Page 137 of Dead Man's List

“Sir,” Ramsey’s attorney said loudly.

Ramsey swatted at her, not taking his eyes from Kit. If looks could kill, Kit would be dead where she sat.

Sam hoped Ramsey never got free.

“Hugh Smith. It was all Hugh Smith. Juanita Young said she knew someone if Smith’s contact didn’t pan out. I tried to get him to stop.”

“How?” Kit pressed. “How did you try to get him to stop?”

“The guy Smith was talking to was an undercover cop. Anyone with eyes could have seen it.”

“So you witnessed Hugh Smith talking to the hit man?” Kit asked carefully.

“Smith wore a wire to the meeting. I was listening. I told Smith to leave, that something was off. I was right. The man was an undercover cop. I checked him out later. Juanita gave Hugh her guy’s name and he was legit. I checked them both out. If anyone killed Munro, it was Juanita’s guy. She probably even helped him. I think they were sleeping together.”

“Juanita and Hugh Smith?” Connor asked.

“No.” Ramsey shot him an impatient, angry look. “Juanita and her hit man. If you want names, I’ll give you names. After I have a deal.”

Kit nodded once. “I’ll call Joel Haley, the prosecutor. You might have to wait. Mr.Haley is having a busy night.”

Chapter Sixteen

San Diego PD, San Diego, California

Thursday, January 12, 5:45 a.m.

Kit sent a mental thank-you to her mother for the large urn of coffee and food she’d sent to sustain them. This had been one long night. She needed to go home, sleep, and shower, but she had the feeling that none of those things were going to happen for a while.

She refilled her mug and joined the others at the conference table, taking a seat between Connor and Sam. The whiteboard was looking pretty full. She was going to have to reorganize it after this meeting.

Navarro tapped the table to get everyone’s attention. Marshall and Ashton had interviewed all their suspects, and Joel had joined the team after negotiating deals all night long. And then there was the captain, who’d come in especially for the debrief.

So…no pressure at all.

“We’ve finished interviewing all nine of the people involved in the plot to hire a hit man to kill Brooks Munro,” Navarro said.

“We have two names of hit men,” Joel added. “Bert Ramsey gave us the real hit man associated with Juanita Young and the fake hit man who Ramsey had correctly identified as an undercover cop. Real hit man is Jason Goodman and the UC cop is Kirk Torrence. You’ll need to contact Torrence’s handler, because his cover has been compromised.”

“Shit,” the captain muttered. “I know Torrence. He’s been very useful to us in his undercover capacity. But he’s been UC for a while, so it was nearly time to bring him back, anyway. I’ll take care of that. How did Bert Ramsey identify him?”

“He wouldn’t say,” Joel said. “He’s got a horde of bodyguards and some connections in the security world. We might be able to squeeze him further later, but that wasn’t my priority tonight.”

“I understand,” the captain said. “You’ve all had a long but productive twenty-four hours.”

Considering it was nearly dawn, that was a true fact. They were running on coffee and adrenaline.

“We still don’t know if the hit man did it,” Kit said. “The ME’s theory of multiple participants in the murder itself has yet to be disproven.”

“Do you think any of them could have stabbed Munro?” the captain asked.

Kit looked at the other detectives, who all gave her the nod to take the lead. “I think Simon Daly could have, sir,” she said. “I definitely think that Bert Ramsey could have. The man didn’t blink at the sight of Walter Grossman’s body.”

“Grossman was Munro’s PI?” the captain asked.

“Yes, sir,” Kit said. “According to Veronica, only Munro and Grossman knew who was on the list.”

“And I don’t think Veronica is lying about that,” Joel said.“She’d be able to negotiate herself a sweeter deal if she knew and she hasn’t done that yet.”