by J. D. Robb
‘Tell me about it.’ Grill suspect, lie to commanding officer, hassle lab tech. Order bridal bouquet. Jesus.
‘But if you’re steady, you know, careful, it doesn’t have to bog down your career.’
‘If you ask me, cops are a bad bet. But what do I know?’ In a nervous rhythm, she tapped her fingers on the wheel. ‘Feeney’s been married since the dawn of time. The commander has a happy home. Others do it.’ She blew out a breath. ‘I’m working on it.’ It struck her as she drove through the gates. ‘You got a personal thing going, Peabody?’
‘Maybe. I’m thinking about it.’ She rubbed her hands on her pants, linked them, pulled them apart.
‘Anybody I know?’
‘Actually.’ Peabody shifted her feet. ‘It’s Casto.’
‘Casto?’ Eve headed crosstown to Ninth, swung around a commuter tram. ‘No shit. When did this happen?’
‘Well, I ran into him last night. That is, I caught him shadowing me, so—’
‘Shadowing you?’ Quickly, Eve rammed the car to auto. It shuddered, whined, then chugged. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘He’s got a good nose. He sniffed out we were digging at a lead. I was pretty steamed when I tagged him, then I had to admit, I’d have done the same thing.’
Eve tapped her fingers on the wheel, thought about it. ‘Yeah, so would I. Did he try to pump you?’
Peabody flushed deep red, stuttered.
‘Jesus, Peabody, I didn’t mean—’
‘I know, I know. I’m not used to this, Dallas. I mean I like men, sure.’ She brushed at her bangs, checked the collar of her stiff uniform shirt. ‘I’ve been around some, but men like Casto - you know, like Roarke.’
‘They fry the circuits.’
‘Yeah.’ It was a relief to be able to lay it out to someone who would understand. ‘He did try to slide some data out of me, but he took it well enough when I wouldn’t give. He knows the route. The chief says interdepartmental cooperation, and we pretty much ignore it.’
‘You think he’s got something of his own?’
‘He might. He made the rounds at the club just like I did. That’s how I tagged him first. Then, when I left, he followed me. I led him around for awhile, just to see what he’d do.’ Her smile spread. ‘And I backtracked him. You should have seen his face when I came up behind him and he knew he’d been nailed.’
‘Good work.’
‘We got into it a little. Territory, and all that. Then we, well, we had a drink, agreed to put the cop routine on hold. It was nice. We have a lot of common ground, outside the job. Music and films and stuff. Hell, oh Jesus, I slept with him.’
‘Oh.’
‘I know it was stupid. But, well, I did.’
Eve waited a moment. ‘So, how was it?’
‘Wow.’
‘That good, huh?’
‘Then this morning, he said maybe we could have dinner or something.’
‘So, it sounds pretty normal to me.’
Sober-eyed again, Peabody shook her head. ‘Guys like that aren’t attracted to me. I know he’s got a thing for you—’
Eve’s hand shot up. ‘Hold on, playback.’
‘Come on, Dallas, you know he does. He’s attracted to you. He admires your skill, your mind. Your legs.’
‘You’re not going to tell me you and Casto discussed my legs.’
‘No, but your mind came up. Anyway, I don’t know if I should take this any farther. I’ve got to concentrate on my career, and he’s steeped in his. When this case is resolved, we’ll lose the connection.’
Hadn’t Eve thought the same when Roarke had hit her between the eyes? It should have been true. It usually was. ‘You’re attracted to him, you like him, you find him interesting to be around.’
‘Sure.’
‘And the sex was good.’
‘The sex was incredible.’
‘Then, as your superior, Peabody, my advice is, go for it.’
Peabody smiled a little, then looked out the window. ‘Maybe I’ll think about it.’
Chapter Fourteen
Eve was pleased with her timing. She clocked into Cop Central at 9:55, went directly to Interview. By avoiding her office, she avoided any messages from Commander Whitney demanding her presence. She hoped by the time she had to face him, she’d have the buffer of new information.
