no help,” Cooper said. “We need to get a financial picture now. Even though Quinton will be researching a person that doesn’t officially exist.”
“Well, Miguel’s false identity enjoys watching TV, playing video games, singing karaoke, and looking at naked women,” Trish remarked with a sigh. The two women watched as Phil moved about inside his office. “I do feel kind of rotten about putting on that act for Phil Burgess. The guy’s just trying to do his job. To make it up to him, I’m going to go out of my way to send him clients.” Her mouth formed a small smile. “Even if The Inner Eye isn’t one of them.”
7
“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”
Romans 7:18 (NIV)
The next step in Cooper’s investigation was to deliver the documents in Miguel’s personnel file to Quinton. After completing her last repair job of the day, she drove to Wawa to fill up her truck and buy a hazelnut decaf. As her truck gulped down over seventy dollars in gas, Cooper called Quinton at home and asked if he was free in the immediate future.
“Meet me tomorrow,” was his cheerful answer. “Let’s go to Jimmy’s on West Broad and order breakfast. I could do with a three-egg omelet stuffed with mushrooms and provolone.”
“A pound of Japanese food today and a pile of pancakes tomorrow?” Cooper laughed. “I’d better go on a mighty long run after work this afternoon. See you at Jimmy’s.”
She turned and waved at the line of drivers waiting to use the pump. At five-thirty, Wawa was even more crowded than usual. With the lowest gas prices in town, people were willing to spend extra time idling in line, but Cooper knew she’d be risking her life if she left her car at the pump in order to go inside for a cup of coffee. She moved