Wonderland Read Online Free PDF Page B

she said.
    “I gathered that.” Donnie put his phone away. “He always calls every month at the same time. If he can’t get ahold of Weiss, he’ll shout at whoever’s unfortunate enough to get stuck talking to him.”
    “Well, I don’t blame him.” Vanessa’s sharp tone made the young detective sit up straighter. “If he calls every month, why is his son’s case in the archives?”
    “That’s where they put all of Carl Weiss’s unsolveds,” Donnie said. “Aiden Cole was his case.”
    “What do you remember about it?”
    “Not much,” he said. “Because there wasn’t much to remember. It was three years ago, I think. Aiden was supposed to catch the Greyhound bus to Seattle after the end-of-summer staff party at Wonderland, the one they do every year. And then he was supposed to catch the ferry to Bainbridge Island, where he lived. He never made it home. We don’t even know if he got on the bus.”
    “And the party was the last place he was seen?”
    “I believe so, unless Weiss found some new information at some point. Which would be in the file, which is archived in the basement, which is a disorganized mess. I can go dig it up, if you want,” he said, looking unhappy. “Might take all day, though.”
    Vanessa thought for a moment. “What’s Claire Moran’s extension?”
    “Three-five-five.”
    She punched it into her desk phone. “Officer Moran,” she said when the woman picked up. “This is Deputy Chief Castro. I need you to retrieve a file for me in the archives.”
    “I . . . okay,” Moran said on the other end, clearly caught off guard. “That’s in the basement. I can ask someone—”
    “I don’t want someone, I want you,” Vanessa said cheerfully. “You were so kind in showing me around this morning, I thought maybe you could use a change of scenery.”
    Donnie snorted and covered his mouth.
    “Which file?” the officer asked.
    “Aiden Cole.”
    “That’s one of Weiss’s files,” Moran said, sounding mildly alarmed. “The archives aren’t very organized . . . it might take awhile to find it.”
    “Great. Have it on my desk by the end of the day. Thank you.” Vanessa hung up.
    “Feel better?” Donnie asked.
    “Much.”
    “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
    “Always wise to remember that,” Vanessa said with a smile. “So tell me, was Carl Weiss just stringing David Cole along because there was really nothing he could do to find his son, or was he just a really shitty—” She stopped, realizing she didn’t actually know what Donnie’s relationship was with the former deputy chief. She didn’t want to stick her foot in her mouth.
    Donnie laughed. “Don’t censor yourself for me. Weiss was a terrible cop. Terrible. His strength was in schmoozing and ass covering and doing whatever Earl told him to do. He was a shitty investigator, which is probably why they brought you in.” He leaned in. “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, but most of the department wasn’t too happy that Earl didn’t promote from within. He didn’t even do formal internal interviews. He just announced you were coming. Via email .”
    Vanessa sighed. “Well, that explains the not-so-warm welcome I received. I’m sorry.”
    Donnie lifted a hand. “You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s not your fault. But folks around here tend to hold grudges, so try not to take it personally. The two sergeants who were in competition for your job hate each other, but they hate outsiders more.” He paused, then said, “Rumor has it that Earl hired you because the new mayor asked him to. That true?”
    Vanessa gave him her best Mona Lisa smile. “Which mayor?”
    He laughed again. “All right, all right. None of my goddamned business, I get it.” Donnie’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he checked it quickly. “Speak of the devil, just got a text from Earl. You got your wish. He wants us at Wonderland. Everything else can wait.”
    Vanessa took a moment to down the last of