The In Death Christmas Collection

by J. D. Robb

  “I couldn’t find anything that said other than he can be a jerk, but he’s pretty much a law-abiding professional with some skill in his chosen field.” Peabody lifted her shoulder. “I couldn’t find any real dings.”

  “It doesn’t mean they’re not there. Pack it in for the night.”

  “Are you?”

  “Pretty much. I think I’ll swing by the Schuberts on the way home, poke at the husband a little. I might get another angle.”

  She tilted her head when she heard the oncoming prancing she recognized as McNab.

  He bopped into her doorway. “Hey, Dallas. Peabody, you off or on?”

  “Just going off.”

  “Me, too. We can go home together. I got some data from your vic’s home mini, LT. I’d’ve had it earlier, but I got pulled off on a hot one. Just got back to this a couple hours ago.”

  He offered Eve a disc.

  “Report?”

  “What’s interesting is the accounting program I dug out. It doesn’t list names – just initials – but I did a quick cross with his client list, and there’s plenty that match. Some repeats, some one-offs. And he lists amounts. It would look up-and-up if I didn’t know what Peabody told me about how he took some clients for a ride between the sheets – at a cost. He’s listed them as private massage or trainer or consults. Initials, dates, fees, and what I’m thinking is a rating system.”

  “Rating?” Eve repeated.

  “Hey, some guys are shits. He qualifies. He’s got some rated with stars. One to three. I figure he rated the clients on, you know, performance.”

  “Scumfuck,” Peabody muttered.

  “Wouldn’t say otherwise.” Then he leaned in, whispered something in Peabody’s ear that made her flush and giggle.

  “You just said some crap about there not being enough stars, or something equally full of it.”

  McNab only grinned. “What can I say? I’m a romantic, not a scumfuck.”

  “Go home, get out, scram. Both of you.”

  “See you tomorrow. Party!” Peabody did a quick jig in her pink boots, then dashed.

  Alone, Eve turned the disc in her hand. It would wait, she thought, until home.

  It wasn’t much of a detour, and Eve wanted to tie off, or at least shorten, as many loose ends as she could manage before the party, the weekend, the whole crazy Christmas extravaganza sucked up any time for work and reality.

  Once she parked, she joined the sidewalk traffic – those headed home, those headed out, those hauling shopping bags and likely on a self-imposed forced march to another retail outlet where they could accumulate more shopping bags.

  Thank tiny birthday Jesus she was done with that part.

  The Schubert townhouse sat within spitting distance of Martella’s sister’s brownstone. Still, the relatively short distance put it in a more active section where Eve imagined street artists set up during the day, and the snug outdoor spaces a few restaurants boasted likely did yeoman’s duty in good weather.

  An actual human voice responded to Eve when she buzzed at the door.

  “May I help you?”

  “Lieutenant Eve Dallas, NYPSD, to speak with Martella or Lance Schubert.”

  “One moment please, Lieutenant.”

  It took hardly more before a woman with toffee-colored skin and icy blue eyes opened the door. She wore her golden brown hair in dozens of thin braids all gathered into a tail, and made simple black pants and white shirt look glamorous.

  “Please come in, Lieutenant. I’m Catiana Dubois, Mrs. Schubert’s social secretary. May I take your coat?”

  “I’ve got it.”

  “If you’ll come with me.” She led the way left through the foyer – everything bright and fresh with those tall-stemmed red flowers Eve couldn’t remember the name of grouped together in abundance on a long table – into a spacious sitting room with more bright and fresh in bold colors, silvery trim, and a tiny fireplace simmering in the wall.

  The tree centered in the window. Angels flew on its branches and shimmered in its tiny white lights. Under it, elegantly wrapped gifts, artistically arranged, added more color.

  “The Schuberts will be right down. Can I offer you something? Coffee or tea – or hot cider?”

  The cider sounded tempting, but she hoped to make it quick. “No, thanks.”

  “Please sit, be comfortable. It’s a lovely picture, isn’t it?” Catiana said as she noticed Eve studying the image of Martella in miles of frothy bridal white caught in the arms of a striking man in formal black.

  “Great-looking couple.”

  “They are. And still very much like the newlyweds you see there. Lieutenant, I don’t know if it’s appropriate or necessary, but I’d like to tell you I knew Trey Ziegler. Not well,” she added quickly when Eve turned to her. “Part of my benefits is a membership to Buff Bodies. I didn’t work with Mr. Ziegler. I don’t use a trainer, but I attend some classes when I can juggle them in, and I often use the facilities in the early morning or after work. So I knew him, a little.”

  “Did you ever sleep with him?”

  Catiana winced. “You’re direct. But I suppose that’s best. No. He didn’t appeal to me in that way, which from what I sensed was the exception rather than the rule. I didn’t like him, and I didn’t like that he hit on me – subtly, but unmistakably. Maybe someone else would have taken his offer of a free trial as a trainer as a courtesy, or a way to drum up business, but to me, it felt too… suggestive. I can’t say he crossed any lines, but he brushed awfully close to them – for me. And when he brushed too close for my personal comfort, I told him to piss off.”

