“Well, yeah, it is,” I said, glancing around at my own apartment. I’d faced a coldhearted killer, too, right here in my home. I’d managed to avoid spilling any blood, though, thank goodness. It had been hard enough to reclaim my sense of safety and security without having the memory of blood to color everything.
“How about this?” I said. “We’ll have my mom do a purification ceremony. We can all prance around with clumps of burning sage and smudge the place clean.”
She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. Because, really, the image of my crazy mom dancing around, ponytail bouncing, waving sage, and chanting to ward off evil spirits? It was pretty funny.
Her smile was short-lived. “Look, I appreciate the attempt at humor, but you’ve never had to deal with…” She stopped talking as she noticed my eyes narrow down to slits. “Okay, um, I take that back.”
“Damn straight you’ll take that back.” I leaned against the refrigerator door and folded my arms. “You know what I went through when that psycho killer showed up at my house.”
She held up her hand. “I know, Brooklyn, but you have to admit this is different.”
“Okay, you’re right. I wasn’t sleeping with the victim.”
“Yes, that. And because… you know, the blood.”
“Blood can be cleaned,” I reiterated, trying to keep the exasperation from my voice. It’s not that I was mad at her. I knew what she was feeling, and honestly, a part of me wanted to curl up in a ball and hide, just like she did. But another part knew that the only way to buck Robin up was to be tough. “Look, here’s the deal. You can’t allow some murdering creep to chase you out of your own home. You love that place. You’ve been there for years and you know all your neighbors and you’ve got all your favorite places to shop and eat.”
“Yeah, I guess.” She blew out a breath, but she was standing a little straighter. “Oh, hell, I don’t know.”
I grabbed her shoulders. “And think about it. Who in their right mind would give up a two-bedroom rentcontrolled flat in the heart of Noe Valley?”
She smiled at that. “Now, that’s the best reason you’ve come up with so far.”
“There you go.” I pushed away from the refrigerator and straightened the soap dish on the sink. “Look, I was scared to death to come back to this place after they carted the killer away in handcuffs. Intellectually, I knew there was nothing to worry about, but I still had to beg my mom and dad to stay here with me for three nights. Finally I realized I was being silly. It was over. I was safe. And besides, Derek stopped by every day for a week.”
“He’s so nice,” she said wistfully.
“Yes, he really is.”
“You’re so lucky.”
“I know.”
And with that, she burst into tears.
After we’d managed to calm Robin down, Derek left for his office and I convinced Robin to take a long, soothing bubble bath. Then I cleaned up around the house and took out the trash. We have a trash chute in the building, so I walked down the hall and around the corner to the small trapdoor in the wall. I tossed the bag through the opening and waited, listening for the satisfying thud as it fell into the garage Dumpster six floors below.
“Hello, Miss Brooklyn.”
I turned and saw the little boy I’d met last night. “Hi, Tyler. How are you?”
“Fine, thank you.”
“Tyler?” his mother called from the far end of the hall.
“I’m here, Mama,” he bellowed.
“Whoa, who’s doing all the yelling?” My neighbor Suzie strolled up carrying a large white plastic trash bag. “Yo, Brooklyn, howzit?”
“Hi, Suzie,” I said. “Have you met Tyler?”
“Hey, munchkin,” Suzie said, grinning at the boy. “Are you our new neighbor?”
“Yes, sir,” Tyler whispered. He stared in fascination at Suzie, whose fashion choice today was a sleeveless black leather shirt with matching bell bottoms and spike-toed boots. Her white blond hair was short and spiked, and she wore at least ten different earrings and studs in her ears. Happily, none of her other parts were pierced. At least, none that showed. She looked like a scary but sexy lesbian chain-saw artist, which was exactly what she was.
Tyler’s mom came jogging around the bend. “Tyler, I called you to-Oh, hello.”
“Hi, Mama,” Tyler said. “This is our new neighbor.”
“Good morning, Lisa,” I said. “Have you met Suzie Stein? She has the place closest to the elevator on the east side of the building.”
