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Devlin handed the fob to Rusty, who nodded to the chief.
“Devlin has had it in impound for the last three weeks,” I pointed out. “And when did you report her found to the Massachusetts authorities?”
Devlin looked like a deer in the headlights. “Uh, early on.”
“How early?”
“The first day.”
“Then you should have released the car,” Earl growled.
“But…” Devlin argued. “You told me you wanted to handle all of those.”
The chief shook his head. “You know damned well we only impound them to check for fingerprints and shit, which doesn’t matter when the person is already found.” He sighed. “My apologies, Ms. Lerner. Sorry about the mix up.”
I stepped forward. “I don’t think it’s a mix up. As a matter of fact, I’d like to lodge a complaint.”
“It’s not your damned car,” Earl shot back.
“I have a different complaint.” I took the paper out of my back pocket. “I think the conference room would be best.”
“Gimme that.” Earl took the sheet I’d prepared and tore it in half with a flourish. “We don’t need a conference room. That parking ticket he gave you yesterday was entirely legit.”
Devlin laughed. “He ain’t smart enough to be able to read the no-parking sign.”
“Jumping to conclusions is a big mistake,” I told the chief. I knew the truth of that all too well. “You might want to read it first.”
Holding the two pieces together, his face screwed up as he went down the page. “You can’t just go accusing him of this.”
Devlin still smirked, not knowing what was coming his way.
“Chief,” I said, using his title for effect. “I was there outside The Peanut Barrel when you put him on warning for coercing Ms. Lerner here to have dinner with him.”
Earl shifted nervously. “So?”
Devlin finally caught on. “I didn’t do that.”
“Shut up, Dev,” Earl scowled.
“But—”
“Quiet,” Earl repeated, louder this time. He put the papers down. “This doesn’t mean anything. You can’t prove any of it.
“Prove what?” Devlin asked.
“We can,” I answered ignoring Devlin’s complaint. “Anna, Ms. Decker—who used to work for you at the distillery, I might add—has video of him propositioning Ms. Lerner again at the Barrel, and Mr. Sams—” I pointed to Rusty. “—was present when he did it again while towing her car.”
“Rusty, tell ’em it ain’t true,” Devlin implored.
Pris glared at Rusty. She told me she’d prepared him for this.
“It’s true,” Rusty said. “Dev told her they ought to have dinner to talk about getting her car back.”
Devlin’s scowl shot daggers at Rusty, but he had his eyes on Pris’s smile instead.
“And,” Anna added, “I have video from the Barrel when he did the same thing.”
The chief took a breath. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” He handed me back the torn papers. “Dev, consider yourself on warning again.”
