Intimate Relations, Rebecca Forster [best ereader for manga .txt] 📗

software update when they said they did. That meant the car's warning system wasn't updated. It was completely flawed at the time of the accident. My client will be well taken care of for the rest of her life."

"And you're going to be so rich that you'll be buying a new boat when you get the other one wet," Cori said as she joined them.

Lapinski stood. Cori waved him down. She was not unaware of his affection for her, but she wasn't about to cut him any slack until she was sure a relationship would be good for both of them. Still, she felt something for Thomas Lapinski. He was the unlikely third leg in Finn and Cori's friendship stool, and their secret weapon. A while back Lapinski burst into Finn's office at Wilshire Division and tried to convince both detectives to sue the department for injuries suffered in a freeway pile up. They had declined the offer, but Lapinski's knowledge of tech, his unflagging optimism, and his curiosity about everything made him the kind of genius whose help they welcomed now and again. Not to mention, Cori found his admiration kind of nice. Lapinski was funny and kind and it had been a long time since she had an ardent suitor.

"You look like you'll be needing a drink, Cori," Finn said.

"Good grief. I thought a hot shower would put me in order." She looked at Thomas. "What do you say? do we have time for a drink, or are we headed to dinner?"

"At your disposal," he said. "And now that you know I'm a man of means after that settlement, you get to choose where we eat."

Finn went to the kitchen for the drinks. Cori settled on the couch next to Thomas.

"I'll take Maria's," she said. "After the day I've had I need a wagon load of carbs."

Finn came out of the kitchen, handed them each a beer, and took the chair opposite the couch. Finn rested ankle over his knee, enjoying the company, knowing it would soon be quiet in his apartment when Cori moved home the next day.

"Great, we'll save The Four Seasons for another time," Lapinski said. "So what have you two been doing that's got you running?"

Finn and Cori took turns filling him in on The Brewery mess. In the process, they shared information with one another since they had seen little of one another. As usual, Lapinski found it all beyond fascinating.

"So you're thinking a crime of passion?" The lawyer said.

"I haven't the faintest idea." Finn took a long drink of his beer. "The economic structure of The Brewery is something that's niggling at my brain. The bloody man and his wife are a mystery. If it were me, and there was a dead body in my upstairs, I'd be working overtime to help the police just so they would leave me alone. Those two are clamshells, and we can't pry them open."

"They're smart," Lapinski said. "Most people blow it by talking too much. I predict the next time you see them, they'll be lawyered up."

"They're Albanian," Cori said.

The men looked at her, waiting for more. Cori shook her head as if to say her comment should be self-explanatory.

"Didn't you ever see that movie Taken? Albanians are always the bad guys," she said. "I say we assume they did it."

"Now that's what I call excellent police work." Lapinski chuckled.

"Well thank you, honey pie." Cori pulled on her Texas drawl, teasing Thomas before she became serious. "The Cucas have permanent residency, but that doesn't mean much if you get on the wrong side of the law.  Think about it. We talked for hours and the only thing we know for sure is that they want to stay in the U.S., the husband is talented, and the wife is the brains behind the business."

"And," Finn cut in, "if, as Bev says, our victim was a troublemaker, and she was messing with any of that, there is your motive. But we saw the man. The only thing out of place was the blood on his shirt. His explanation for it was plausible. "

"It's not like there would be much else to see," Cori said. "Paul said this was a straight out, wham, bam, thank you ma'am, you're dead."

"There's even something more worrisome in my head," Finn said. "The woman in the window. We've statements from the neighbors. There was a woman in their upstairs, more than once, staying long enough to draw attention, and yet they deny knowing her."

"But we don't know if it was our victim," Cori said.

"When we have an I.D. we'll revisit and show our witnesses. Mitzie and Peter only need a picture, even Ali Keyes will be able to confirm without spilling any secrets. Until then, we'll let the Cucas rest for a day." Finn took a drink of his beer, his brow furrowing. "I still go back to the man, though. He is at the center of this. I feel it in my bones. He had a knife as big as a machete and a huge rage."

"Then why not use the knife to take the victim out?" Cori said.

"And why was he ticked to begin with?" Lapinski asked. "If he didn't kill the girl then why draw attention to himself?"

"Don't you have any nuts, O'Brien?" Cori got up and went to rifle through the cabinets. She called out from the kitchen. "Tell Lapinski what Cuca told us."

The men listened to Cori wreak havoc on Finn's kitchen for a minute before Finn began again.

"He said he was distraught when he saw the dead girl and it worsened when he saw one of the Asylum men doing something untoward with the companion downstairs. Whatever happened upstairs, was blamed on downstairs. A woman, a doll," Finn shrugged. "I don't think the man knows the difference between a real woman and one of those things."

Cori came back in and settled herself on the arm of the sofa. She offered Lapinski the can of