Page 177 of Detectives in Love

“He tried,” I say. “He called Hill after eight, but Hill didn’t answer.”

“Okay,” Willand says slowly, and I can tell he thinks it’s a stretch. “What else do you have?”

“Bernard somehow knew Xavier and I were working on Bridge’s robbery case. He probably figured you’d hand us the murder too, so he needed a diversion. Fred Collins—his colleague atThe Chronicle—told me today that Bernard paid him to bug me.”

“Bug?” Willand echoes.

I nod. “He put an audio recording device and a tracker into my belt. Fred confirmed Bernard was behind the scandal about Xavier and me. I’m assuming it was meant to distract us from the murder.”

“So he was trying to throw you off,” Willand says after a pause, and I can hear the effort it takes for him to keep the skepticism out of his voice.

So I tell him everything from the start in details. Meeting Fred. Us getting drunk at the bar (I leave out that it happened because of my argument with Xavier). Then the article. The swarm of journalists waiting for us on every corner. The tracker Selena Hast gave us and the bug we found later. How we met Nimoy. How we saw him again at that café—on the same street where Bridge was killed. I tell him about Mrs. Bridge—

And then I stop.

It hits me—Xavier said the killer might’ve been listening in on conversations in Willand’s office. That’s how he lured him into Mrs. Bridge’s house…

“Shit,” I mutter, heart picking up, realizing Bernard might’ve heard all this.

“Wait,” Willand says, startled. “You think Bernard killed Mrs. Bridge? Then broke into your apartment and attacked you?”

I nod, but my mind’s already elsewhere.

“Then why did Nimoy rob Bridge a week before the murder?” Crowley asks, stepping forward and leaning against Willand’s desk. There’s no usual scepticism in her voice, which gives me hope they might take me seriously after all.

I blink, glance up at her, realizing something. “He didn’t. It was just a coincidence. Bernard probably wanted it to seem connected. He was keeping tabs on every criminal case in Shorewitch—and he was talking to you, right? So he had to know about the robbery.”

Willand and Crowley exchange a glance before looking back at me.

“So all of this started because Nimoy was spying on the minister and his advisor?” Willand says, frowning.

“Yes,” I say, though I’m only half-present now. My eyes move around the office, scanning for where Bernard could’ve hidden a bug.

“Well, he did get a promotion thanks to that story,” Crowley notes. “And he’s been here coaxing you an awful lot lately, boss.”

Willand sits there, unmoving, thinking. I stay silent, giving him space to think, hoping he’s not going to disregard me. After a long couple of moments, he finally looks at me and says, “Okay, so let me get this straight: Nimoy was illegally spying on the minister and his lover. So what—he decides to get into the guy’s house?” He pauses, waiting for me to continue.

“Yes,” I say, thinking it through as I speak, “He probably stalked them for a while, that’s how the first photos got into the paper. Both Minister and Hill must have realized they’re being watched, so Hill decided to install cameras in his house. Nimoy didn’t know that, but he needed new material and he might have got inside the house when Bridge was there.”

“So Bridge catches him,” Willand says, continuing my line of thought. “What does Nimoy do next?”

“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “I suppose he ran away, but then realized Bridge saw his face, or something, so he went after him and killed him. Xavier and I actually bumped into Nimoy in a café next to the crime scene, he said he lived nearby. So if Nimoy followed Bridge and realized they lived in the same area, it wasn’t hard for him to ambush him later that night.”

“Is that a coincidence?” Crowley says. “That they live nearby?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, but the waiter in the café knew him like he was a usual there.”

“Okay,” Willand says, though I can tell by his expression that he’s really stretching it to believe my theory. “So it’s all a big coincidence. But why didn’t Nimoy get caught on the cameras outside of the alley where Bridge was killed? He didn’t come in or out of that alley that day, that’s for sure.”

I pause, thinking, aware of both Crowley and Willand watching me. I’m sure I’m right—I just don’t know how Bernard pulled it off.

“I don’t know,” I say honestly, and to my surprise, Willand nods.

“Alright,” he says, “We’ll figure it out. I still have many questions, but now I actually feel better about arresting him.”

I nod, letting out a big breath. Not of relief exactly, though close to it.

Before we can continue the conversation, Willand’s phone rings. He gives me a quick look, before picking it up.