“Maybe,” Marino said as my car came into view. “But your ride’s still here. Why do you walk someone down the street and shoot them, and leave the car right where it is?
Why not steal it? Maybe we should be worried about a gay bashing. You thought about that?” I We had arrived at my Mercedes, and reporters took more photographs and asked more questions as if this were the crime of all time. We ignored them as we moved around to the open driver’s door and looked inside my S-320. I scanned armrests, ashtrays, dashboard and saddle leather upholstery, and saw nothing out of place. I saw no sign of a struggle, but the floor mat on the passenger’s side was dirty. I noted the faint impressions left by shoes.
“This was the way it was found?” I asked. “What about the door being opened?”
“We opened the door. It was unlocked,” Marino said.
“Nobody got inside?”
“No.”
“This wasn’t there before.” I pointed to the floor mat.
“What?” Marino asked.
“See those shoe impressions and the dirt?” I spoke quietly so reporters could not hear. “There shouldn’t have seat. Not while Danny was been anybody in the passenger’s driving, and not earlier when it was being repaired at Virginia Beach.” -What about Lucy?”
“No. She hasn’t ridden with me recently. I can’t think of anybody who has since it was cleaned last.”
“Don’t worry, we’re going to vacuum everything.” He looked away from me and reluctantly added, “You know we’re going to have to impound it, Doc.” -I understand.” I said, and we started walking back to the street near the tunnel, where we had parked.
“I’m wondering if Danny was familiar with Richmond,” Marino said.
“He’s been to my office before,” I replied, and my soul felt heavy. “In fact, when he was first hired, he did a week’s internship with us. I don’t remember where he stayed, but I think it was the Comfort Inn on Broad Street.”
We walked in silence for a moment, and I added, “Obviously, he knew the area around my office.”
“Yeah, and that includes here since your office is only about fifteen blocks from here.”
Something occurred to me. “We don’t know that he didn’t just come up here tonight to get something to eat before the bus ride home. How do we know he wasn’t just doing something mundane like that?”
Our cars were near several cruisers and a crime scene van, and the reporters had gone. I unlocked the station wagon door and got in. Marino stood with his hands in his pockets, a suspicious expression on his face because he knew me so well.
“You aren’t posting him tonight, are you,” he said.
“No.” It wasn’t necessary and I wouldn’t put myself through it.
“And you don’t want to go home. I can tell.”
“There are things to do,” I said. “The longer we wait, the more we might lose.”
“Which places do you want to try?” he asked, because he knew what it was like to have someone you worked With killed. – Well, there’s a number of places to eat right around here. Millie’s, for example.”
“Nope. Too high-dollar. Same with Patrick Henry’s and Most of the joints in the Slip and Shockoe Bottom. Remember, Danny’s not going to have a lot of money unless he’s getting it from places we don’t know about.”
“Let’s assume he’s getting nothing from anywhere,” I said. “Let’s assume he wanted something that was a straight shot from my office, so he stayed on Broad Street.”
“Poe’s, which isn’t on Broad, but is very close to Libby Hill Park. And of course there’s the Cafe,” he said.
“That’s what I would say, too,” I agreed.
When we walked into Poe’s, the manager was ringing up the check of the last customer for the night. We waited what seemed a long time, only to be told that dinner had been slow and no one resembling Danny had come in. Returning to our cars, we continued east on Broad to the Hill Cafe at 28th Street, and my pulse picked up when I realized the restaurant was but one street down from where my Mercedes had been found.