Strangers in Death

by J. D. Robb

  Irritation tightened his face. “I like lots of people, and feel sorry for some. That doesn’t stop me from seeing a stone killer when she’s in my damn face.”

  “You’re taking it personal, Baxter.”

  “Damn right I am.” There was steam now as he jerked toward Eve. “And don’t give me any of that objectivity crap. You wouldn’t be so fucking good at the job if you didn’t take it personal.”

  Eve gave him a minute to stew. “You want me to tell you you screwed up? You missed it? You didn’t see what you should’ve seen? Nothing I’d like better because it makes my day to ream out a smart-ass pig-eater like you. But I can’t do it. You didn’t screw up. You can’t miss what’s not in play, and can’t see what isn’t there.”

  “You saw Ava Anders.”

  “I didn’t like her goddamn face—and yeah, some of it was personal. I wouldn’t have seen the how if you hadn’t nagged my ass off about Custer. So reschedule your pity party, Baxter. We don’t have time for it now.”

  “Assuming we’re playing to our strengths, you’ll be taking bad cop.”

  “And you’d be the cop with the soft spot for the tragic, little widow.”

  “Yeah.” He hissed out a breath. “Fucking A. I feel played, so I’ll be picking up the hats and balloons for the pity party later.”

  “Don’t forget the cake.” She scouted out a parking spot as she neared Suzanne’s address. “It’s going to spook her, seeing me instead of Trueheart. Having to go into Central. If she’s thought about any of this happening, she may have thought about lawyers. You need to reassure her. Routine, tying things up.”

  “I know how to play good cop.” He got out, waited for Eve on the sidewalk. “I need to take the lead with her, initially, keep her steady, make her think I’m a little ticked that you’re insisting on the official routine.”

  “I know how to play bad cop,” Eve countered.

  It was a miserable post–Urban War building. One of the structures tossed up from the rubble and never intended to last. Its concrete gray walls were blackened with age and weather, scored with graceless graffiti and misspelled obscenities.

  They walked into a narrow, frigid entryway and took the rusted metal stairs up to the third floor. Everything echoed, Eve noted. Their feet on the treads, the sounds leaking out of doors and walls as they passed by, the noises from the street outside.

  But none of the early spring warmth pushed in to boost the chilly air.

  Baxter positioned himself at the door, knocked. The over-bright sound of kids and Saturday morning screen whooped on the other side. One of those odd and somehow creepy morning cartoon deals that had the kids yammering and squealing, Eve imagined.

  Who made those things?

  A high-pitched girly voice called out for mommy so clearly, the door itself might’ve been made of paper.

  The locks thunked, and the door scraped and groaned as it opened.

  She’d been pretty once, Eve thought at her first in-person study of Suzanne Custer. She might be pretty again, given decent nutrition, reasonable sleep, a break from stress. As Eve didn’t see those elements in her future, she thought Suzanne’s pretty days were long over.

  She looked exhausted, pale, too thin, as if the meat under her skin had been gnawed away. Her dull, listless hair had been pulled back, leaving her tired face defenseless. A small, round-eyed kid of the male variety (probably) stood at her side.

  “Detective Baxter.”

  “Mrs. Custer. Hey there, Todd!” Baxter flashed a grin, shot the boy with his finger.

  “We’re watching ’toons.”

  “So I hear. Hi, Maizie.”

  The little girl had a year or two on her brother, and the soft prettiness that had once been her mother’s. She sent Baxter a big, beaming smile.

  “I’m sorry.” Suzanne shoved at her hair, then reached down to wrap her arm around her son’s shoulders. “We’re a little disorganized this morning. I was…just cleaning up after breakfast, before I take the kids to practice. Is this…do you have any…Can this wait until later?”

  “I’m afraid it can’t, Mrs. Custer.” Eve edged Baxter aside, and all but felt his annoyed frown. “We have a number of things to clear up, and we’ll need to handle this at Central.”

  “At Central? But—”

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Custer.” Baxter’s voice poured warm cream over quiet apology. “This is my lieutenant. As we’ve been unable to close your husband’s case in a timely manner, Lieutenant Dallas needs to see to some procedural matters.”

  “At Central,” Eve said, clipping the words.

