Read Online Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier - Free Book Online Page B

to finish doing their jobs. The body was being prepared for transport to the morgue. The next ten minutes were spent with Donnie, discussing the case and their observations. The young detective told her about the #HomelessHarry picture on Twitter, which pissed her off because it confirmed that the crime scene should have been secured better. There were too many people here, and she blamed Earl for that.
    Donnie then told her that another picture had just surfaced on social media. An eighteen-year-old Wonder Worker, dressed in the signature purple uniform, had uploaded a picture of himself at the top of the Wonder Wheel earlier that morning.
    “The time stamp says he posted the picture at five thirty,” Donnie said. “Either he was the one who dragged Homeless Harry in, or the body hadn’t been left here yet, because no way did he not see it or smell it when he started climbing the wheel. If it’s the second one, that narrows down our window since we know Oz got here at seven thirty.”
    “What do we know about him?”
    “Which one?” Donnie asked.
    “The Wonder Wheel kid,” she said.
    “His name is Blake Dozier, and he calls himself an urban free climber.” Donnie curled his fingers into air quotes. “Apparently he’s done this kind of thing before. There’s a picture of him on his Facebook at the top of a construction crane in downtown Seattle. I can’t stand heights, so I don’t get it.”
    “Free climbing? I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Vanessa said. “Okay, see if you can track him down.”
    “Already on it. Once the park finds out about the picture, he’s totally getting fired.”
    “If he had something to do with the body, losing his job will be the least of his worries.” Vanessa wiped a bead of sweat from her eyebrow. It was nearing noon, and the midway was heating up. She fanned her face with her black notebook. “I need to check the security footage. Which one’s the admin building again?”
    Donnie pointed east. “Take one of the golf carts. You’ll die of heat exhaustion before you get there.”
    “I’ll walk, it’s not that far. When you’re done, text me, and we’ll head back to the department together. You’re my ride, don’t forget.”
    She started heading toward the administrative building, and five minutes later was regretting her choice not to take a golf cart. The park was beginning to swelter, and by the time she reached her destination, she was drenched. Her hair was plastered to her forehead and she dared not lift her arms, for fear her blouse would reveal round sweat stains underneath her armpits.
    Oscar was in the security office, talking with a paunchy bald man in his early fifties who was gnawing on a red licorice whip. The only difference between his purple uniform and that of a Wonder Worker’s was that his shirt said SECURITY in large white letters. Both men turned when she walked in, and Vanessa self-consciously wiped her moist brow again with the back of her hand.
    The security office wasn’t much to look at. It was a small room with three computer monitors set up side by side, two hard drives, and a long desk filled with junk food wrappers. The monitors, at least, were flat screens. That seemed promising; the system couldn’t be that old.
    “Don’t look so excited,” Oscar said when he saw her expression. “The monitors are only five years old, but the rest of the system is ancient. Rudy, this is Seaside’s new deputy chief, Vanessa Castro.”
    “Nice to meet’cha.” Rudy gave her the once-over. Popping the last bit of licorice into his mouth, he cleared away the pile of food wrappers, depositing the entire mess into the wastebasket. “Sorry about the garbage. I quit smoking two weeks ago. Cold turkey. I’m doing good so far, but I want to eat everything in sight. So much for my girlish figure.” He patted his stomach, which was bulging firmly over his pants. He’d been eating everything in sight for a lot longer than two