  “You’re direct.”

  Catiana smiled. “I can be. I tried to be both firm and discreet, but I thought I should tell you in case I wasn’t as discreet as I assumed. He didn’t like my reaction, and when one of the women I often took a class with asked me out – and my reaction was surprise, she was embarrassed, and told me the word was I preferred women. It happens I don’t, and it was easy to trace the rumor’s source.”

  “To Ziegler.”

  “Yes. I let it go. It didn’t matter to me. I wasn’t looking to start any sort of romantic or sexual relationship at my gym, so it didn’t matter. And he left me alone. I assume he believed the only reason I turned him down was because I was inclined toward women. But then…”

  She trailed off as Martella and her husband came in.

  “I don’t want to hold you up. Can I get you anything before I go?” she asked Martella.

  “Why don’t you finish it off?” Eve looked at Catiana, then her employers. “Any problem with that?”

  “You’re telling her?” Martella asked. “You should tell her all of it. Tell her, Cate.”

  “All right, thanks. I’d rather finish it off. I wouldn’t have thought anything – or not much of anything of it, Lieutenant, but after… In brief, a couple weeks ago the man I’ve been seeing for a while stopped by the gym. I was meeting him for breakfast between class and work, but he came in just as I was coming out of the locker room. I guess it was obvious we’re involved as several people asked me about him the next time I went in.”

  “They’re still at the glow stage,” Martella said. “It’s sweet.”

  “It’s still new,” Catiana said. “I had a massage booked that week, end of the day, with my usual therapist. But when they called me out of the relaxation room into the massage room, Ziegler was there. He said Lola – my usual – wasn’t available, so he was doing my massage. He offered me some tea. I declined, and I said I’d reschedule.”

  “Why?”

  “Bottom line?” She moved her shoulders in an elegant sort of shrug. “I didn’t want his hands on me, it was as simple as that. So I walked out, got dressed, went home. That was a couple days before he was killed. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, just an annoyance, but…”

  “I told her everything.” Martella groped for her husband’s hand. “I told Catiana and Lance everything about what happened, about
what you found out. About… He was going to do it to her. You said when you contacted me this morning, he’d put something in the tea.”

  Lance Schubert, just as striking as his wedding photo, drew his wife close to his side. His eyes, hard as stone, held Eve’s. “That’s rape. It’s no different from sexual assault.”

  “No, it’s not,” Eve said.

  “If he hadn’t made my skin crawl – and it was as simple and as visceral as that – I’d have gone ahead with the massage.”

  Catiana rubbed her arms, then sighed, leaned in a little when Lance put an arm around her in turn.

  “I’d have tried the tea. When Martella told me, I realized he wasn’t just annoying, wasn’t just someone who made me feel uncomfortable. He was a predator. I don’t want to get in the way of what you’re here to talk about, but I thought I should tell you.”

  “I appreciate that you did. It was his pattern, and your instincts were good. Walking out kept you from being another victim.”

  “I didn’t walk out. I let him in. I’m so sorry, Lance.”

  “Stop.” He angled to press his lips to Martella’s hair. “Stop.”

  “I’ll leave you to talk,” Catiana began.

  “Stay, please. Can she stay?” Martella asked Eve. “I’ve told her all of it, then she told me. It helps a little.”

  “It’s up to you.”

  “Why don’t we sit? Let’s all sit down.” Lance led his wife to the sofa, kept her hand in his.

  “Mr. Schubert, you’re aware that the deceased, Trey Ziegler, administered an illegal substance to your wife, without her knowledge, and while she was under the influence of same, raped her.”

  Schubert’s smooth, handsome face hardened. “Yes.”

  “And when did you become aware of these circumstances?”

  “This afternoon. Catiana contacted me, told me I needed to come home as soon as possible. I came home – by one-thirty – and Tella told me what had happened.”

  “I thought I’d cheated.” Tears swirled in Martella’s eyes. “I thought I’d cheated on Lance, and I couldn’t understand how I could have. I tried to tell myself it was just an awful mistake, just sex, and at a weak moment, but it made me sick inside. Then you contacted me, and told me there’d been something in the tea, that he’d put something in the tea he’d given me, and…”

  “She fell apart,” Catiana said. “I was here, and when she got off the ’link, she went to pieces. She told me everything, and when she was calm enough, I told her what had happened with me. I gave her a soother and got in touch with Lance.”

  “You also worked with Ziegler,” Eve said to Schubert. “You had no indication prior to today of this incident with your wife?”

  “None. I wouldn’t have thought of it, considered it. I knew something was wrong. You’ve been trying too hard,” he murmured to Martella. “I knew there was something, but I never considered… If I had, if I’d known what he did, I’d have killed him.”