Redford was prompt, she had to give him that. And he was as sleek and unruffled as he’d been the first time she’d seen him.
‘Lieutenant, I hope this won’t take long. It’s a very inconvenient time.’
‘Then we’ll get started right away. Have a seat.’ She closed and secured the door behind her.
Interview wasn’t the most pleasant of atmospheres. It wasn’t meant to be. The conference table was small, the chairs hard, the walls unadorned. The mirror was obviously two-way glass and meant to intimidate. She went directly to her recorder, engaged, and recited the necessary data.
‘Mr. Redford, you are entitled to counsel or a representative at Interview.’
‘Are you reading me my rights, Lieutenant?’
‘If you request I do so, I’ll oblige. You are not charged, but you are entitled to counsel when being questioned in a formal interview. Do you wish counsel?’
‘Not at this time.’ He flicked a speck of lint from his sleeve. Gold winked at his wrist in the form of a cuff bracelet. ‘I’m more than willing to cooperate with this investigation, as I’ve proven by coming here today.’
‘I’d like to replay your previous statement so that you have the opportunity to add, delete, or change any portions thereof.’ She slipped the labeled disc into the slot. With mild impatience in his eyes, Redford listened.
‘Do you wish to stand by that statement, as given?’
‘Yes, it’s as accurate as I can remember.’
‘Very well.’ Eve replaced the disc and folded her hands. ‘You and the victim were sexual partners.’
‘That’s correct.’
‘This was not an exclusive arrangement.’
‘Not at all. Neither of us wished it to be.’
‘Did you on the night of the murder engage with the victim in the use of illegals?’
‘No.’
‘Did you, at any other time, engage with the victim in the use of illegals?’
He smiled. When he angled his head, she caught more gold, threaded through the sleek queue twisting to his shoulder blades. ‘No. I didn’t share Pandora’s affection for substances.’
‘Did you have the victim’s security code for her town house in New York?’
‘Her security code.’ His brow furrowed. ‘I might have it. Probably.’ For the first time he appeared uneasy. Eve could all but see his mind weighing his answer and the consequences. ‘I imagine she gave it to me at one time or another to simplify matters when I visited her.’ Composed again, he took out his notebook, keyed in data. ‘Yes, I have it here.’
‘Did you use her code to gain access to her home on the night of her murder?’
‘A domestic let me in. There wasn’t any need for it.’
‘No, there wouldn’t have been. Before her murder. Are you aware that her security code also engages and disengages her video system?’
Caution flickered in his eyes again. ‘I’m not sure I follow you.’
‘With the code, which you state is in your possession, the outside security camera can be deactivated. That camera was deactivated for a period of approximately one hour after the murder. During that period, Mr. Redford, you state you were at your club. Alone. During that period, someone who knew the victim, who was in possession of her code, who was aware of the workings of her home and security, deactivated the system, entered the house, and it would seem, took something from the house.’
‘I would have no reason to do any of those things. I was at my club, Lieutenant. I keyed in and out.’
‘A member can key in and out without ever going in.’ She watched his face harden. ‘You saw an ornate,
possibly Chinese antique box, from which you state the victim took a substance and ingested it. You further state that she then locked the box away in the vanity of her bedroom. This box has not been found. Are you sure this box existed?’
There was ice now, but beneath it, just around the edges of it, she thought she caught something else. Not panic, not yet. But wariness, and worry.
‘Are you certain the box you described existed, Mr. Redford?’
‘I saw it.’
‘And the key?’
‘The key?’ He reached for a pitcher of water. His hand was still steady, Eve noted, but that mind was working overtime. ‘She wore it on a chain, a gold chain, around her neck.’
‘No chain or key was recovered on the body or at the scene.’
‘Then it would follow that the murderer took it, wouldn’t it, Lieutenant?’
‘Did she wear the key openly?’
‘No, she—’ He stopped, the muscles in his jaw twitching. ‘Very good, Lieutenant. As far as I am aware, she wore it under her clothes. But, as I have stated, I am not the only one who was invited to see Pandora without clothing.’
