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“I didn’t realize something until now,” Chase said.
“What?” Della asked, still scanning the area.
“This apartment is only a couple of miles from where Pope told me Stone’s girlfriend lived.”
“So this is another one that you already visited, right?”
“Yeah. Hand me those files under your seat. I can’t remember why I dismissed him as a suspect.” Leaning forward, he looked around. “If I remember correctly, a woman answered the door.”
“And she was human?” Della asked as she pulled a folder from under the seat.
“Yeah.” He took the file and opened it, scanning his old notes. “Okay, I remember now. The girlfriend claimed her boyfriend had run to the store for some parts to fix one of the other apartments. She said he was the handyman of the place. I didn’t come back because I didn’t think someone like Stone would actually work for a living or date a human.”
“So let’s not waste our time,” she said.
He looked around again. “Maybe I’m wrong. But my gut says…”
“What does your gut say?”
“See that?” He pointed to the building.
“What?” Della asked.
“This place has cameras.” He looked back at Della. “Do you remember what Burnett said? That it seemed like a long shot because if I didn’t get any trace of Stone, how would he have known I was here?”
“And it’s true?” she said, not following.
“Well, if Stone has access to the cameras, his girlfriend wouldn’t have had to recognize me. He could have just looked at the film.”
“Okay,” Della said. “But what about him not being of moral character to actually work? That sounded logical. And the human girlfriend?”
He looked at Della, and his eyes widened as if he figured out something. “Remember the interview with Sam? He said he heard that Stone hired patrons to do his grunt work for him.”
She nodded.
“Well, maybe keeping up the apartment is their grunt work. Look at the advantages. Stone gets to live here for free, has a camera to watch who comes and goes, and gets some of his not-so-smart friends to work for him for nothing. Or maybe he lets them live here for free.”
“It’s possible,” she said, and right then a cool breeze brought with it the scent of a were.
“You smell that?” she asked and looked around, but didn’t see anyone.
“Yeah. Were, but not strong,” he said. “Maybe a half breed. And maybe a member of the Bastards.”
“What apartment is it?” Della reached for the door handle, eager to catch this guy.
“Not so fast,” Chase said.
“Why?” Della asked.
“I think we need to get Burnett.”
“Why?” she repeated.
“If he’s here, it could be dangerous.”
“For him, not us,” Della said.
“We don’t know how many of his friends live here.”
