“Is Nikusubila Minkah in?” 

The woman seemed about to smile, but it came out more like a sneer, and Adelmo had a fleeting thought that her face had become its own mask that reflected her nasty personality like he'd seen in an old Twilight Zone episode.

“May I have your name?” 

“Adelmo Madison.”

She rolled her eyes and called Nik. 

“I'll buzz you in. Down the hall on the left, name's on the door.” 

Adelmo walked through the double doors when he heard the buzzer, and into a long cinderblock hallway that looked like it hadn't been painted in his lifetime. 

He found the office and walked through the open door into Nik's office. He was sitting behind a large mahogany desk, looking even more opposing than usual. 

As Adelmo walked up to the desk, Nik looked up from his paperwork. 

"Didn't expect to see you so soon. What's up?" 

“I just wanted to apologize” Adelmo said.

Nik looked intently at him, slightly less suspicious than he’d been when Adelmo first walked in. He didn't respond, so Adelmo continued, being careful not to sound too eager. The reason Nik wasn't talking was because he was a good cop.

“I’ve just been worried about my grandfather, and all the weird stuff happening lately.”

Nik’s ears perked up. “What stuff?”

“The murders, of course… At the market.”

Nik nodded slowly, seeming to size him up. Adelmo just looked at him, the picture of innocence. Finally, it appeared to Adelmo that Nik thought he was sincere.

“Don’t worry about it, Del. It’s a lot to deal with, I know.”

“Have you found out anything about my grandfather?” Adelmo asked.

“Not yet, but there’s a time difference and it’s a small town, so be patient. I put a call in to the precinct captain, but he’d gone for the day.”

“I appreciate it, really.”

Nik smiled, and Adelmo saw the rest of his suspicion melt away and the face of his old high school buddy reappear for the first time since he'd found Adelmo at the store.

“Hey, what are friends for?”

Adelmo asked Nik about any breaks in the murder case, trying to see what they had found out, but Nik wouldn't tell him anything about the case. Adelmo was expecting nothing, and that’s what he got. 

Adelmo didn't bother asking about using the lab at the police station, so he made small talk, biding his time until he figured out the best way to do what he needed to do.

But before he could come up with a way to get Nik out of his office, the detective solved that little problem for him.

“You want some coffee?”

Adelmo nodded, barely stifling the impulse to smile like the Cheshire cat.

“Cream and sugar.”

“You got it.” Nik said, and walked out.

Adelmo thought Nik was actually starting to feel guilty about him being a person of interest, which was a good sign. Maybe he would get away with this after all.

Nik took off down the hall. Adelmo jumped up and walked over to Nik's jacket on the back of his desk chair and slipped Nik's key card out of the pocket. That card would get Adelmo into every section of the police building.

Including the lab.

Adelmo grabbed an empty evidence envelope from the cabinet behind the desk, carefully put it in his pocket, and sat down mere seconds before Nik walked back in the door with the coffee.

Adelmo quickly grabbed the Styrofoam cup and gulped down the hot coffee, nearly scalding his throat in the process, which distracted Nik from noticing how badly Adelmo was sweating.

Nik laughed. “Jesus, Del. At least blow on it.”

Adelmo nodded and smiled, trying desperately not to scream in pain at the hot liquid burning its way down his throat. 

When he could finally speak, Adelmo asked if Nik wanted to go out to lunch, but he had an ulterior motive. He was hoping Nik would tell him what he would be doing the rest of the day.

“Sorry, Del. Got a shitload of reports to do. I'll be sitting here till seven o’clock tonight.”

Now Adelmo smiled for real. Just the answer he was hoping for.

“Well, I guess I should get out of your way, then.”

Nik got up and walked him to the door. “We'll have lunch soon.”

Adelmo walked out, his stolen items burning a hole in his pocket, and was almost to the end of the hall when he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

He turned slowly, ready to plead for mercy, but Nik was smiling.

“And don't worry about things. This person of interest thing will disappear as soon as we get a break in the case.”

Adelmo smiled weakly. He felt drained, and he hadn't even done what he'd really come to do, yet.

“Thanks, Nik.”

He turned and walked out through the double doors and into the lobby.

Adelmo left the police station and drove around the back of the building to the parking lot of the lab. He could have accessed it through the building from the other side, but he didn't want to run into that receptionist again, or even worse, Nik.

Hopefully, Nik would really be at his desk all day.

Adelmo quickly filled out the outside of the chain of custody form on the outside of the envelope, and placed the hair in the little baggy inside. 

He approached the doors with as much confidence as he could fake, pulled out Nik’s key card, and used it in the door. He walked inside and nodded curtly at the receptionist, who looked younger and friendlier than the other one, but he didn't stop. He needed to act as if he belonged. 

He saw a door marked DNA Analysis and walked in.

There was no reception area, just an interior door leading to another hall, and he walked inside.

A scientist was seated in front of a microscope in the first room.

Adelmo knocked politely and stepped inside. “Nikusubila needs a rush on this if you can do it.”

The scientist barely looked up.

“Just leave it there,” he said, gesturing toward the table.

“Could you take a quick look and give me a preliminary opinion?”

The scientist looked up, curious now. 

“Nik’s buried in paperwork,” Adelmo explained.

“Hey, I’ve got plenty to do myself,” the scientist responded.

“It's the Devereaux case,” Adelmo said.

The scientist looked a lot more interested now. “What do you have?”

“Single hair. Nik was just hoping you might give it a quick look.”