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***
Detective Connors stared at the watch that was sitting in the middle of his desk. He’d spent a lot of time doing that since they’d picked it up two days ago.
“If you keep sitting over there staring at that watch, you’re going to start ticking like one, Connors.”
He looked over at his partner. “I’m not that bad.”
“Yes, you are.”
He shrugged. “Okay. Maybe I am, but there’s something about it that looks familiar. Like I’ve seen it before.”
“Looks like a regular watch to me. What makes it odd is that it has a gold second hand instead of a silver one to match the dial. Our lab checked it out, and they didn’t find anything like wiped-out initials or a hidden compartment for a SIM card,” Tomlin said. “Even the serial number is still intact. Since we’re tracing it, we should know in a few days who manufactured it.”
“I know, but there has to be a reason the person replaced it when he murdered Nick Underwood. There is something about this watch that someone wanted it bad enough to knock him off for it.”
“Then when he got it, why didn’t he throw it into the river or ocean to get rid of it? Why take it all the way to Pensacola to give away to somebody?” Tomlin asked.
“He didn’t just give it to anybody, Tomlin. He gave it to a church. Maybe he has a connection with that church. He could have attended there as a kid growing up.”
“Possibly,” Tomlin replied.
They got the name and address of the person who pawned it from the pawn shop owner. It had been a minister, Reverend Theo Mills. They visited the church to talk to him. The minister, who appeared to be in his mid-thirties, seemed like a compassionate, visionary leader and considered the watch a blessing from a Good Samaritan. The watch was left in an envelope in the church’s donation box outside the door, along with $10,000 in cash.
Reverend Mills used the cash, along with the $2,000 he got from pawning the watch, to buy a new air conditioning unit for the church and added a ramp near the church’s door to help people with disabilities. The minister had receipts for both, along with the envelope the watch had been in when he removed it from the donation box. There had been no writing on the sealed envelope.
“I guess it didn’t matter to Reverend Mills that his Good Samaritan might have been a killer,” Tomlin then said.
Detective Connors switched his gaze from the watch over to Tomlin and stared at him, then exclaimed, “That’s it!”
Tomlin looked at him dumbfounded. “What’s it?”
“This watch once belonged to a killer.”
“Are you saying Nick Underwood was a killer?”
“People who wear this watch are. Remember when we teamed up with the FBI a few years back on that sting operation to arrest members of that cartel?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“The ringleader wore a watch like this.”
“I remember that. Are you thinking it’s the same watch?”
“Or one identical to it. Come on,” Connors said, standing.
“Where are we going?” Tomlin asked, standing as well.
“To follow this lead that Hollis Calloway dropped into our lap. First stop is the Archives Department to check out the booking photos for that sting operation. I got a hunch we might be on to something.”
***
Agent Wells looked up when Agent Harris entered his office and sat down in front of his desk. He immediately noticed the frown marring his features. “What’s wrong, Harris?”
“Hollis Calloway is too smart for her own good. I hope we’re a step ahead of her.”
“I hope so, too. Especially because of this,” Wells said, sliding a file across his desk to Agent Harris.
Harris scanned the first sheet, looked over at Agent Wells, and said, “This is worse than we thought.”
