Sunglasses Man abruptly instructed Harry, "Just let us off here," after some time. Harry pulled over, informed the man of the fare, and received a $100 bill—told to keep the change.

At that moment, Lacy freed herself from her seatbelt and violently kissed the man's face. He recoiled, but it was too late; his sunglasses slipped down his nose. He hastily pushed them back up before Harry could see, but it didn't matter; the camera had caught the top half of his face. Darren thought the man looked vaguely familiar but couldn't place him.

"May I have a copy of this footage?" he politely asked Mr. Wilson.

"Absolutely! May it help that poor woman's soul rest in peace."

Darren clutched the USB drive as if it were priceless. He didn't know who the man was, but the detectives investigating Lacy Knighton's case might. Sunglasses Man could have been one of the dozen people they'd interviewed.

He decided to go to the 46th precinct. At the front desk, he put on his most professional smile.

"Hello, I'm Detective Darren Johnson from the 19th precinct. Yesterday, someone called the tip line about the Lacy Knighton case, and it turned out to be legitimate. I'd like to give the information to the detectives in charge."

He showed his badge, and the secretary raised an eyebrow. "Why would they call the 19th precinct when the murder happened in the Bronx?"

"No idea. I've been wondering that myself."

The secretary shrugged. "I'll get them for you."

She called out, "Ruano! Flynn! Someone has information about Lacy Knighton!"

Detectives Ruano and Flynn, halfway down the hall, turned and approached the desk.

"This is Detective Darren Johnson from the 19th. Someone called him yesterday with a hot tip about Lacy Knighton."

Interest flickered in their eyes. The trail had gone cold until now.

"Why don't you come back to my desk?" the female detective offered. "We can talk there."

Darren followed them. After introductions and seating, he explained everything, from the call to his visit to Taxi Star.

They were as confused as he was about why the tipster had contacted the wrong precinct—especially since he'd asked for Darren specifically—but thrilled about the footage. Darren handed the USB to Detective Flynn, who plugged it into her computer.

As the footage played, she frowned, pausing to confer with her partner. "This doesn't seem right. Meyer said she came onto him, and that's why he had her thrown out of his office, but here it looks like she's trying to make out with anyone indiscriminately."

"You're right," Ruano said. "Yet everyone we've talked to says she's very prim and properand completely in love with Aaron Hale. It didn't even make sense for Lacy to come onto Meyer unless"

Flynn and Ruano looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Drugged."

Darren was lost. "What's this about being thrown out of where?"

Ruano explained, and the drugging theory made sense. Lacy had seemed disoriented in the car.

Aaron Hale. Darren had recently seen a blurry picture of him. Hale's jawline resembled Sunglasses Man's. The detectives said Lacy was obsessed with Hale, but he seemed to hate her. Could he be the man in the cab?

"Do you think the man who abducted her might be Aaron Hale?" Darren asked.

"Honestly, I really thought he might have killed her, based on what Lacy's acquaintances said. Apparently, she tried to trick him into an engagement—while he was dating his wife—by announcing it at a party. But he has an irrefutable alibi with multiple witnesses; he left town the day before the murder and didn't return until the following Sunday."

"He didn't seem sorry she was dead, but that happens when questioning friends and family. It's sad, but I can't blame him. Lacy had been stalking his apartment building and stressing his wife. If I were him, I wouldn't be sad either," Flynn admitted.

Interesting. But that didn't solve the mystery of the man in the car. Ruano pressed play.

Darren, having already seen the footage, focused on whether the detectives recognized the man. He warned them about a minute before the sunglasses incident.

When it happened, Flynn paused the video. She squinted at the still image, shaking her head in disbelief.

"That's Graydon Meyer! But he has an alibi!"

"Technically, his alibi is only valid at 3 PM," Ruano pointed out. "Clearly, he slipped out unnoticed after having Lacy thrown out of his office. Did he drug her to make it easier to kill her?"

"He might have done it to impress his employees. He was very cooperative and seemed above suspicion. All of that strengthened his alibi. I never would have guessed! But if you look out the cab window when they get out, the alley where she was found is less than a block away."

Darren smiled. The tipster's lead was solid. They knew the murderer and had proven his alibi false. He was spotted near the crime scene minutes before it happened.

They lacked a murder weapon, but this was likely enough for a conviction. His work was done.

"I imagine you two will need to question Graydon Meyer again. I have my own work to do, so I'll head out now."

They nodded. "Thank you so much for your help; we wouldn't have guessed it was him without you."

"Don't thank me, thank the person who called me. He really nailed Meyer. I guess he'll be getting that reward Brann Knighton has been offering after all," Darren mused before leaving.

(The promotional text at the end was removed as it was not part of the passage to be cleaned up.)