Lisa bowed. “How do you do?”
“I’m dandy,” Suzie said. “I think you met my better half yesterday. Vinnie.”
Lisa cocked her head. “I met Vinnie. She is half of you?”
Suzie chuckled. “No, she’s my better half. That’s a kind of silly way of saying we’re a couple.”
“Ah. She is your roommate.”
“That’s another way to say it.”
“I am still have problems with some colloquialisms.”
“You’re doing great. Where in China are you from?”
“My mother is American. She moved to China and met my father. I was born and raised in Beijing. That’s where I met my husband.” She laughed. “My mother lives back here now and would love to rid me of my Chinese accent.”
“It’s charming,” I assured her.
She went on to explain that her husband was a diplomat and they had moved here because of his new job with the Chinese consulate in San Francisco. His last assignment had been at the embassy in Khartoum for five years. The whole family had been taking English-immersion classes for the past three years in anticipation of her husband obtaining the San Francisco assignment.
“Sudan, huh?” Suzie said, chuckling. “Guess he earned this plum gig after all your time there.”
“Naturally, we are happy with whatever assignment he is given.”
“Of course,” Suzie said lightly, but one of her eyebrows shot up and she sneaked a glance at me.
Lisa looked down at Tyler. “You must go pick out a book to bring with you to the doctor’s office.”
“Okay, Mama,” he said, and ran down the hall and disappeared around the corner.
“Hey, speaking of books,” Suzie said, anxious to change the subject, “Brooklyn here is a bookbinder, so if you have any books that need mending, she’s your gal.”
“You mend books for fun?” Lisa said.
“Occasionally for fun, but mainly for money. It’s my job. I repair and restore rare books. I also make new ones.”
“She teaches classes-that’s how good she is,” Suzie said, sounding like a proud parent. “You should see her studio. It’s amazing.”
“Everyone on our floor is creative,” I demurred. “Suzie and Vinnie are sculptors. Sergio is a chef. Jeremy is a hairdresser.”
“My goodness, so much talent,” Lisa said, then rolled her eyes as her children came laughing and running down the hall to find her. They gathered around her and Lisa pulled them closer. With a sigh, she said, “These little monsters are my works of art.”
“Oh, that’s sweet,” Suzie said.
“I brought my book.” Tyler held up a worn copy of Where the Wild Things Are.
“You have read that book over one hundred times,” Lisa said.
“I like it.” His grin faltered as the front cover separated and fell to the ground.
“It is falling apart,” she said, then looked at me. “Do you repair these kinds of books?”
“I’ll be glad to fix it for Tyler.”
“Oh, dear, that was rude,” Lisa said, waving away her comment. “It’s not worth your time. I can buy another copy for ten or twelve dollars.”
Tyler seemed not to have heard as he gazed up at me with a rapturous smile. “You can fix my book?”
I laughed. “Yes, I can fix it.”
Lisa shook her head. “We can talk about it later. We are going to our new doctor for checkups.” She urged the children toward the elevator.
“Good-bye, Brooklyn. It was nice to meet you, Suzie.”
“Have fun, y’all,” Suzie said.
Tyler walked backward all the way to the elevator, his gaze trained on me the entire time. “Bye, Miss Brooklyn.”
As the elevator door lumbered to a close and the family disappeared, Suzie chuckled. “Wow, kid’s got a crush on you.”
“I’m not sure why,” I said.
“It’s cute.” Then she grimaced. “Guess I stuck my foot in it with the Sudan comment.”
“Don’t sweat it,” I said, as we headed back toward her place. “She probably has to be discreet. Doesn’t mean we have to be.”
“Right on, chiquita.” She slapped my shoulder in solidarity. “Listen, I’m glad I ran into you. Splinters has been sick, so we’ve got him on some medication.”
“I’m sorry. Is he going to be okay?”
“Yeah, no worries, but the vet says we should separate Pookie from him while he’s on the medication. So we were wondering if you’d mind keeping Pookie for the next ten days or so. I know it’s a lot to ask, but we know you love the cats as much as we do, and we’ll come by every day and feed her and stuff.”
