We went to the alley first. I had the police report photos on my phone. I wanted to compare them, not because I thought anything had changed, but because I wanted to be sure it hadn’t. I hoped, too, that seeing the crime scene in comparison to the real-life scene might give me a clearer picture of what had happened that night.

That somehow, looking at the two images side by side might give me the breakthrough that had so far remained elusive.

That didn’t mean I’d given up on Johnny Lee as our killer. Just that I wasn’t as sure about him as I’d been. I couldn’t say what it was exactly, but he didn’t come off as a murderer. Guilty of something? Yes. What that was, I didn’t know.

I just didn’t think it was Chad’s death. Even in an accidental way.

Jayne stood next to me as we looked around. I held my phone out, going photo by photo. It was easy to imagine that awful night. The alley looked the same and definitely didn’t smell any better, that was for sure.

“Anything look different to you?” she asked. “Because it doesn’t to me.”

I shook my head. “Me either. I really thought this would help. Not sure why. Waste of time.”

She put her hand on my arm. “Not a waste of time. We have to try everything. No stone unturned and all that.”

“I wish you could have gotten into Johnny Lee’s safe.”

She nodded. “Me, too.”

I put my phone away, and we walked along the North Forty side of the alley, stopping by the door that led into the kitchen. I tried it, just to see. Locked. As was the window that led into Glen’s office. At least it looked locked.

I stared up at it. The casing was flush with the wall so that there was no way of opening it unless you had something to stick between the frame and the casing and could pry it open enough to get a fingerhold. The frosted, pebbled glass made seeing in impossible too. Well, the height of the window did that, actually. But if I’d been tall enough, I still couldn’t have seen anything.

I looked around for something that might work as a pry tool.

“What are you trying to find?” Jayne asked.

“Something to test that window with. To see if it can be opened from out here. I need something thin and sturdy. Like a small screwdriver maybe.”

She opened her purse and pulled out a metal nail file. “Will this work?”

“Perfectly.” I took it and wiggled it into the narrow groove between the frame and the casing. Then I gently applied a little pressure and lifted. Nothing. I applied a little more. Still nothing. “Must be locked.”

“But if it wasn’t?”

I handed the file back to her. “My guess is I would be able to open the window. So maybe our killer didn’t come through the door. Maybe they came out this way and back in through the door. Or some combination like that.”

“Maybe. But they’d have to be pretty tall to reach that window on either side. And if they had come through Glen’s office, he would have seen them. He was in there doing the numbers, according to his statement.”

“What if he wasn’t? What if he’d been called out for some reason? Or just gone out to use the bathroom. Anything’s possible.”

She leaned against the building. “Then why didn’t he mention that in his statement to the police? And really, you’re talking about the killer having impeccable timing to make that work.”

I frowned at myself. “I’m grasping. I know. I’d still really like to see what he has to say.”

“So would I. This is frustrating. I totally feel that.” Her phone went off. She glanced at the screen. “Birdie. She says she found something.” Jayne put her hand around the screen to see better. “She sent me a picture and asks are these the sunglasses?”

I bent closer to look. Jayne held the phone in my shadow so the picture was easier to see. I used my fingers to make the image bigger. “That’s Johnny Lee.”

“Wearing Elvis sunglasses.” Jayne shook her head. “Doesn’t mean they’re the ones Chad had the night of the … hang on.” She looked at me. “Chad says those are definitely his sunglasses.”

A shot of electricity went through me. This could be the evidence we’d been looking for. “Where is that photo from?”

“No idea. Let me ask her.” Jayne sent Birdie the question. Birdie answered right away judging by how fast Jayne’s phone chirped with a new message alert. Jayne read it, then gave me the gist. “She says it’s from Johnny Lee’s personal Instagram, which is a private account, but Birdie has her ways. Sin, that’s the proof we’ve been looking for. It has to mean he’s our killer. How else would he get the glasses?”

“Seems like the most logical conclusion.” I had to admit to myself that I was wrong. I’d just had this gut instinct that said he wasn’t the guy, but the sunglasses proved otherwise. “He has to be the guy.”

“You still want to talk to Glen?”

“I think we should. That photo might be enough to reopen the investigation, but if they can’t find those sunglasses, then I’m not sure it’ll be enough. Glen might be able to tell us something new. He’s had Johnny Lee employed for the last three years. Maybe he’s seen JL in the sunglasses? Or heard him say something incriminating in passing?”

Jayne nodded. “Good point. Hey, do you think there could be employee lockers here?”

“Not sure, but I get what you’re thinking. Wouldn’t that be something if Johnny Lee’s been keeping the glasses here?”

