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Kayla gave her mother a defiant look.“I would have thrown myself in front of Charlie, Mom, and so would Janet. We would have saved him, just like that hero bodyguard did.”

The mother shook her head, as if to say,‘Kids.’

“Did you see who shot the bodyguard, Kayla?” asked Odelia.

“No, I didn’t. Like I said, it all happened real quick. And I was focused on Charlie. He looked so fine—just like in the pictures and on YouTube, only better, because he was really there. Like, for real and all.” She then gave Odelia a hopeful look. “I heard he’s staying in town—to prepare for his world tour. Do you know where he’s staying?”

“Um, I think at some compound near the beach?” said Odelia. “Though I’m sure he’ll be heavily guarded. Especially after what happened this morning.”

Kayla nodded, and Odelia could tell she was already making plans to stake out Charlie’s mansion, along with her friend Janet, hoping to catch another glimpse of the singer, and this time maybe even get her hands on that coveted autograph.

“Is there anything else you want to know?” asked Kayla’s mother, placing a protective arm around her daughter’s shoulder. “If not, I’d like to get out of here. I need to go to work, and Kayla needs to go to school.”

Kayla looked dismayed at the prospect.“Mom! I can’t go to school. Not after what happened. It’s like going back to school after-after-after President Kennedy was shot!”

“Trust me, honey, Charlie Dieber is no Kennedy. And besides, he’s not dead, is he?”

“But—”

“No buts. You already missed half a day of classes—I don’t want you to miss the rest, too. You’re going to school and you’re going to forget all about this terrible business. And so am I,” she added, her frown deepening as she spoke.

Outside the interview room, Chase and Odelia watched as Kayla and her mother walked away, still arguing about going to school or not. It was obvious that now that she’d been through such a life-changing event, the girl wasn’t ready to sit in school and learn about geography or math. She wanted to hang out at Charlie’s place with her friend instead.

“And?” asked Chase. “What do you think?”

“I’m thinking that these girls make lousy witnesses. They were all so focused on Charlie that they didn’t see anything else.”

“And I think you’re right,” said Chase, dragging his fingers through his curly brown hair. “But we’re still going to have to go through each and every witness report in hopes of finding something we can use.”

Just then, Uncle Alec walked up.“We’re collecting all the video and picture material from everyone who was outside that radio station. Can you start combing through it? I have to warn you though—it’s a lot. Looks like every single person waiting for the Dieber to come out had his or her smartphone up and was filming the whole thing.” He nodded at his niece. “Which is a good thing. We might get lucky, and nail this guy before he tries again.”

Chase and Odelia moved into one of the larger rooms near the back of the police station, where a technician had set up a computer and was busy downloading data from the dozens of phones and other devices confiscated from the witnesses being interviewed.

They both took a seat behind the computer and the techie showed them how to access the data. For the next two hours Odelia saw more footage of Charlie Dieber than she’d ever seen before. Unfortunately it was all the same scene, and at no point did the famous singer break out into song, or show them some of his smooth dance moves. All he did was bite the dust over and over again, looking like a kid who’d just crapped his pants.

Chase seemed to enjoy the look of pure terror on the singer’s face—Odelia did not.

“I think this must be his best performance yet,” Chase commented after they’d gone through the scene about a dozen times, each time shot from a different angle. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this got him the Oscar for best performance in a comedy.”

“Ha ha. Very funny, Chase. How would you react if someone tried to shoot you?”

“I’d definitely not look like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like a bunny rabbit about to be put down by the big, bad hunter.”

“I think you’re prejudiced. So maybe you should recuse yourself from this case.”

“Like hell I should. I’m not prejudiced. I just don’t care about the kid is all.”

“Which is exactly why you shouldn’t be on this case. Only someone who truly cares about Charlie Dieber will do their level best to bring his shooter to justice.”

“You mean someone like you.”

“That’s right.”

“Honey, if I can’t be on this case because I don’t like Charlie Dieber, neither can half the cops in this outfit. Mostly because we’re not thirteen-year-old girls with braces.”

“I’m not a thirteen-year-old girl,” she said defensively. “And I got rid of my braces a long time ago.”

He gave her a grin.“I would have loved to see you in braces. I’ll bet you looked cute as a button.”

“I think I still have them somewhere,” she said, her belly going slightly weak at his wolfish grin.