  “But, my kids.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Lieutenant, please.” Baxter interrupted Eve, then eased forward toward Suzanne. “I can arrange to have them taken to practice, or you can bring them with you and we’ll see they’re supervised while we finish this up. Whichever you want.”

  “I don’t know. I—”

  “I can’t miss practice.” Cartoons forgotten, Maizie jumped up. “I just can’t. Mom, please!”

  “Why don’t I take care of their transportation?” Baxter suggested. “And have a couple of officers stay with them. Then when we’re done, we’ll make sure you get to the field. Okay, LT?”

  Eve only shrugged, as if she didn’t give a damn. “Make it fast. You’ve put enough time and department resources into this. I’ll wait outside.”

  “Sorry about that,” Eve heard Baxter say as she walked away. “The lieutenant’s a stickler for procedure. I’ll try to fast-walk all this through.”

  On the street, Eve checked in with Peabody. “Status?”

  “Wallowing in smut. I had no idea there were so many devices designed to be inserted in orifices. Many are sold in variety and party packs. You can select one of forty-dollar value with any body piercing.”

  “That’s a deal.”

  “Well, it’s kind of tempting. McNab would wig in a completely excellent way. But seeing as I’m on duty…”

  “Seeing as. But keep jabbering, Peabody, and I’ll give you a completely free piercing back at Central.”

  “We have a clerk who recognized Suzanne Custer,” Peabody said quickly. “Made her right off. Said she remembered because she—Suzanne—looked so off the rails. She bought several of the items that match those on the Anders scene. The clerk didn’t want to bother checking on it, but she’s flirting with Trueheart.”

  “Trueheart’s flirting with a smut shop clerk? What has Baxter done to that kid?”

  “No, no, she’s doing the flirt thing. He’s turned all shades of red, but that’s worked for us.” Peabody grinned. “It is pretty damn cute. So she checked, and we’re getting the paperwork. Suzanne didn’t buy the rope here. But, she asked about it. They were out of the velvet bondage set. It’s a popular item, as we learned when we did the initial search.”

  “Check the shops closest to your current location. And if you come back with any piercings, they better not be visible.”

  “Ouch,” Peabody said as Eve clicked off.

  Once she had Suzanne at Central, Eve left her in Interview to sweat for fifteen minutes and watched through the observation window.

  “She’s terrified,” Baxter said.

  “Good. It probably won’t take very long to break her down. You go in first, make your apologies for the mean old LT.” She glanced over as Mira stepped in.

  “She looks worn down. Eaten up.” Her face impassive, Mira stepped closer to the glass. “Guilt would be a viable weapon on her. And her children, they’d be a vulnerable area. She’ll fear you the most,” she said to Eve. “The capable, powerful female—everything she’s not. The authority figure. As, I suspect, Ava Anders is to her. She’s accustomed to violence. It won’t frighten her overmuch. Nor will threats to her person, as she’s accustomed to those as well. She’s also used to being isolated, cut off from any support. So offers of friendship, understanding, support draw her in. Her children are her one accomplishment. She would sacrifice a grea
t deal for them.”

  “I need to make her flip on Ava.”

  “She’ll need to believe you’re more powerful, and more dangerous than Ava.”

  “I am, so she will. Go,” Eve told Baxter.

  “The friendship offered by Ava,” Mira continued as Baxter stepped out, “the support, the bargain struck—if indeed one was—weigh heavily on Ava’s side. The power Ava has over her now is tremendous.”

  “I know how to play her.” When Mira said nothing, Eve watched Baxter enter Interview, listened to him speak reassuringly to Suzanne. “I know what it’s like to be knocked around regular, isolated, held down so you believe it’s the only way. And I know how far you’ll go to make it stop.”

  “She’s nothing like you, and neither are her circumstances.”

  “No. But I know how to play her. Baxter, he feels for her. Decent men tend to feel for women like her.”

  “But you don’t.”

