�Do you have anything, a description, a name? Did the bartender mention any names that had been called out?�

�No sir. Just insults like lowlife scum, and them saying his ego was going to get them all killed, stuff like that.�

�And there were no other people in the bar?�

�Oh.�

�Oh, what?�

�I didn�t ask. The bartender said it looked like the drunk fired the shot and bolted out, didn�t even come back for the redhead. Maybe didn�t even know she was down. The bartender said he was crouching behind the bar calling 9-1-1. He�s a little weasely guy, didn�t want to get hurt.� The officer looked very guilty. He knew he'd screwed up by not getting all the background information right. He felt his desperately-hoped-for promotion slipping through his fingers, and Danny figured he wanted to do anything he could to salvage his career.

�Okay, so let�s go get the bartender. Where is he?� Danny looked to where the officer pointed, and he saw Greg and Baldwin interviewing him. The poor man was wringing his hands, looking nervously from one detective to the other. Baldwin towered over him, and he had his right hand on the guy�s shoulder. Time to squeeze the truth out of him, Danny thought, shaking his head with a slight smile as he joined them.

�Watch this guy a minute for us, will you?� Danny asked the officer, who stood guard eagerly as Danny pulled Greg and Baldwin away to fill him in on what he knew, and didn�t know, about what had transpired. They both recoiled in shock when they learned the identity of the woman on the gurney, and they followed it with their eyes as the EMTs began moving her to the ambulance above. Andy was following the EMTs with a cell phone to his ear. They could tell he was briefing Fancy.

�Can you think of anything else?� Danny said to the officer as they stepped away to let Greg and Baldwin resume their interview with the bartender.

�Yes, sir. I just remembered something that might be important,� he said eagerly. �The knife was found in the DOA�s left hand, upside down. But a bump on his right middle finger made me think he�s really right-handed. Was, that is. Could that be a plant?�

�It could indeed. That it could,� Danny said reassuringly to the officer, patting him on the shoulder. �That�s good work.� The young man smiled and sighed with relief as he watched Danny walk over to brief Andy. His relief was short-lived, though, because the older man turned red again upon hearing the latest news. The worried young officer made himself scarce.