  “Lance!”

  “I’d have killed him,” he repeated, his voice stone cold, a mirror of his eyes. “I’d have beaten him to pulp with my own hands. I wish I could. She’s naive, kind, trusting,” he said to Eve. “He took advantage of all of that, and the fact that we’d had a stupid fight, and I went out of town on business before we’d resolved it. He raped my wife. I’d have gone after him, and I’d have beaten him into the ground for it.”

  “Did you go to his apartment?”

  “I don’t even know where it is. But I’d have found out. No,” he corrected, fury alive in every word. “No, I’d have gone to where he works, where he’s so proud of himself, where he preens and struts, and I’d have taken him apart, in public. Humiliated and hurt him, the way he humiliated and hurt my wife. He raped her, then he extorted money from her. I didn’t kill him, more’s the pity. But I’d shake the hand of the person who did.”

  “I should never have let him come here. I shouldn’t have —”

  “You’re not to blame.” Schubert turned his wife toward him, took her shoulders gently. “You’re not to blame for this, for any of it.” He drew Martella in, looked at Eve. “She’s not to blame.”

  “No,” Eve agreed, “she’s not. There were others, Martella. We’re finding a lot of others. They’re not to blame, either.”

  10

  She let it all circle in her mind on the drive home, hoping she’d find a solid place for a theory to land. But the ground remained too soft.

  Too many people, she thought, with too many motives. Alibis that she imagined could be toppled or at least shaken with enough of a push.

  Maybe it was the season of goodwill toward men – not that she’d found that ever held fast – but with Ziegler ill will seemed the primary emotion.

  And damn it, she felt some ill will of her own. She wanted to shut the door on the investigation – and the killer – tie it all up so she could enjoy the festivities, the holiday, the lights, the tree, the time with Roarke.

  Throughout her childhood Christmas had been empty or painful or just lacking. A day other kids rushed out of bed to tear off paper and ribbon and find shiny dreams realized.

  Until she’d been eight, her best gift had been if her father had been too drunk to knock her around. Or worse.

  And after she’d killed Richard Troy – to save herself from the “or worse” – she’d been no one’s child. A foster, an add-on, a token. Part of that was probably her own attitude, she admitted as she drove through the gates. But she’d had pretty bad luck in the system. State school had been bland and gray, but easier.

  But now, she had home – as bright and shiny as it got. She had Roarke, the epitome of all gifts. And for reasons that often baffled her, she had friends. More than she sometimes – most times – knew what to do with, but they’d added dimension to her life while she wasn’t looking.

  Thinking of her victim, of what he’d done to fill his own life, she found herself grateful for what she had.

  Even – when she walked in and saw him – Summerset.

  Sort of.

  The cat pranced over to her, jingling all the way. She supposed it had been Summerset who’d added the bow and bell to Galahad’s collar.

  She’d have said something snarky, but the cat appeared to enjoy the adornment.

  “The first team of decorators will be here at eight A.M. sharp,” Summerset informed her. “They’ll begin in the ballroom. A second team will arrive by ten to complete work on the terraces. Catering arrives at four in the afternoon, and waitstaff at six for a run-through. Other auxiliary staff will arrive by six-thirty.”

  “Okay.”

  “Your stylist will arrive by six, giving her ninety minutes to deal with you. You’ll be finished, prepared to greet guests at seven-fifty-five.”

  “I don’t want ninety minutes, for God’s sake, with Trina. Who needs ninety minutes to get ready for a party?”

  Eyebrows raised, Summerset looked down his nose.

  “The arrangements have been made. The schedule is set. The gifts you brought home are wrapped, labeled, and under the tree in the master suite. What you’ve had wrapped or are in the process of inexpertly wrapping for Roarke remain in the Blue Room.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “What were you doing in there?”

  “My duties. Do you want the rest of those gifts wrapped and brought down to the tree in the main parlor.”

  “I’ll do it.” Her back stiffened. “I know the rules. I’m supposed to do it. There’s still time. Just… stay out of there until I’m finished.”

  Flustered, she shot up the stairs with the belled cat jing-a-linging after her.

  She hadn’t forgotten Roarke’s gifts – God knew she’d squeezed her brain to putty to come up with things the richest man in the free world wouldn’t have and might want – but she’d mostly pushed aside the reality of wrapping them up.

  Now she had to do that, order decorators around, deal with Trina, make nice with a houseful of guests, and, oh yeah, close a murder case
.

  Maybe she could hire someone (not Summerset) to finish wrapping Roarke’s stuff. It wasn’t really cheating if she paid. People did it all the time, didn’t they?

  In fact, how did she know Roarke personally, physically wrapped up whatever he got her?

  Stewing over it, she marched into the bedroom where Roarke stood pulling on a steel-gray sweater.