‘Why were you paying her?’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Over the past eighteen months, you transferred over three hundred thousand dollars into the victim’s credit accounts. Why?’
His eyes went blank, but Eve saw, for the first time, fear behind them. ‘Certainly what I do with my money is my own business.’
‘No, it’s not. Not when it’s murder. Was she blackmailing you?’
‘That’s absurd.’
‘Plays for me. She had something on you, something dangerous, embarrassing, something she enjoyed holding over you. She nibbled away, demanding little payments here and there, and some not so little. I imagine she was the type to flaunt that kind of power, to enjoy it. A man could get tired of that. A man could begin to realize there was only one way to end it. It wasn’t the money, really, was it, Mr. Redford? It was the power, the control, and that enjoyment she rubbed in your face.’
His breathing deepened raggedly, but his face remained still. ‘I would say that Pandora was not above blackmail, Lieutenant. But she had nothing on me, and I would not tolerate threats.’
‘What would you do about them?’
‘A man in my position can afford to ignore quite a bit. In my business, success is much more important than gossip.’
‘Then why did you pay her? For sex?’
‘That’s insulting.’
‘No, I suppose a man in your position wouldn’t have to pay for sex. Still, it might add a certain twist to the excitement. Do you ever frequent the Down and Dirty Club on the East End?’
‘I don’t frequent the East End, and I certainly don’t frequent a second-rate sex club.’
‘But you know what it is. Were you ever there with Pandora?’
‘No.’
‘Alone?’
‘I said I hadn’t been there.’
‘Where were you on June tenth, at approximately two A.M.?’
‘What is this?’
‘Can you verify your whereabouts on that date and time?’
‘I don’t know where I was. I don’t have to answer that.’
‘Were your payments to Pandora business payments, gifts?’
‘Yes, no.’ He fisted his hands under the table. ‘I believe I’d like to consult with counsel now.’
‘Sure. Your choice. We will break this interview to allow subject to exercise his right to consult counsel. Disengage.’ She smiled. ‘You’d better tell them all you know. You’d better tell someone. And if you’re not in this alone, I’d advise you to start thinking seriously about rolling over.’ She pushed back from the table. ‘There’s a public ’link outside.’
‘I have my own,’ he said stiffly. ‘If you could show me to a room where I can make my call privately.’
‘No problem. Come with me.’
Eve managed to avoid Whitney by transmitting an update and steering clear of her desk. She snagged Peabody and headed out.
‘You shook Redford. You really shook him.’
‘That was the idea.’
‘It was the way you kept coming at him from different angles. Everything straight down the line at first, then pow. You tripped him up with the club.’
‘He’ll get his balance back. I still have the payment he made to Fitzgerald to pitch at him, but he’ll be more prepared. This reprieve with his lawyers.’
‘Yeah, and he won’t underestimate you again. You think he did it?’
‘I think he could have. He hated her. If we can link him to the drugs . . . we’ll see.’ So many angles to explore, Eve thought, and time was racing - racing toward Mavis’s pretrial hearing. If she didn’t have something solid within the next couple of days . . . ‘I want that unknown ID’d. I want to know the source. We find the source, we follow it.’
‘Is that when you’re going to bring Casto in? That’s a professional inquiry.’
‘He’d have better contacts. I’ll share the wealth once we have the unknown nailed.’ Her ’link beeped, and she winced. ‘Shit, shit, shit. I know that’s Whitney. I can feel it.’ She blanked her face and answered. ‘Dallas.’
‘What the hell are you doing?’
‘Sir, checking a lead. I’m en route to the lab.’
‘I left orders for you to be in my office at oh nine hundred.’
‘I’m sorry, Commander, I didn’t receive that transmission. I haven’t been to my desk. If you’ve received my report, you’ll see that I’ve been tied up in interview this morning. Subject is currently consulting counsel. I believe—’
‘Cut the tap dance, Lieutenant. I spoke with Dr. Mira a few minutes ago.’
Her skin seemed to ice over, go stiff. ‘Sir.’