“Okay, new plan,” Jayne said. There was excitement in her eyes. “You talk to Glen while I snoop around.”

I squinted at her. “How do you think that’s going to happen? Telling him you have to go to the bathroom isn’t going to work. The restrooms are visible from the main area of the nightclub.”

“How it’s going to happen is I’m not going in with you. You go through the front doors and keep him occupied out there. I’ll go in through the back door here.”

“Not a bad plan, but that door is locked, and the kitchen is probably filled with people getting ready to open up. Food prep and that sort of thing.”

“You know locked doors don’t stop me.” She grinned. “But good point about the kitchen being occupied. Tell you what? I’ll go in through Glen’s office window and slip out through his door. It can’t be too hard to find the employees-only area. Assuming there is one.”

“That should work.” I was never a big fan of my wife being put in a dangerous spot, but this didn’t seem nearly as dangerous as some of the other things she’d done. “You will be careful, right?”

“I’m always careful.”

I shot her a look but said nothing because that would have been an hour-long debate. “Are you sure you can still do the Saint Nick Slide with that belly?” It seemed to get bigger on a daily basis.

This time, I got the look from her. “Have you seen my uncle? I could be ten months pregnant, and I’d still be skinnier than him.”

“Point taken.”

“But seriously, hold Glen off as long as you can. I don’t want to be rushed.”

“I will. Where will I meet you?”

“How about the entrance to the alley? I may need to leave the same way I enter.”

“That works.” I nodded and leaned in to kiss her. “Love you. Be safe. Call me if anything goes wrong.”

“It won’t.” She kissed me back. “But I will. Love you too.” She narrowed her eyes for a moment, then smiled. “Chad said to tell you he’s a black belt in karate, just like Elvis, so you have nothing to worry about.”

I didn’t want to hurt Chad’s feelings, so I didn’t say anything, but Jayne was a lot more dangerous than a black belt in karate. “Thanks, Chad.”

She winked at me, probably thinking the same thing I had been about which one of them was more likely to win in a fight. “Maybe we’ll have enough new evidence to go see Chief Knolls when we meet again.”

“That would be great. Give me about ten minutes or so. Just to get inside and make sure I can get Glen out of his office.”

“Will do.”

I headed for the end of the alley, giving her one last wave. There was no reason to have a bad feeling about this.

And yet, I did.

I tried to shrug it off as I followed the sidewalk around to the entrance of North Forty. The doors were unlocked, but there were no bouncers checking IDs out front yet.

I stepped inside and gave my eyes a second to adjust to the light of the neon beer signs. There was no one around. “Glen Hewitt?” I walked toward the middle of the nightclub and raised my voice. “Glen?”

I figured making some noise was the best way to get someone’s attention. Hopefully, Glen’s. My approach was going to be the performing schtick. I was going to pretend to be interested but then segue into Chad’s death. See what Glen had to say about all of that.

Glen appeared from a side door. He smiled when he saw me. “Sinclair, right?”

I smiled back. “That’s right. Surprised you remembered.”

“Hard to forget a voice like that.” He met me halfway, hand out. His grip was firm, but his skin was soft. Not a guy who did a lot of manual labor. “I was just thinking about you, as a matter of fact. Wondering how you were.”

“Oh, I’m fine. I think I was just dehydrated.”

“Glad you’re feeling better. You gonna give that stage another go?”

I laughed and looked at it with what I hoped was an expression of longing and curiosity. “Well, I’ve been thinking about it.”

“Have you?” He clapped me on the shoulder. “That is exciting news. You’ve got a voice like I’ve never heard before. Well, not in a long while anyway. I promise you with a little makeover, you could be a real sensation.”

“A makeover?”

“You know.” He waved his hands at me. “Give you the whole Elvis vibe. It wouldn’t take much. A certain style of suit. Some two-tone loafers. Sideburns. You’re already a good-looking guy, so you’ve got that going for you.”

I saw my opening. “But I don’t really look like Elvis. Not like Big Elvis did.”

Glen nodded, his face falling a bit. “Big Elvis was a once-in-a-lifetime act. No one will ever match what he did. He had it all. The voice, the looks, the moves. Say, can you dance? I saw what you did on stage. That wasn’t bad. Have you got more in you?”

“I’m really not sure. Don’t you already have a guy, though? The one who runs the karaoke?”

“Sure, that’s Johnny Lee. He’s all right. Good emcee. But your voice.” He shook his head. “There’s no comparison.”

“I’m curious. What really happened the night Big Elvis died? You were here that night, weren’t you?”

There was a shift in his face. A hardening around the eyes. “I was. Why do you want to know?”