Caleb met his eyes. "I've said very little."
Brett stopped for the first time since entering the diner. He seemed unsure which person in the room was creating the bigger problem.
Then Maya spoke behind him. "You still don't know where it is."
Brett turned back toward her. The room went still. Maya did not take the words back.
Brett walked toward the counter again, slower this time. "So, we agree there is something to find."
Maya held his gaze. "We agree you came here looking for it."
That answer did not satisfy him, but it confirmed something more important: Brett was no longer trying to convince the room that Maya might know something; he was trying to make her tell him how much she knew.
Brett stopped several feet from the counter and looked at Maya with a new level of attention.
"You just admitted you know there's something here."
"I admitted that you came looking for something."
"That isn't what you said."
"It's exactly what I said."
"You said I don't know where it is."
Maya kept her expression neutral. "And you don't."
Brett turned toward Ruth. "I want the area behind the counter cleared."
Ruth did not move. "For what?"
"So I can check it."
"Check it for what?"
Brett's voice tightened. "Department property."
"You still haven't described it."
"I don't have to discuss sensitive material in front of civilians."
Ruth looked around the diner. "Then you shouldn't have walked in here and announced that everyone might be a suspect."
Daniel shifted on his stool. "She has a point."
Brett turned toward him. "Stay out of it."
"You've spent the last fifteen minutes putting me into it."
"I asked you questions."
"You told me leaving would put my name in a police report."
"Because it could."
Daniel nodded slowly. "Then don't tell me I'm not involved."
Brett looked at him for a moment before returning his attention to Ruth. "I'm asking for cooperation."
"And I'm telling you no," Ruth said. "You don't open my drawers. You don't go through my register. You don't search my kitchen."
"I haven't said I'm searching anything."
"Then there's no reason for you to go behind my counter."
Brett stepped toward the opening. Ruth moved into his path again. He stopped.
"Think carefully about what you're doing."
"I am. You could turn this place into part of an evidence investigation. You could also leave."
Brett gave her a controlled smile. "You think the health department enjoys being called into places connected to police evidence?"
Ruth's face hardened. "Are you threatening my business?"
"I'm telling you, investigations have consequences."
Maya spoke from behind her. "Put that in writing."
Brett looked at her.
"You want everything documented?" Maya asked. "Write down exactly what you just told her."
His smile disappeared. "You're very interested in reports tonight."
"I'm interested in what people claim after the fact."
That answer caught Caleb's attention. He stayed seated, but watched Maya more closely.
Brett stepped away from Ruth and looked toward Eli. "Maybe we should start with the people who actually want to help."
Eli frowned. "I never said that."
"You know this town. You know Ruth. You know Maya. If somebody brought something into the diner, you might have seen it."