Detective Joshua Porter hung up the phone. He looked across his desk at his partner, Josie Hernandez, whose own desk faced his.
"Who was that?" Hernandez asked.
"Artie Reasoner. An old shipmate of mine from the Navy. He's a private eye here in Port Pinnebog."
"Couldn't pass the academy?"
Porter laughed. "He never tried. He would have if he had tried. Might be sitting in that desk you're occupying now."
"Ha ha."
Porter leaned forward in his chair. "What do you have?"
"Bobby Gardner called from the Big Wheel. He thinks he found some additional pictures of Eva Pierce and the guy she may have left with last night."
"You want me to ride with you?"
"We are partners."
"You drive this time."
The Big Wheel Casino had a different feel in the morning than it did at night. Fewer people meant fewer machines dinging and ringing. Lights still flashed. The energy seemed dull, mundane. The excitement wasn't there.
Angela Hart greeted Porter and Hernandez.
"Detectives," Hart said. "Bobby asked me to give you these." She handed an envelope to Porter.
"He didn't want to meet with us?" Hernandez asked.
"Unfortunately, Bobby is in a meeting with the casino owner, Olga Gjocaj."
"Regarding the incident last night?" Porter asked. He handed the envelope to Hernandez.
"Routine casino matters." Hart said.
Hernandez handed the pictures to Porter. "Do you have a name on either of them?"
Angela Hart looked over the edge of the photograph in Josh Porter's hand. "We still don't know anything about the woman. The man used his own card before he left. That's how we got the later images. The man is Evan Lapinski. Usually plays in our poker tournaments."
"Do you have an address for him?"
"He lives in the warehouse district where they're renovating the old buildings into lofts and condos."
"Tell Bobby we said thanks," Hernandez said.
They were on their way out when Porter heard their names called from across the lobby floor. Both detectives turned. Belinda Doyle stood at the guard stand by the front door. She was with another man Porter did not recognize.
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