Monday evening, after Brooks goes up to his room and leaves Alan to clean up the kitchen, Alan is folding the pizza box so it’ll fit into the rubbish bin when his phone dings with an incoming text message. The phone rests on the counter, far enough away from the sink so it won’t accidentally get wet when he washes up the dishes. Now he leans over to look at the screen, sure it’ll be something from Brooks like Bring me up another Coke plz or Is there any pizza left?
To his pleasant surprise, the message is from Jim. Hey you.
Alan feels a broad grin spread across his face. Unlocking the phone, he types back, Evening, Detective.
He waits a moment for a response, and when one doesn’t arrive immediately, he goes back to struggling with the box. But as he’s shoving it into the bin, another me
