Transcript of encrypted message exchange between Cooper Lamb and Veena Lion
VEENA LION: What’s the latest?
COOPER LAMB: Oh, nothing, just a leisurely day avoiding the police, sparring with a nanny, and trying to wrestle information out of an obese multimillionaire. Right now I’m waiting for the young ones to finish their pricey Quaker education for the day so I can feed them sugar and regale them with tales of violence before dropping them off at their mother’s place.
LION: Roz Cline is dead.
LAMB: You’ve gotta be s------- me! Okay, you have me beat. What happened…oh, wait. Was Roz the Old City jumper? It’s all over KYW.
LION: I’m down here right now. Guess who else is here?
LAMB: Bernstein.
LION: Yep.
LAMB: Thank God.
LION: ?
LAMB: If he’s there, that means he’s not stalking me and looking for an opportunity to have me arrested or shot.
LION: ??????
LAMB: Long story. But wait, why is he there?
LION: We have a dead NFL superstar, a dead celebrity chef, and a dead Atlantic City hostess. The first two are murders, and I’m pretty sure the third is one too.
LAMB: And Mickey Bernstein just happens to be there in record time for every killing. You should ask him why that is.
LION: Tried that already. He told me I should steer clear of this for my own good. He said he was telling me because we’re old friends.
LAMB: I didn’t know you two were close.
LION: I didn’t either. I’d be tempted to ask him out if it weren’t for that triple-homicide thing.
LAMB: Seriously? You think Bernstein killed all three of them? I mean, Mickey had a head start on Archie’s murder, but I don’t think he pulled the trigger himself. Victor tracked his movements.
LION: Even detectives have partners.
LAMB: So now it’s a conspiracy?
LION: It already was, by definition.
LAMB: Touché. But we have nothing solid tying Mickey to any of these killings. If anyone has a reason to show up at a murder scene, it’s a freakin’ murder cop.
LION: So you think Bernstein is innocent?
LAMB: Hell no. He practically has a neon GUILTY sign over his head. But we need to prove it.
LION: Two potential witnesses have been killed. Who else is left to squeeze?
LAMB: We make the rounds again. And this time, we squeeze harder.