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point.”
    “I don’t suppose you got a look at his face?” the chief asked.
    “No. He was in the shadows and had a stocking mask on. Which is strange—I hadn’t noticed that at first. Things happened quickly. But I’m certain this was no random attack. Also—maybe I heard him talking to someone on the street or maybe on the phone. Whatever it was about, it was not random.”
    “Are you absolutely positive your assailant said Rick and not Nick?” David asked. A lot hinged on this.
    Nick shook his head. He was afraid of that.
    “But I’m at ninety percent, and it makes sense. This is Rick’s town, not mine.”
    David exchanged a glance with Dan. A plan coalesced in his mind. “Here’s the strategy. I agree with Nick. I think the target was Rick.” He needed to stop himself from rhyming—it was becoming a distracting habit. Every time he did it, a vision of Grace popped into his head. He shook it out and got himself back on track. “Even if it wasn’t intended to be a murder, we can’t take a chance. We proceed as if the murder happened, and that it was Nick they killed. Assuming that he was the wrong target, we would have the advantage of possibly setting a trap if the would-be killer tries again.”
    “What?” Rick looked white.
    “But we don’t want to set Rick up as a sitting duck, even if we’re not sure the killer will strike again,” Dan said.
    “We switch their identities.” David folded his arms across his chest. “We play it that Nick was murdered and we have Nick sub in for Rick and the real Rick goes underground into hiding. We flush out the would-be murderer with a trained professional if he tries to correct his mistake—but instead of attempting to murder an unassuming politician, he’ll be up against a police detective.
    “We could even make it easier for the murderer and set up some opportunities,” David continued as he paced in a small circle with his finger to his lip.
    “We’re dealing with someone with insider knowledge,” Dan said pensively. “And they may not make another attempt.”
    Nick sat up straighter. “Even so, we can’t take chances. The identity switch setup will buy us some time to track down the assailant while keeping Rick safe. Count me in.”
    “We need some background to get an idea of who we’re dealing with. They could get scared off and never try again,” Dan said.
    “Whoever it was didn’t want to show his face. And they may have only shot me because I went for my gun,” Nick said.
    “That may be, but we’ll play it as if they might try again—just in case. We’ll plant the story that it was a simple robbery gone wrong and that we’ve arrested a street bum for the murder,” David suggested.
    “Brilliant,” Dan agreed.
    “Then we have a plan.”
    Rick finally spoke. “Wait a minute—I didn’t agree to this.”
    “You’ll do it,” The mayor said.
    Dan looked worried. “It’ll be tough to keep a lid on it. The ME is expected to do a report; the DA will want an investigation file; the media will be looking into it.”
    “The medical examiner is an old friend and will go along with it as long as we’re not breaking any laws. Are we?” the mayor asked.
    “It’s a sting operation. We’re not putting out fraudulent reports if we don’t put out any reports. We’ll have to ask the ME to stall it. We’ll have to stall the DA too. We’ll keep the investigation to Dan and myself and maybe one detective. Is there someone you can trust?” David looked at Dan.
    “I know a guy.”
    “How long can we stall?” David asked the mayor.
    “I can hold the medical examiner for a week—maybe ten days tops,” the mayor said. He looked like he was enjoying this.
    “Mr. Mayor, I think this would be a good time to go back inside and call it in for the record,” said Dan.
    “One more thing.” David surveyed the small circle of people. Rick stood behind Nick, who sat in a chair still clutching his chest. The mayor stood next to them,