‘I’m disappointed in you, Lieutenant.’ He spoke slowly, his eyes hard on hers. ‘That you would consider wasting the department’s time and manpower on such a matter. We have no intention nor desire to investigate formally, or to launch any informal inquiries into the incident. This matter is closed, and will remain closed. Is that understood, Lieutenant?’
Emotions swirled: relief, guilt, gratitude. ‘Sir, I - Yes. Understood.’
‘Very well. The leak to Channel 75 has caused major problems here.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Snap back, she ordered herself. Think of Mavis. ‘I’m sure it has.’
‘You are aware of departmental policy on unauthorized leaks to the media.’
‘Well aware.’
‘How is Ms. Furst?’
‘I thought she looked quite well on screen, Commander.’
He scowled, but there was a glint in his eye. ‘You stay on the balls of your feet, Dallas. And you be here, my office, eighteen hundred. We have a fucking press conference.’
‘Good dodge,’ Peabody congratulated. ‘And all truth, except that you told him we were en route to the lab.’
‘I didn’t say which lab.’
‘What was that other business? He seemed pretty steamed over it. Have you got something else going on? Does it hook with this?’
‘No, it’s old business. Dead business.’ Grateful to have gotten through it, Eve glided toward the gate of Futures Laboratories and Research, a subsidiary of Roarke Industries. ‘Lieutenant Dallas, NYPSD,’ she announced into the scanner.
‘You are expected, Lieutenant. Please proceed to Blue parking facility. Leave your vehicle and take transport C to the East complex, sector six, level one. You will be met.’
They were met by a lab droid, an attractive brunette with milk-white skin, clear blue eyes, and a security badge that identified her as Anna-6. Her voice was as melodious as church bells.
‘Good afternoon, Lieutenant. I hope you had no trouble finding us.’
‘No, we didn’t.’
‘Very good. Dr. Engrave will see you in the solarium. It’s very pleasant there. If you’d follow me.’
‘That’s a droid,’ Peabody murmured to Eve, and Anna-
6 turned, smiled beautifully.
‘I’m a new, experimental model. There are only ten of us at this stage, all in use here, at this complex. We hope to be on the market within six months. The research behind us is very extensive, and unfortunately the cost is still prohibitive for most general markets. We hope that larger industries will find the expense worthwhile until we can be cost-effectively mass produced.’
Eve cocked a head. ‘Has Roarke seen you?’
‘Of course. Roarke approves all new products. He was very involved in the design.’
‘I bet he was.’
‘Through here, please,’ Anna-6 continued, turning into a long, arched corridor in hospital white. ‘Dr. Engrave has found your specimen highly interesting. I’m sure you will find her very helpful.’ She stopped by a mini wall screen and coded in a sequence. ‘Anna-6,’ she announced. ‘Accompanied by Lieutenant Dallas and aide.’
The tiles parted, opening up into a large room filled with flora and lovely artificial sunlight. There was the tinkle of running water and the lazy drone of contented bees.
‘I will leave you here and return to lead you out. Please request any refreshment you might like. Dr. Engrave often forgets to offer.’
‘Go smile someplace else, Anna.’ The testy voice seemed to come from a clump of ferns. Anna-6 merely smiled, stepped back, and let the tiles click together. ‘I know droids have their place, but damned if they don’t make me itchy. Over here, in the spirea.’
Warily, Eve stepped to the ferns, and through. There, kneeling in rich black dirt, was a woman. Her graying hair was scooped up in a messy knot, her hands reddened and soiled. Coveralls that might have once been white were stained with too many streaks to identify. She looked up, and her plain, narrow face proved to be as filthy as her clothes.
‘I’m checking my worms. Trying out a new breed.’ She held up a clump of dirt that wiggled.
‘Very nice,’ Eve decided and was faintly relieved when Engrave buried the busy clump.
‘So, you’re Roarke’s cop. Always figured he’d choose one of those fussy purebreds with the skinny necks and big boobs.’ She pursed her lips as she looked Eve over. ‘Glad he didn’t. Trouble with purebreds is, they need constant pampering. Give me a good hybrid any day.’
