The Captain I Married by Chance novel Chapter 480

"Besides, I'm the one who should be paying."

Even setting aside his status as a Peyton, he was the Captain of the Major Crimes unit. He wasn't about to let someone else foot the bill for his guys when he could easily expense it to the department.

He could submit the receipt.

There was no way he was letting a forensic medical examiner cover it.

"I'll give it to you when we get inside."

Realizing it was pointless to argue, Nora dropped the subject.

She knew him too well. If she fought him on this, she'd inevitably lose.

Why waste her breath?

"Good."

Nathan shot her a charming, triumphant look, emphasizing his point. "Don't forget."

Nora sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I don't have amnesia. Relax."

Nathan fired back smoothly, "I'm not worried about your memory. I'm worried you'll 'forget' on purpose just to prove a point."

Nora didn't even have the energy to retort.

Did she really look like some kind of bleeding-heart pushover to him?

She wasn't that financially irresponsible.

With the great debate over a diner receipt finally settled.

Nora returned to her desk to organize her preliminary findings. Once the rest of the task force trickled back in, she followed them into the main conference room.

It was obvious Nathan hadn't slept a wink. He was sitting in front of his monitors, a headset on, deep in a rapid-fire typing session with someone.

Nora didn't interrupt him, simply grabbing an empty chair as the rest of the detectives began debriefing the grim realities of the dismemberment case.

"That buffet is a total circus."

"Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if this entire psycho display is just a massive smokescreen orchestrated by the owner."

Curious, Nora leaned forward. "What kind of history does the restaurant have?"

Nora noticed Nathan still casually tapping away at his keyboard, finishing off whatever chat he was in. She burned with curiosity.

Was he pulling in outside help on this case?

But this didn't feel like the kind of convoluted conspiracy that required federal or private intervention. Nora pursed her lips, tempted to shoot him a text, but ultimately put her phone down.

She could interrogate him after the briefing.

"That's all the hard evidence we have right now."

"I highly recommend we tear apart the interpersonal dynamics of everyone involved."

"Mr. Costello definitely knows more than he's letting on. And out of his kitchen staff, a few of them look incredibly nervous. If we lean on them, someone is bound to crack. Once we know how those remains got into the kitchen, the whole case will blow wide open."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the room.

There was zero chance that volume of human remains made it into a commercial kitchen without someone noticing.

It was a chaotic, crowded environment. Either they were paid off, or they were terrified into silence. If the police could break their silence, they'd have a solid lead.

"Also, the lead the Captain had us look into also has results."