J Robb - Imitation in Death

“Are you?”

“I will neither confirm nor deny.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“No comment.”

“Big bluff,Dallas. I go out with this, and you don’t make that arrest quickly, you’re going to look like an asshole.”

“The story’s your business. Now that I’ve finished my doughnut, I’ve got to get back to my business.”

“I break this, and it goes down this way, I’m going to deserve an exclusive one-on-one.”

“I’ll see about that, as soon as I consult my crystal ball.”

Nadinerose. “Good luck. Serious good luck.”

“Yeah,”Eve murmured when she was alone. “I’m about due for some.”

She grabbed a conference room, brought in her disc files, set up her board. As she was finishing,Peabody came in.

“Lieutenant, I’m supposed to do that. It’s my job to do that. How come you’re not letting me do my job?”

“Bitch, bitch, bitch. I gave you another job. Did you informCaptainFeeney and Detective McNab of the time and place of this briefing?”

“Yes, sir, I-”

“Then why aren’t they here?”

“Well, I…” She was saved as the door opened. “They are here.”

“Good job then. All right, people, take a seat. I’m going to bring you up to speed on my out-of-town interviews, and why my conclusion is our target has practiced his skills in at least three other locations to date.”

When she’d finished she was sitting on the corner of the table, drinking the coffee she notedPeabody provided her without request. “I’m pushing for the authorization to check travel on my suspects for the dates in question. The commander has agreed to put the pressure on, but as my list contains some influential names, it’s taking time. I’ve bumpedCarmichaelSmith to the bottom. My opinion is he’s too volatile and too pampered to fit the profile.”

Peabodylaunched up a hand like the nerdy kid in class who screwed the grading curve for everybody else. “Yes, Officer?”

“Sir, couldn’t the fact that subjectSmith is volatile and pampered go toward profile rather than away?”

“These traits could play in, and his travel will be checked along with the others. But he’s bottom of the list for now. Fortney’s ahead of him, but not by much. We-”

WhenPeabody ’s hand shot up again,Eve found herself caught between amusement and irritation. “What?”

“Sir, sorry. I’m just trying to cross all the Ts like in a sim. Doesn’t Fortney fit profile, almost perfectly? His upbringing, his previously documented violence against women, his current lifestyle?”

“Yeah, but he’s bumped down mostly because he’s just such an asshole.” She waited to see ifPeabody would comment, and watched her aide’s brow knit as she chewed over the response. “I think our guy has more style, which is why Renquist and Breen are neck-in-neck in my mind. I’m going to corner Breen’s wife’s lover today, and we’ll see what that nets us.”

“I hear she’s smoking,” McNab commented and earned a frigid look fromPeabody.

“Of course, one of my primary concerns is the fact that she’s smoking,”Eve said coolly. “I’ve no doubt this attribute will assist us in identifying and apprehending a man who’s killed two women and brutally assaulted another in under two weeks. Moving along,” she said when McNab at least pretended to look chastised. “As you EDD guys didn’t come in here doing the victory shuffle, I assume we haven’t locked down the rental.”

“Why don’t you take this, bright boy?” Feeney said. “See if you can redeem yourself.”

“He used a wireless unit,” McNab began. “He didn’t bother to bounce or filter, so it was fairly easy to trace back. The transmission for the order originated from the Renaissance Hotel. That’s the fancy place on Park. You gotta be worth minimum of a mil just to get past the doorman. The van was ordered four days ago, atfourteen thirty-six.”

“Lunchtime crowd,”Eve commented.

“My guess is he frequents the place, knows where to go to shoot off a quick trans. Lots of big business types cart their pricey little portables to lunch meetings. Since he had very specific requirements for the order, he either had thetrans ready to go, or he sat down in one of the privacy booths, or at a nice table with a glass of wine, and generated it there.”

“Good. We’ll see if any of our choices lunched at the Renaissance on the order date. Not smart,” she said with a satisfied nod. “Smarter would’ve been to dress down, use a cyber-hole somewhere. A place nobody knew him. But he likes to show off. He likes to play, so he goes to an exclusive hotel, where I just bet they know him by name.”

“Peabody? Tell me about the plaster.”

“I’ve got building supply places inBrooklyn, inNewark, and inQueens who did cash transactions for small quantities of plaster in the past sixty days. None in medical supply places for that substance, cash transactions.”

“None?”

“No, sir. Credit or purchasing order from established accounts. Then I got a brainstorm and checked art supply outlets.”

“Art supply?”

“Yes, sir. You can sculpt with plaster, and other forms of art may utilize it. I got several hits in the city, several more in the boroughs andNew Jersey for cash.”

“Looks like we’re going to be busy then.” She checked her wrist unit. “The plaster from the scene’s been in the lab long enough. If they don’t have an exact match on the type, they should have. Let’s see if Dickhead can earn his salary and tell us if there’s a difference between household, medical, and art plaster.”

She looked at Feeney. “Feel like getting out of the house?”

“Wouldn’t mind a little fresh air.”

“Let me know if you find any out there. Want to take the hotel?”

“Long as I don’t have to wear a tie.”

“Peabodyand I will give Dickhead a push on our way to see the side dish.”

“She might hit on you,” McNab commented. “Maybe we should take her. Ow!” He grabbed his side where Peabody’s elbow jabbed. “Jeez, just kidding. Since you’ve been studying your brains out, you’ve got no sense of humor.”

“I’m going to laugh really hard after I kick your ass.”

“Kids, kids.”Eve could feel her eye starting to twitch. “Let’s save all this until after we catch the mean man and send him to his room. Feeney, control your moron. Not another word,Peabody.”

She gave her aide a solid push out the door.

Peabodyheld it in until they’d driven five blocks.Eve figured it was a new record.

“I just don’t think he should talk about other women that way. Or look at them with that gleam in his eye. We signed a lease.”

“OhJesus Christ on stilts. You’ve got lease fear,Peabody. Official document phobia. Get over it.”

“Jesus Christon stilts?”

“It just came to me. You’re obsessing because you signed up for-what is it, a year? And now you’re all, what if it doesn’t work out? Who moves out? Who takes the communal salad plates or some stupid shit.”

“Well, maybe. But that’s normal, isn’t it?”

“How the hell do I know what’s normal?”

“You’re married.”

Sincerely shocked, Eve jerked the vehicle to a halt at a light, “That makes me normal? It just makes me married. Do you know how many abnormal married people there are out there across this great land and beyond? Just take a look at the double Ds that get called in, Manhattan borough alone. Marriage doesn’t make people normal. Marriage isn’t normal, probably. It just… is.”

“Why did you get married?”

“I…” Her mind went blank. “He wanted to.” Hearing just how lame that sounded, she shifted in her seat, and punched the gas. “It’s just a promise, that’s all. A promise, and you do your best not to break it.”