  “No, I don’t. She could’ve walked. Any time. Packed up, grabbed the kids and walked.” Studying Suzanne through the glass, Eve felt not a single twinge of sympathy. “You said she’d sacrifice for her kids, but what has she given them? What kind of life has she opened them to by letting them see, every day, that she’s so weak she’ll let their father slap her around, come and go as he pleases, spend his money on tricks instead of food. You don’t offset that with sports programs, Dr. Mira. That woman took the life of a stranger, the life of a good man, the man who offered her children hope. She did that rather than walk away.

  “So yeah, I guess I do feel for her. I feel disgust. I’ve got no qualms about putting her away. I just want to make damn sure I put Ava Anders away with her.”

  “Eve.” Mira put a hand on Eve’s arm as Eve started to step out. “There’s a difference between weak and evil.”

  “Yeah, but there’s sure a lot of overlap.”

  Eve entered Interview. “Record on. Dallas, Lieutenant Eve, and Baxter, Detective David, in Interview with Custer, Suzanne, in the matter of the murder of Custer, Ned, case number HC-20913, and any and all related events or crimes. Detective, have you read Mrs. Custer her rights?”

  “No, Lieutenant.”

  “Do so. For the record.”

  He sighed. “Yes, sir. It’s a formality, Mrs. Custer. You have the right to remain silent.”

  Fear widened Suzanne’s eyes, quickened her breath as Baxter recited the Revised Miranda. Eve took a seat at the table, slumped back. “Do you understand your rights and obligations in this matter?” she demanded.

  “Yes, but—”

  “Here’s something that strikes me, Suzanne. It just seems so damn handy that you’d be sitting at home trying to tag your cheating shitbag of a husband on his ’link while some unidentified hooker’s slitting his throat. What, were you going to ask him to bring home a jug of soy milk?”

  “No. He was late. I just wanted to—”

  “He was late a lot, wasn’t he? Did you whine on his voice mail every time he was late?”

  “No, but—he promised. He promised he wouldn’t be. I said I’d leave him if he didn’t stop.”

  “You were never going to leave him.” Eve allowed some of the disgust to eke into her voice. “You didn’t have the guts for that. And now you don’t have to. Instead he’s gone, and you’ve got that nice life insurance policy, the pension.”

  “Come on, Lieutenant, ease off a little.”

  She scorched Baxter with a look. “You’ve eased off plenty for both of us. Did you find some sap like the detective here to do it for you, Suzanne? Cozy yourself up to some guy who doesn’t slap you around, feels sorry for you. So he does this—” Eve pulled out a crime scene photo, tossed it onto the table. “So you can be free.”

  “No.” Suzanne closed her eyes rather than look at the photo. “I didn’t want another man. I just wanted my husband to be a good man, a good father. My kids deserve a good home, a good father.”

  “The money you’ve got coming in now, you can get them out of that rattrap. Where are you taking them, Suzanne?”

  “I don’t know. I thought, I think, maybe south, maybe down to Arkansas with my sister. Out of the city. Away. I can’t think about it yet. Somewhere else, for a fresh start. There’s nothing wrong with that.” She looked imploringly at Baxter. “Nothing wrong with wanting a fresh start with my kids.”

  “Of course not. It’s been rough on you here. Rough for a long time. It’d be good for the kids to get out of the city, somewhere with a lot of green. Anders has sports programs all over the country.”

  She winced at the Anders name, looked away. “If I could get them in a good school, down south somewhere, the schools have teams. They have sports.”

  “Are you going to give up the freebies?” Eve demanded. “The free equipment, camps, programs, the mom retreats. It’s been a pretty good deal for you, hasn’t it?” Eve flipped open a file. “You had a few nice vacations here, on the Anderses’ dime, didn’t you?”

  “Seminars, and—and support groups.”

  “Yeah, Thomas Anders gave you and your kids plenty. Too bad about him, huh?” Eve tossed another photo down, one of Thomas Anders dead in his bed.

  Suzanne jerked away, dropped her head between her knees and gagged.

  “Jesus, Lieutenant! Hey, hey,” Baxter laid a hand on Suzanne’s back. “Take it easy. Take it slow. Let me get you some water.”

  “Let her puke.” Eve shoved out of her chair, then dropped down, pushing Suzanne’s head back until their eyes met. “Did it make you sick to do it? Did it curdle your guts to strip off his nice, neat pajamas, tie his hands and feet? Did your hands shake like they are now when you wrapped the rope around his neck? He didn’t give you any trouble, you saw to that. Put him under so you wouldn’t have to see the look in his eyes when he choked.”

