THREE
Detective Albert Stevens arrived in the Pearl District neighborhood in a muddy cruiser. As he came to a stop in front of the tony condominium, he checked his wristwatch. “Almost eight,” he said to himself. He glanced around the fashionable neighborhood. Groomed, sophisticated shoppers eagerly filled the upscale shops, carrying designer bags filled with food, chocolates, wines, and other accessories for the well-to-do. This community showed the revealing signature of affluence and conspicuous consumption. Every direction he viewed produced an image of urban professionals living in a bubble, immune from the complicated messes just blocks away.
He fixed his gaze upon the condominium. He observed a well-dressed man, wearing a black coat, polished shoes, and creased slacks wal
