shook my head. "Still hard at it."
"I don't see any bags."
Crap.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I haven't found anything I couldn't live without yet."
Detective Smith ran his hand through his hair. "Barb, this is a murder investigation. I'm doing everything I can to solve it."
"I know that," I said on a sigh. "I just need to help."
Out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed the handsome detective soon to replace Smith talking to one of the security guards. Why couldn't I stop finding him in a crowd?
"I know how to take care of myself. Besides"—I brought my attention back to Smith and smiled—"the case of who killed Santa has me intrigued. I've never been able to turn away from a mystery, and I'm not about to start now. So, no."
He blinked. "What?"
"I'm sorry, Detective Smith, but no. You need help solving this one, and I'm going to be that help. Some Santa-killing jackass isn't going to destroy Christmas for any of us, especially your wife and kids. So I'm sorry, but no. I'm going to keep poking around until one of us figures out who the killer is."
Smith stared at me without saying a word, so I pressed on.
"We have some good leads, and I'll stay out of your way."
"Come with me." He grasped my hand. "You too." He pointed at Kelly. His tone left no room for argument.
Kelly followed us as Detective Smith led me down a long offshoot hallway beside the food court. Near the middle of the hallway he opened a door built into the wall.
"What is this?"
"Surveillance area."
We followed Smith to the last door on the right. He didn't bother knocking but instead just walked in.
"This is all of the feed from all of the cameras in every one of the stores playing in real time. I know that you've talked to Bambi, Addie, and now Chelsea."
"Have you talked to them?" I asked.
"Detective Black and I talked to them this morning. From what we gathered, Marvin liked the ladies and wasn't shy about flitting from one to the other."
"Sounds like the girls told us the same story," Kelly said.
"But none of them have given a solid alibi," I said.
"No, they haven't." He shook his head.
"Okay. So then, why are we here?"
Smith smiled. "You want to help solve this case? Then you can help. I've already cleared this with the Captain. I need the two of you to review the tapes from around the time that Marvin was killed."
"You want us to sit and watch surveillance tapes?" I asked with confusion. "You were dead set against us helping you this morning. Why the sudden change of heart?"
"This morning when I caught you nosing around the first time, I got this idea." Smith said. "I had to run it by the Captain first. He remembers you from some case you solved a while back and agreed to let you help."
"All right, but the camera by the tree is a dummy, so it's not like we're going to see who shoved Marvin under the tree. And another thing…isn't reviewing these videos someone else's job?"
"Yes, normally it is, but with the holidays we're running a little shorthanded. We've had guys watching cameras from the stores closest to the tree, but they haven't seen anything that can be of use to us. Since the cameras don't show the tree head-on, only the surrounding areas, finding anything on the tapes in these areas is a long shot, but we need to turn over every stone."
"What will you be doing?"
"My job." He grinned.
I propped my hands on my hips and shook my head. He just wanted us out of his way, but I didn't care. There could be a glimpse of something on one of the tapes closest to the tree that could lead us to Marvin's killer.
"Look, I don't know about you," Kelly said, "but we were just about at a dead end. I say we grab some lunch and watch the tapes. We might find something helpful."
I looked between Kelly and Smith then sighed and held up my hand. "Fine. Fine. You win this time, but don't get used to it."
"Don't worry about lunch. I already picked something up for you." Smith pointed to two white Styrofoam takeout boxes and two steaming
"I don't see any bags."
Crap.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I haven't found anything I couldn't live without yet."
Detective Smith ran his hand through his hair. "Barb, this is a murder investigation. I'm doing everything I can to solve it."
"I know that," I said on a sigh. "I just need to help."
Out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed the handsome detective soon to replace Smith talking to one of the security guards. Why couldn't I stop finding him in a crowd?
"I know how to take care of myself. Besides"—I brought my attention back to Smith and smiled—"the case of who killed Santa has me intrigued. I've never been able to turn away from a mystery, and I'm not about to start now. So, no."
He blinked. "What?"
"I'm sorry, Detective Smith, but no. You need help solving this one, and I'm going to be that help. Some Santa-killing jackass isn't going to destroy Christmas for any of us, especially your wife and kids. So I'm sorry, but no. I'm going to keep poking around until one of us figures out who the killer is."
Smith stared at me without saying a word, so I pressed on.
"We have some good leads, and I'll stay out of your way."
"Come with me." He grasped my hand. "You too." He pointed at Kelly. His tone left no room for argument.
Kelly followed us as Detective Smith led me down a long offshoot hallway beside the food court. Near the middle of the hallway he opened a door built into the wall.
"What is this?"
"Surveillance area."
We followed Smith to the last door on the right. He didn't bother knocking but instead just walked in.
"This is all of the feed from all of the cameras in every one of the stores playing in real time. I know that you've talked to Bambi, Addie, and now Chelsea."
"Have you talked to them?" I asked.
"Detective Black and I talked to them this morning. From what we gathered, Marvin liked the ladies and wasn't shy about flitting from one to the other."
"Sounds like the girls told us the same story," Kelly said.
"But none of them have given a solid alibi," I said.
"No, they haven't." He shook his head.
"Okay. So then, why are we here?"
Smith smiled. "You want to help solve this case? Then you can help. I've already cleared this with the Captain. I need the two of you to review the tapes from around the time that Marvin was killed."
"You want us to sit and watch surveillance tapes?" I asked with confusion. "You were dead set against us helping you this morning. Why the sudden change of heart?"
"This morning when I caught you nosing around the first time, I got this idea." Smith said. "I had to run it by the Captain first. He remembers you from some case you solved a while back and agreed to let you help."
"All right, but the camera by the tree is a dummy, so it's not like we're going to see who shoved Marvin under the tree. And another thing…isn't reviewing these videos someone else's job?"
"Yes, normally it is, but with the holidays we're running a little shorthanded. We've had guys watching cameras from the stores closest to the tree, but they haven't seen anything that can be of use to us. Since the cameras don't show the tree head-on, only the surrounding areas, finding anything on the tapes in these areas is a long shot, but we need to turn over every stone."
"What will you be doing?"
"My job." He grinned.
I propped my hands on my hips and shook my head. He just wanted us out of his way, but I didn't care. There could be a glimpse of something on one of the tapes closest to the tree that could lead us to Marvin's killer.
"Look, I don't know about you," Kelly said, "but we were just about at a dead end. I say we grab some lunch and watch the tapes. We might find something helpful."
I looked between Kelly and Smith then sighed and held up my hand. "Fine. Fine. You win this time, but don't get used to it."
"Don't worry about lunch. I already picked something up for you." Smith pointed to two white Styrofoam takeout boxes and two steaming
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