Page 167 of The 6:20 Man

CHAPTER

72

SURPRISINGLY, IT SEEMED BUSINESS AS usual at Cowl and Comely, despite a body’s having been found in the pool of the firm’s leader. And that leader’s still being absent from the scene.

Money trumps murder, Devine concluded.

On the way up in the elevator, he pressed the button for Area 51. Stunningly, it lighted up.

Okay, didn’t see that one coming.

He got off on that floor and looked around. The door was open. He poked his head inside and gaped.

It was empty. Every server, every computer screen was gone. All that was left were the cabinets and the tables. He hurried over to the wall where he had placed the camera. It was gone.

He hurried back down to the lobby, texting Campbell on the way to let him know what he had found.

Or not found.

He walked up to Sam the guard and asked him if he knew of any movers coming into the building to take some things out.

He shook his head. “Not while I’ve been here.”

“Can you check with the night guard?”

“Sure, I can try. He’s probably asleep by now. What’s up?”

“Just wondering about something.”

“Hey, I heard on the news about the guy being found in Mr. Cowl’s pool. What the hell is that about?”

“Yeah, I was wondering that, too.”

“I haven’t seen Mr. Cowl for a while. Everything okay with him?”

“That’s way above my pay grade, Sam. Any idea where Jerry Myers is?”

“Yeah, third-floor dining hall. Some snafu with an oven.”

He found Myers in the kitchen working on one of the ovens, and asked him if he’d seen any moving trucks at the building.

“No, but if it happened last night, I wouldn’t know about it. What got moved?”

“I’m not sure.”

He next located Wanda Simms and decided to be more direct with her.

“I was on the fifty-first floor this morning, Wanda.”

“What?” she said sharply. “You couldn’t have been. It’s off-limits.”

“Come take a ride with me.”

They got on the elevator, and he made a theatrical show of hitting the button. When it lighted up, Simms gasped.

When they got to the fifty-first floor and he showed her the vast, empty space, she looked at him suspiciously.

“Why did you come up here in the first place?”