Chapter 21–Tuesday, 4:55PM

Herb was eager to fill Monica in on all that had transpired since his abrupt departure an hour and a half earlier. He spotted her as he crawled through the fence’s secret door. She was walking back toward the tree from the other end of the vacant lot through which the caller’s car had driven. Harry and S were no where to be seen.

“Hey!” Herb yelled. Monica looked up and smiled. Herb swallowed and continued. “Where are the prune and the jalapeno?”

“They just left with the prints we took,” was her reply. “They’re headed back to your place.”

“My place?” Herb was puzzled.

“The station, I mean,” Monica corrected herself, as she stopped a foot from Herb. “It’s closer than our hotel.”

“Truman, Capote and Jordan should be there when they arrive. I just sent them out the front door with prints and a tape.”


“A tape?” Monica inquired.

“SecurCam came,” Herb explained. “We have everything from last Friday on. Got a lucky break. Recordings are picked up on Thursdays.”

“That’s awesome!” Monica was ecstatic. “We’re going to crack this case,” she added.

Herb agreed. “Surely all the evidence we’ve gathered this afternoon will help. I just wish we had a little more time.” He glanced at his watch. 5:00pm. He paused. “You done here?”

“Yeah,” Monica responded. “I was just walking these tracks again to see if anything new presented itself.”

“Capote left a car for you,” Herb noted. “We should be going.”

Monica looked disappointed. “Oh,” she said, “that was good of him.”

The two walked toward the fence. Herb held the door for Monica. She thanked him and slipped through the hole. He followed. Together they walked to their cars. Just before they parted, Herb’s mind kicked into gear. “I almost forgot,” he said. She turned to him. “The onion fingered a rhubarb. He was sure the guy who came by here Sunday wasn’t a celery.”

A concerned look swept over the VBI agent’s face. “We’d better work fast, then,” she said. “Rhubarb are bad news.” With that she ducked into her car and drove away.