Kate parked her unit behind the building at the Whip N Spur. Five other cars were in the lot. She figured they were preparing for the lunch crowd. But it was Monday, and wasn’t that usually the slowest day of the week?
Since she was in uniform, Kate walked to the back door of the restaurant and pulled. It opened. Wow, that’s safe. Opening the door, she walked down a wide, dark hallway that had a half a dozen coats and sweaters hanging on hooks. At the end of the hallway, she saw a stairway on her right and an ordering station on her left. A few more steps and she stood on reddish rubber mats that interlinked and covered the entire concrete floor of the kitchen.
“Help you?” A young man dressed in white cook clothing asked in heavily accented English.
“Manager?” Kate asked.
The young man, maybe nineteen years old, raised his right arm and pointed to the far side of the kitchen. “Corner. Knock.”
Kate nodded. “Gracias.”
The man didn’t respond as he walked around to the prep area.
Kate walked down the aisle, a salad prep station on her right and the dishwasher area on her left. Just past the dishwashing station, she saw a bulletin board with notices and a schedule. Past that, the only wall that wasn’t completely white, there was a brown door. She knocked.
“What?” A man’s voice from behind the door.
“Peculiar police, sir.”
The door opened to reveal an office so stacked with file cabinets and paperwork, she could barely see the desk. The man’s chair barely cleared the door. It reminded her of the M.E.’s office.
“Is this really important? I have to get this place open for lunch, and find a replacement bartender.” He stood and Kate noticed he was her height. Dark brown hair, thick and kept in place with pomade.
“Well, I’m here about a homicide, so maybe a little important. I’m Corporal Kate Darby.” He didn’t look friendly, so she didn’t bother to put her hand out to shake.
“Homicide?” He asked. “Let’s go in the bar and talk.”
He walked out of the office and turned to make sure the door shut and locked. Walking back the way they came, Kate followed the man through a full swinging door. “Coming out,” he said as he pushed the door.
“Your name, sir?” Kate asked as they sat in the first chairs in front of a round high-top table.
“Sorry, I’m Dean Pinkle.” He smiled, even though it looked forced.
“Well, Dean, I’m here to talk to you about one of your employees, Allie Miller.”
Dean’s eyes went wide. “She killed him?”
Kate’s eyes mimicked Dean’s. “Killed who?”
“Allie dated this guy for a while. She broke it off, but he didn’t seem to want it to be over. The problem with working in a bar or restaurant is they can come visit you at work. And this guy must have been staking out the parking lot, because he came in every shift she worked. Stared at her the entire time. Tipped well, though.” Dean drummed his fingers on the wood surface of the table.
“Have you ever seen him?” Kate asked.
“She never told me who he was, saying she didn’t want any trouble. It didn’t affect her job, so all was good. But it couldn’t have been too good, because the last few weeks she was getting a ride to and from work. Our girls always get an escort to their cars at the end of the night, but she seemed extra cautious.”
“What did she say, exactly?” Kate asked.
“Well, did she kill him? Because it was probably self-defense.” Dean stopped drumming his fingers.
“No, sir, she’s the one who is dead,” Kate said.
Dean’s skin turned pale. “That’s why she didn’t show for her shift Saturday night. Oh, shit, and here I was pissed at her. She really left me in a bind.”
“She was in a bit bigger bind than you were,” Kate said.
“She was tied up?” he asked.
Kate shook her head. “When was the last time you saw Allie?”
“Friday night. In fact, that guy was in here. I actually saw him that night. He was being really weird, accused her of trashing his car, and wanted to know why. She said she didn’t know what he was talking about and tried to continue working. Then he got in her face, and I had to ask him to leave her alone.”
Funny, just a minute before, this guy said he’d never seen the man. Now, he knew it was him getting in Allie’s face. Kate tried not to confront him on his lie, to keep him talking.
“What time was this?” Kate asked, checking her timeline.
“It was after midnight, but we were still pretty full. He walked away, but he screamed at her, “I love you. You know I love you. Please.”
“What did Allie do?” Kate asked.
“She left the bar. My assistant manager took over for her and she called for a ride.”
“Can you describe this guy?”
Dean laughed. “Totally didn’t fit in. His jeans looked like girl jeans and were skin tight.”
“Girl jeans?” Kate asked.
“Yeah, you know, stitching and sparkles on the pockets. He could barely walk in them. How the hell did he sit down to drive here?” Then Dean realized what he was saying. “Oh, shit, did he kill her?”
“We don’t know. Was this guy wearing cowboy boots?” Kate felt nauseous. Had Jonah killed her over the car? And there was a possibility she wasn’t even the one who trashed it.
“Yeah, and they were so out of fashion. Like the Mexicans wear. We call them cockroach killers, because you can smash a roach in the corner with the pointed toes.”
Yep, it was Jonah.
“How long had he been stalking her at work?” Kate asked.
“I don’t know for sure. I just know she started getting rides to work in the last two weeks or so. Allie was a nice girl, you know. I feel bad that I was pissed at her for being a no-show.” Dean slumped over the table, putting his fingers in his perfect hair. “Wow, she’s dead.”
Kate looked around the dark bar and noticed video cameras in every corner. “Do you have many fights in the bar?”
“Not really, but we like to make sure no one underage is being served. We’ve had a fight here and there, but we have bouncers.” Dean sat up, looking at the cameras.
“Would you have time to pull up the video from Friday night?” Kate asked.
Dean shook his head. “We don’t store the footage here. But I can call the company that has it, and have them send it to you.”
Kate stood. “That would be lovely. Is there anything else you can tell me that might help?”
“Just that the guy didn’t leave when Allie left. He stuck around until right before closing time.”
Interesting. Kate thought he was getting a ride from the tow truck driver. Maybe she was wrong. Then again, she wasn’t paying that much attention, because she never expected to revisit the situation.
She gave Dean her card. “I just need footage that would identify the man. I may already know his name. And I’d also like to see video from the back door here, the one that faces the back parking area.”
“I’ll get everything from around eleven or midnight until, say, two-thirty?” Dean said.
“Perfect. Thank you so much. I appreciate your total cooperation.”
As Dean walked her to the door, he said, “I’m really sorry about Allie. I liked her.”
“I’m sorry, too.”
The door shut behind her and she walked to the car. If Jonah was that mad at her, why would he tell her he loved her? Why was he coming to see her at work, if they broke up because he was married? None of this made sense.
Kate heard the door of the building slam open. “Corporal!” Dean called after her.
Kate stopped and turned around. “Yes?”
“If it helps, it was a woman who picked him up when the bar closed. I can’t remember the car, because I didn’t know it would be important, but it was some sort of SUV.”