“Are you kidding? I’d love to have Pookie stay with me.” It was true, despite the fact that I was the world’s worst pet sitter. But everyone deserved a second chance, right? And it wouldn’t be for very long. I was pretty sure I could keep one cat alive for a week and a half, especially if Suzie and Vinnie came by to feed her every day.
“Thanks, pal,” Suzie said, and pounded my arm. “I’ll let Vinnie know it’s a go. I’ll bring Pookie and her stuff by in a little while. She’ll be ecstatic.”
My smile was tremulous. “Me, too.”
It was two o’clock before inspectors Lee and Jaglom finally came by. Suzie had dropped off Pookie and her paraphernalia a while earlier, and the cat had already glommed onto Robin. When she lay down on the couch to take a nap, Pookie curled up next to her.
I was glad to see Robin drop off to sleep so easily despite being frightened out of her mind. She hadn’t slept well the night before, and I would’ve offered to get up and keep her company, but once I fall asleep, I tend to sleep soundly. My dad always claimed I slept like a dead tree, which sounds appalling, but Dad is an outdoor kind of guy. To him, a dead tree is a thing of beauty. That’s the story he fed me, anyway.
As he’d promised, Derek returned home a few minutes after the cops arrived and I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Despite my best intentions, I’d been anxious to have him be present while the police were here. I simply wasn’t at the top of my game this time around, probably because it was Robin who was the chief suspect. The situation shook me, and I found myself depending on Derek to run interference. He didn’t seem to mind at all, but my dependence on him was starting to annoy me. Damsels in distress could get boring really fast.
I offered the inspectors coffee and they both accepted, so everyone hung out around the kitchen bar while the coffee brewed.
“Derek thought you might be handing the case over to the Department of Homeland Security,” I said.
“I may have spoken too soon,” Lee admitted. “Our guy might not have been here illegally, like the feds first thought. According to Ms. Tully here, he attended school at Berkeley, so he might’ve been in the U.S. ever since. We’re still checking records. Depending on his status, we may keep the case or we may have to pass it along.”
“Does that happen a lot, where you trade off cases with the DHS?”
“Once in a while.” She leaned a hip against the edge of the bar. “DHS covers a lot of ground. Lately, we’ve mostly been trading off immigration cases with ICE.”
I nodded knowingly as I pulled five mugs from the cupboard. I watched Law & Order, so I knew that ICE was Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Coffee’s ready.”
“Great,” Inspector Lee said. “Should help me stay awake a while longer.”
As I poured the coffee, Robin cleared her throat self-consciously. “So, Derek says they did find drugs in my system.”
Lee turned to her. “Yes.”
“So I’m… cleared? You’re not going to arrest me?”
Inspector Lee looked at her for a long second or three. “That remains to be seen.”
Robin blinked. “Do you need more information? Is there anything-”
“Yeah, what’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
Derek stepped into the kitchen and placed his arm casually around my shoulder. I knew why. He was getting ready to hold me back in case I tried to lunge over the bar and claw Inspector Lee’s eyes out. There was no way in hell she was arresting Robin.
“Inspector, please explain,” Derek said.
Lee shot Derek a defensive glare. “Just because she was on drugs doesn’t mean she didn’t kill the guy.”
“And ransack her own apartment while she was at it?” he said. “Highly improbable.”
Robin slid down onto the nearest barstool, gulping convulsively.
“This is crazy.” I was livid. What the hell was wrong with Inspector Lee?
Derek shot me a warning glance.
“I’m sorry, but it is,” I said.
Derek turned to Jaglom. “Nathan?”
“Come on, Jan,” Jaglom cajoled his partner. “These are good people. Dial it down.”
After a few tense seconds of a staring match between the two, Inspector Lee muttered, “Hell, I need a cigarette.” We all watched as she walked across the living room to the wall of windows, where she stared out at my narrow view of the bay.
