ackie had spent the past ten minutes searching for a record of the girls’ arrest. Anything was better than trying to talk to the gown-clad foursome. He wasn’t at all sure what the quartet had done, but he was starting to think that the only thing they weren’t capable of was giving him a straight answer.

Blackmail. Theft. At one point, something had been strongly implied about indecent exposure.…

“Excuse me.”

Mackie was grateful to even hear a male voice. It took him a moment to realize it belonged to a boy not much older than his white-gloved perps. “Can I help you?” Mackie straightened his spine as he asked the question. I am in charge here, he thought. I am an officer of the law!

“That depends,” the boy replied, leaning his elbows on the ­counter. “Do you know where I can find Sawyer Taft?”