  “No.” Her eyes wheeled like an animal’s with its leg snapped in a trap. “I don’t want to be here. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You still screwed it up. You didn’t tie the rope tight enough, so it took him a long time to die. You didn’t do it the way she told you. She was so specific, but you couldn’t pull it off. Not like she did with Ned. Quick, clean, done. You got messy, you got weak. It looks like she’ll walk, and you’ll spend the rest of your life in a cage. An off-planet cage. You’ll never see your kids again.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Detective Baxter, please make her stop.”

  “For God’s sake, Dallas, let her breathe. Suzanne. Suzanne.” He eased down to sit on the edge of the table, took Suzanne’s trembling hand, looked into her eyes. “We know it was Ava’s idea. All of it. We know she planned it. If you tell us everything, all of it, maybe we can help you.”

  “No, no. You’re trying to trick me. You’re trying to make me say things. She said you’d—”

  “She said we’d try to block you in?” Eve finished. “She was right about that. But she told you we’d try to block you in on Ned’s murder and you were clear there. Nothing to worry about there. She didn’t figure this, did she? Neither of you figured this. I know what you did.”

  Eve shoved Baxter aside, shoved her face into Suzanne’s. “I know you killed Thomas A. Anders. The man who paid for the equipment your kids are wearing right now. You selfish, heartless bitch.”

  “That’s crazy. I didn’t even know him. A person doesn’t kill someone she doesn’t even know.”

  “That’s what she told you? They’ll never suspect. She was wrong again, wasn’t she? Her mistakes, all her mistakes, and I’m going to make you pay for every one of them. I’m going to put you in a cage, Suzanne. Look at me!”

  With one violent yank, she dragged Suzanne’s chair around. “I’m going to put you in, and she can’t stop me. She won’t try because you’re useless to her now. She’ll cry for the cameras and laugh behind closed doors because you’re too stupid to help yourself. And your kids? It’ll be strangers raising them now.”

  “No. Please. God.”

&n
bsp; “Lieutenant, come on. Give her a second. Suzanne. You need to tell us everything. If you cooperate, I can help you. I’ll talk to the PA.” Baxter reached down, squeezed her hand. “Maybe she pressured you or threatened you. Blackmailed you. Maybe you felt you didn’t have a choice.”

  “I’m compiling evidence against her right now,” Eve broke in. “When I have enough, she’ll be in here. She’ll be the one turning on you. If she flips first, she’ll get the deal. Personally, I want both of you to live the rest of your miserable lives in an off-planet cage. You’ve got one minute. One to change my mind. After that, I’m done. You’re booked, murder in the first, and your kids are gone.”

  “Please don’t, please! You don’t understand.”

  “No, you don’t understand, you weak, pathetic excuse for a human being. I know what you did. I know how you did it. I know why you did it. And you’ve got one shot to put it out your way or I’ll personally toss you in that cage and lock it.”

  “Lieutenant, Lieutenant, give her a chance. Give her a minute. Help us understand,” Baxter said to Suzanne. “I want to understand, so I can help you.”

  “I didn’t think it was going to be real!” Suzanne burst out. “I didn’t think it was real. And then it was. I didn’t know what else to do. She said I had to.”

  “Spit it out,” Eve snapped. “Who said you had to what?”

  Suzanne closed her eyes again. “Ava said I had to kill her husband because she’d killed mine. Just like we agreed.” Suzanne laid her head down on the table. “I’m so tired. I’m so tired now.”

  21

  EVE STEPPED OUT TO CALL CHER REO, AND TO give Baxter a few moments to help Suzanne compose herself. She flicked a glance over as Mira slipped out of Observation. Mira walked by, stopped at Vending, and ordered three waters, and a Pepsi for Eve.

  After finishing her conversation, Eve tucked her ’link back in her pocket, took the tube. “Thanks. PA’s willing to deal for the bigger fish. Ava’s a much bigger fish. A big, splashy one.”

  “And Suzanne is nothing and no one, comparatively. She killed, Eve, there’s no disputing it. But she was used.”