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running and Barney, his dog, was barking. Someone honked a horn. A cell phone rang. The aroma of coffee was fresh, the liquid hot on my tongue, but I could barely taste it.
    I nodded at Solomon’s declaration, noticing my three colleagues looked equally interested now that we had one murder and two suspicious deaths.
    “How much do you know about Lorena?” Matt Flaherty asked. He was an ex-detective, no longer on the force after an unfortunate incident with a bullet rendered him an invalid, but he was still a great investigator. I wasn’t sure how Solomon knew him, only that their friendship went back a long time.
    “Not much,” I told him. “We met at the gym and we’d been running together these past two months. She has an adult daughter at college. She’s single. We didn’t talk about her daughter’s dad so I don’t know what the deal is with him.”
    “You met at the gym,” Delgado repeated, clearly pondering it. Settling himself in my oversized armchair, his massive body filled the whole thing. With a huge physique, he could look pretty scary if you didn’t know him. Unlike my colleagues, I knew a softer side to him, which was recently revealed when he started dating my sister. My baby niece adored him and hers was an excellent seal of approval. “Did Lorena know the other two people that died?”
    “I don’t know.” I tried to recall. Had I seen her talking to anyone? Yes, yes, I had. “I think she knew the woman. Karen. The treadmill…” I used my fingers to mime two legs running, then flying off it. It wasn’t much of a demonstration, but I never managed to find a temp job where I could have possibly perfected my skills at it. “I remember now. I saw them talking a couple of times so I guess they knew each other, but I don’t know how well.”
    Delgado nodded. “It’s a start. At least, it’s a connection.”
    “And Lily said Karen was the woman who was sitting next to Jim Schwarz in our spin class when he died.”
    “That’s damn suspicious,” said Solomon amidst murmurs of agreement.
    Opening my mouth to point out that’s exactly what I’d been saying the last two days, my cell phone suddenly rang and I reached for it, recognizing the name that flashed across the screen. “It’s Michael. He manages the gym,” I said.
    “Answer it,” said Solomon and the room went quiet. Nosy bunch. All the same, I answered, “Hi, Michael.”
    “Lexi, is it true? Is Lorena dead?”
    I took a deep breath. “Yes.”
    “I heard you found her.”
    “Also true.”
    “Oh, God. I just can’t believe it. First Jim and Karen, now Lorena. Does it sound bad that I’m relieved she didn’t die at the gym too? I’d be so much happier if she was alive, but… this is terrible. I’m really sorry you were the one who found her.”
    “Me too.” We paused, and mine was silent and reflective. I couldn’t blame him for anything he said. Of course, he didn’t want another death occurring at the gym. Two was two too many already.
    “Lexi, I heard you are a private investigator. Is that true, too?”
    “Uh, yes.”
    “Then, I want to hire you,” Michael said promptly.
    “Say what?” I asked, as Solomon mouthed something incomprehensible.
    “I want to hire you. The gym group has their own lawyers here in case we get sued by the families, but I want someone to find out what happened. I want someone I can trust to find out if there is anything up with these deaths. If it's... it's... I guess what I'm trying to see it’s all too suspicious,” he added, echoing the same words now coming from several others’ lips.
    “Hold on a second,” I told Michael, before covering the phone with my hand. I locked eyes with Solomon. “He wants to hire me. He wants someone to investigate and find out what happened.”
    “Tell him to come by the office today.”
    I put the phone back to my cheek. “My boss says to come by the office today.” I reeled off the address while he noted it down before he read it