J Robb - Imitation in Death

“No, thank you.”

He took out a bottle of something orange and frothy and poured it into a glass. “Suelee tells me you were very insistent about seeing me.”

“Suelee was very insistent I wouldn’t see you.”

“Well, ha-ha, just doing her job. Don’t know what I’d do without my Suelee guarding the gates.”

He beamed, sat in an I’m-a-busy-but-personable-son-of-a-bitch style on the edge of his horrible red desk. “You’d be amazed how many people try to get in to see me on any given day. Comes with the territory, of course. Actors, writers, directors.” He threw up a hand, waved it dramatically. “But I don’t often have an attractive policewoman looking for a meeting.”

His smile glittered, white and perfectly even. “So, tell me, what’ve you got? Play, vid, disc book? Cop drama’s cooled off recently, but there’s always room for a good story. The girl cop angle’s good. What’s your pitch?”

“Your whereabouts betweenmidnight and threeA.M. this morning.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m primary on a homicide investigation. Your name’s come up. I’d like to know your whereabouts during the time frame I just gave you.”

“Murder? I don’t-Oooh!” With another laugh, he shook his head so his hair shook fashionably. “Interesting pitch. Let’s see, my first reaction would be what? Shock, insult, fear?”

“A licensed companion was brutally murdered early this morning inChinatown. You can speed up this process,Mr.Fortney, by telling me where you were betweenmidnight and three.”

He lowered his glass. “You’re serious?”

“Midnightand three,Mr.Fortney.”

“Well, my God. My God.” He laid his free hand on his heart, patted it there. “I was home, of course. Pepper comes straight home after the show. We tend to go to bed early during a run. It’s both physically and emotionally exhausting for her. People don’t understand the strain of performing, night after night, and how few reserves one has left after-”

“I’m not interested in whereMs.Franklin was,”Eve interrupted. Or in your stalling tactics, she thought. “Where were you?”

“Well, home, as I said.” His tone was a little testy now. “Pepper would have arrived bymidnight, and she needs a bit of company and care after a show, so I always wait up to be there for her. We had a nightcap while she ran down, then we were tucked in before one, so she could get her beauty sleep. I can’t understand why you’d possibly question me. An LC, inChinatown? What could that have to do with me?”

“Can anyone verify that you were home during the timeframe?”

“Pepper, of course. Pepper. I was right there to greet her when she arrived home, just beforemidnight. And we were in bed, as I said, by one. She’s a very light sleeper. It comes from being so creative and sensitive. She’ll tell you she’d have known if I so much as stirred from the bed in the night.”

He took another drink, a longer one. “Who was this woman who was killed? Do I know her? I don’t use the services of companions. I do, naturally, know many people, from various walks. Certainly some actors and hopefuls might moonlight as LCs.”

“JacieWooton.”

“It means nothing to me. Nothing.” The color that had come into his face during his rambling alibi began to diminish. He shrugged, carelessly now. “I don’t believe I’ve ever been toChinatown.”

“You bought stationery inLondon several months ago. Fifty sheets and envelopes, plain, cream-colored, unrecycled stock.”

“Did I? It’s certainly possible. I buy quite a lot of things. For myself, for Pepper, as gifts. What in the world does stationery have to do with anything?”

“It’s very expensive, very distinctive stock. It would be helpful if you could produce it.”

“Paper, bought months ago, inLondon?” He made his ha-ha sound again, but this time it carried annoyance. “For all I know it’s still inLondon. I think I should call my lawyer.”

“That’s your choice. You can ask your representative to meet us downtown, at Central, to discuss your priors. Assaults and sex crimes.”

His face turned nearly the same shade as his hair. “Those incidents are in my past. If you must know the sexual assault charge was completely unwarranted. An argument with a woman I’d been dating that escalated, and her revenge when I broke things off with her. I didn’t fight the charge as I felt it would only generate more ugly publicity and drag things out.”

“Indecent exposure.”

“A misunderstanding. I’d had a bit too much to drink after a party and, impaired, was relieving my bladder when a group of young women happened to pass. It was foolish and ill-advised, but hardly criminal.”

“And the battery?”

“A shoving match with my ex-wife. Who started the incident, by the way. Just an unfortunate display of temper, which she used to skin me in the divorce. I don’t appreciate having all this thrown in my face, or being accused of murder. I was at home and in bed last night. All night. And that’s all I have to say without my lawyer.”

– -«»--«»--«»--

“Funny,”Eve commented as she headed uptown. “A guy can be arrested and charged three times, but none of it was his fault. All misunderstandings.”

“Yeah, the law’s a bitch.”

“What we’ve got here, Peabody, is a weasely little man who likes to put on a big show. Look at me. I’m important, I’m powerful. I’m somebody. And he has a history of knocking women around, showing off his dick and losing his temper. Surrounds himself with phallic symbols and has a big-breasted blonde playing guardian of the gates.”

“I didn’t like him. But it’s a pretty big leap from shaking his wang to slicing up an LC.”

“Steps and stages,”Eve declared. “Let’s see if Pepper’s home, and how she slept last night.”

– -«»--«»--«»--

The brownstone was lovely, old and elegant. And meant,Eve calculated as she walked toward the door, private security. The sort the owner could turn on and off at whim.

She rang the bell, considered the entrance, the flow of flowers in pots running up the short set of steps, the proximity of neighboring houses.

When the door opened, she had an immediate flash, and not very pleasant, of Roarke’s majordomo, and the bane of her existence, Summerset.

The butler was dressed in stark black, as was Summerset’s habit. He was long and thin with pewter hair atop a narrow face.

She actually felt her gorge rise.

“May I help you?”

“LieutenantDallas,OfficerPeabody.” Prepared to plow through him if necessary, she flipped out her badge. “I need to speak withMs.Franklin.”

“Ms.Franklinis engaged in her yoga/meditation hour. May I be of some assistance?”

“You can assist me by getting out of the way, telling Ms. Franklin she’s got a cop at the door who wants to question her regarding an official investigation.”

“Of course,” he said so genially, she actually blinked. “Please come in. If you’d make yourself comfortable in the living area, I’ll informMs.Franklin. Would you care for any refreshment while you wait?”

“No.” She eyed him suspiciously. “Thanks.”

“I’ll just be a moment.” After gesturing them into a large, sunny room with long white sofas, he turned toward a staircase.

“Maybe we can trade Summerset for him.”

“Hey, Dallas, check it out.”

Eveturned and studied whatPeabody was currently gaping at. The life-sized portrait of Pepper Franklin rose above the sea green mantel of a white hearth. In it, she appeared to be dressed in nothing but mists. They curled and draped around her, shimmering and thin so that her impressive body was displayed. Her arms were stretched out as if welcoming an embrace.