Jaglom leaned in. “She’s been wearing the patch lately to help her quit smoking, so sometimes she goes a little…” He pointed to his head and circled his finger as if to say she was going nuts.
If this had been about only me, I might’ve been more sympathetic to her problems. After all, I liked Janice Lee. I really did. She was a good cop. Usually. But right now, she was screwing with Robin’s emotions, and I was ready to beat her with a stick.
I banked my anger, poured coffee into the mugs, and passed them out. Then I walked over to Inspector Lee and handed a mug to her.
She took it and sipped silently. After a moment, she gritted her teeth and, still staring out the window, said, “Sorry. My mom’s in the hospital, I’ve got an idiot for a brother, and all I want is a cigarette.”
I nodded, acknowledging the apology. “Sorry about your mom.”
“They cut a few feet out of her colon yesterday and they’re still running tests. There’s an outside chance she’ll be okay.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.” She shook her head in confusion or disbelief; I couldn’t tell which. “They’re hoping it’s diverticulitis. We’re afraid it’s cancer. They’re the experts, so maybe it’ll turn out fine. But can I tell you the worst part of all this? It’s seeing my mom in that hospital bed, looking so weak and sick. I mean, my mom is a tigress. I hate seeing her like that. It’s rough, you know?”
“Sure. It’s scary.”
“It sucks, is what it is.”
“Getting old ain’t for sissies,” I said.
“Tell me about it. Pisses me off.”
I finally turned and looked at her. “Is there anything I can do?”
After a swift, searching glance at me, she said, “You’re kidding, right? You were ready to tear the skin off my face a minute ago, and now you’re offering help and consolation?”
“Hey, I have a soft spot for you.” I patted the top of my head.
She chuckled.
“I shouldn’t have gotten in your face,” I said, “but it’s my best friend you’re screwing with.”
“I get that.” She nodded, took a sip of coffee, and stared out the window again. “She’s lucky to have you in her corner.”
“I tell her that all the time.”
Lee snorted. “Bet you do.”
She finished off her coffee and handed me the mug. “By the way. Your version of ‘in my face,’ Wainwright?”
“Yea
h?”
“Lame. Really lame.”
I laughed. “We’re going to be sitting around drinking wine later. Why don’t you come over after you clock out?”
She tried for a sneer but her eyes betrayed her interest. “You gonna be swilling that sissy white zinfandel crap?”
It was my turn to make a face. “Okay, now you’re just trying to piss me off.”
Chapter 7
As soon as Inspector Lee agreed to come by later for a glass of wine, she groaned and admitted she couldn’t socialize while Robin was officially a suspect. But she took a rain check on the assumption that we wouldn’t always be surrounded by dead bodies and suspicious circumstances. I considered it a good first step to friendship.
While I’d been doing what I could to schmooze Inspector Lee into a better mood so she wouldn’t drag Robin off to jail, Derek and Robin were obtaining the real scoop from Inspector Jaglom. They gave me the whole story later as I loaded all the coffee mugs into the dishwasher.
The police had managed to track down Alex’s apartment in the Richmond District, thanks to the information Robin had given them yesterday. Specifically, his name, Alexei Mikhail Pavlenko.
Jaglom reported that whoever had trashed Robin’s apartment and killed Alex had also trashed Alex’s apartment.
“How can they tell it was the same guy?” I asked.
Derek handed me another mug. “The search was systematic and thorough. Nothing was destroyed, exactly, but things were upturned or tossed on the floor.”
“Boy, first they kill the guy, then turn his place upside down. Seems rude, doesn’t it?”
“To say the least,” Robin agreed.
“But while the police were sifting through Alex’s property,” Derek said, “one of his neighbors showed up and inquired as to what had happened. When the fellow found out Alex had been killed, he jogged back to his apartment and came back with something Inspector Jaglom found rather interesting.”
“What was it?”
“A small strongbox,” he said. “Alex had given it to him and asked him to keep it in a safe place.”
I halted in mid-dishwasher loading. “Oh, my God, do you know what that means?”
Murder Under Cover Page 7
