WHEN THE MUSIC DIES (MUSIC CITY MURDERS Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

and remember so much. She said she watches all the cop shows on TV.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yep,” Norm said. “That’s what she said.”
    “You think that taints her recollection a little?” Burris asked.
    “I don’t know,” Mike said. “She didn’t appear to be embellishing the story.”
    “I don’t get the idea she’s been at Sandstone very long if she’s still griping about the area?” Burris asked.
    “No,” Mike said, “she didn’t give the impression she was aware she lived on gang turf.”
    “If she watches the local news like she does the network, she’ll get educated real soon,” Norm said.
    “We also have a single Mexican-American male witness, twenty-six, asleep at the time in a first floor apartment and woke up to the shots. Says he jumped up and looked out the window in time to see two, maybe three men get into a black Chevrolet. He says one of the men had a green bandana and baseball cap in his hand.”
    “Two men?” Burris asked.
    “Yeah, maybe three,” Mike said.
    “Green, huh?” Burris leaned back in his chair and ran his fingers through his wavy salt and pepper hair.
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Does this witness know he lives on gang turf?” Burris asked.
    “I got the distinct impression he knew,” Mike said. “He was wearing a black and gold cap during our interview.”
    “Hmm. You think he was lying about the green bandana to throw us toward his rivals?”
    “I didn’t get that from him. He said nobody in their right mind wears green around there. He said green is the color of a target in that neighborhood, and he was surprised these dudes made it out alive. He seemed like he was being honest, but you can’t tell.”
    “Interesting,” Burris said. “What about your other witnesses?”
    Mike flipped the page. “One is a married, looked to be mixed-race, male, thirty-five. He said he saw the victim get out of his car and approach the building. I asked him what caused him to notice Sanchez. He said he heard his car sputtering when he parked, and then saw the clip-on pizza flag on top of his car. That’s all he admitted to seeing. He said he didn’t see the other men, but for the record, the look on his face and his body language said otherwise. He knew the environment where he lived. He had two young kids at his feet.”
    “Another concerned citizen,” Burris said. “Okay, what else?”
    “The last one is a female,” Mike said. “Widowed, white, no age given. I’d say late fifties to early sixties. Claimed she heard the shots and called 911. Said she was watching the news when she heard the commotion. The call was registered by 911 dispatch at 22:20, so that appears to match. She said this wasn’t the first time she’d called 911 since moving to Sandstone.”
    “It won’t be her last,” Norm said.
    “Is that it?” Burris asked.
    “Yes sir,” Mike said. “Everything that’s meaningful so far.”
    “What about the people in B-26 who ordered the pizza?”
    “Well, we talked to two couples there. They said they didn’t hear anything suspicious. In their condition, and judging from the volume of their music, they may not have. They were barely coherent when we talked with them. The place was in a fog and smelled like a rock concert. They asked if we’d seen the pizza man; they said they were starving.”
    “Cannabis,” Burris shook his head.
    “That was all we had, until Lou Nelson called us while we were wrapping up the fiasco with Gabriel Sanchez this morning. It looks like out of all of the bullshit calls to Crimestoppers since last night, there was one caller who wanted to meet with detectives to discuss what he saw.”
    “Really?” Burris said.
    “He asked if he could meet with us during his break. He works downtown. He said he’s the assistant manager for one of the tourist shops on lower Broadway.”
    “I’ll expect an update from you two afterward.”
    “You’ll have it,” Mike said.
    The detectives stood and headed for their