“Well,” Phoenix said. “Either they’re telling the truth, or they used the last few days to rehearse their story. Byte, do you have anything?”
“He’s telling the truth about the real estate prostitute thing. It’s a newer trend, but it is something people are doing,” he said. “From what I’ve been able to find so far, the ads come down once they’ve been answered. If there was one for the house Daphne was showing, I probably won’t be able to find it.”
Phoenix dropped heavily into his chair. “All right, let’s hear it, because I honestly don’t know what to make of what they just told us.”
Ink nudged me with his elbow, and I shook my head. As much as I wanted to demand they pay for their crimes with blood, I knew I was too close to the situation to look at it objectively.
“Let’s take a step back for a minute. Is this real estate prostitute thing even plausible? You can’t just walk into any house that’s for sale and do whatever you want. You have to have an agent and make an appointment,” Badger said.
“It’s not difficult to get a real estate license,” Byte said. “And scheduling appointments wouldn’t be much of an issue if they stuck to vacant houses.”
“When you think about it, it kind of makes sense,” Dash said. “They don’t have to pay for a hotel room, and it’s highly unlikely the cops will pick up on what they’re doing, especially if they have a valid real estate license.”
“Okay, it’s plausible, but do we believe them?”
“Believing them isn’t the issue. The problem is that we didn’t catch them red-handed, and we can’t prove what they’re saying isn’t true,” Badger said.
“We can’t just let them go,” Ink blurted, jumping to his feet.
“Ink,” Phoenix warned.
“Sit down,” I whispered.
“I’m sorry, Prez, but Daphne’s my friend. There’s no telling what they would’ve done to her if Flint hadn’t been there. And Leah is connected to the woman who had an affair with Daphne’s husband. We may not be able to prove they’re lying, but we need to make sure they know we know they’re lying and give them a reason not to do it again.”
“What did you say?” Phoenix asked in a slightly accusatory tone.
Ink swallowed thickly but started to repeat his words. “We may not be able to prove?—”
“Not that. Who is Leah connected to?”
“Oh,” Ink said, sounding relieved. “Byte found a phone number she calls often. It belongs to Victoria Bell, who is the woman Daphne’s husband had an affair with.”
Phoenix turned to Byte, who immediately looked at me. “That’s on me, Prez. Byte asked me to ask Daphne if she recognized the name. Obviously, she did, and I forgot to relay the information to Byte.”
“You forgot?” Phoenix asked incredulously.
“Daphne didn’t think it was significant. Yes, Tori had an affair with Sean, but Sean left Daphne for Tori. As Daphne put it, ‘She won. Why would she want to hurt me?’”
“Leah’s still here,” Flint said. “Ask her how she knows Tori and see what she says.”
“Shaker,” Phoenix said.
Shaker returned to the room with Leah. He stood beside her at the front of the room instead of securing her to a chair.
“How do you know Victoria Bell?” Phoenix asked without preamble.
Leah blinked and seemed confused by the question. “We went to high school together and recently reconnected,” she said. Then her eyes widened. “She doesn’t know what I do for a living. You can’t tell her. She’ll stop talking to me like everyone else does.”
“That’s all,” Phoenix said to Shaker, who promptly escorted Leah from the room.
“They did attend the same high school,” Byte said without looking up from his screen.
“Their interactions on social media seem to have started around six months ago,” Flint said from behind his own screen. Byte nodded approvingly.
“Have either of you found anything to confirm Leah’s line of work?”
“No,” Byte said. “But that one’s hard to prove without an arrest record, which she doesn’t have.”