by J. D. Robb
“Crime scene’s right behind me.”
“Take part of the team with you, have them start looking in a direct path from that scene to this for impressions in the grass. But don’t let anybody mess with that scene until I’ve seen it.”
“On that. Uniforms found her?”
“No.” Eve straightened now. “Celina Sanchez had another vision.”
Eve finished her exam of the body and the dump site, then walked to where Roarke stood, just behind the crime scene sensors Queeks had set up.
She’d remember that, she thought. Remember that Officer Queeks worked quick and quiet and didn’t annoy the primary with a lot of chatter and questions.
“You don’t have to wait.”
“I’ll wait,” Roarke said. “I’m in it now.”
“Guess you are. Well, come with me. You’ve got good eyes. Maybe you’ll spot something I miss.”
She took a wide circular route to the second scene. If he’d left impressions in the grass again, she didn’t want to disturb them.
She nodded to Queeks. “Good work. Where’s the rookie?”
“I got him out securing the entrances with a couple of the guys. He’s okay, Lieutenant, just green. Only been on the job three months, and this was his first body. It was a tough one, too. But he maintained until he was well away from the scene.”
“I’m not writing him up for hurling, Queeks. You see anything I should know about other than the body?”
“We came in the same entrance as you. Got one on all four sides. We headed south, intending to make a circle. Saw her pretty quick. Didn’t observe anyone else. Not in the park or on the street. We were just coming out of a double D on Varick when the call came through on this. Some street people out, some die-hard LC’s trolling, but no one that fit the description we were given.”
“How long have you worked in this sector?”
“About a dozen.”
“You know O’Hara’s?”
“Sure, Mick place down on Albany. Decent place, food’s tolerable.”
“What time does it close?”
“Two, earlier if it’s slow.”
“Okay. Thanks. Peabody?”
“Some blood. Some of the grass is ripped up, some’s tamped down. Got a couple of small scraps of cloth. Might be from an article of clothing.”
“I can see all that, Peabody. What do you see?”
“Well, I think he took her just inside the south entrance as she’d started in to cut across the park. Could’ve grabbed her outside, but more likely she cut in. He took her down here, assaulted, overpowered, tore some of her clothes in the struggle, though there’s no indication she put up much of a fight. Raped her here. I haven’t examined the body, but it looks like maybe she dug her fingers into the grass. As it appears to be the same MO as Maplewood, he would have strangled her at this point, taken her clothes, then carried her to the other location where he could pose her and remove her eyes.”
“Yeah, that’s what I see. Inside, though. She cut through, shortcut home. Patrols go by here regularly. Park stays pretty clean. Safe. He’d have to work fast, but that’s no problem for him. He’s got the routine knocked now. Time of death was oh two hundred, almost on the dot. First arrived two hundred twenty minutes. You factor in the time it took him to undress her, carry her, pose her, mutilate her, he cut it close this time.”
“He could’ve still been in the park when they arrived.”
Eve glanced back at Roarke, lifted her eyebrows.
“He could have heard them. Car pulls up, doors slam. He moves off, out of the lights, behind any number of trees. Wouldn’t he, if he could, enjoy watching her be discovered?”
“Yeah. Yeah, he would.”
“He’d only just finished with her. And wouldn’t he need a moment to pat himself on the back for the fine job he’d done?” Unable to help himself, Roarke glanced back to where Lily Napier lay on the bench. “He hears someone coming, and nips back. He’d kill them if he had to, that would be his thinking. But how gratifying it must have been to see cops find her, so quickly, so fresh, with him able to see. Then he’s out, the opposite direction, with a nice bonus to his evening.”
As she’d speculated along the exact same lines herself, she nodded. “You’re getting good at this. I want a thorough sweep of the entire park, every blade of grass, every flower petal, every tree.”
“He seals up, Lieutenant,” Peabody reminded her. “We don’t have his DNA, his blood type, his hair, nothing to match if they could find anything in an area this size.”
“He seals up.” Eve held out a hand, turned it over so the smears of blood shone in the light. “Me, too. We’re not looking for his DNA. We’re looking for hers.”
Again, she stepped back, but this time she gestured to Roarke. “Let’s take a little walk.”
“You’re hoping to be able to see his direction. Where he moved, how he moved.”
“Anything that adds a line to his picture’s good.” She needed to get away from cop eyes, from cop ears, and kept going until they were out of the park again, on the sidewalk. “I think, geographically, he’s closer to home here than he was with Maplewood. But it doesn’t matter to him. He’ll go where he needs to go.”
“And you didn’t come all the way out here to tell me that.”
“No. Look, there’s no point in you waiting. We’re going to be at this awhile, then I’ve got to go into Central.”
“Déjà vu.”
“Yeah. This guy likes night work.”
“You haven’t had more than an hour’s sleep.”
“I’ll catch some in my office.” She started to wipe her hand absently on her trousers, but he caught her wrist.
“Hold on.” He opened her field kit, took out a rag.
“Right.” Cleaning the blood off her hands, she stared back through the stone arch. The park was brilliant with light now. The sweepers, in their protective suits, moved through it like silent images on a screen. The media would pounce soon—they always did—and would have to be dealt with.
Before much longer, lights would go on in the windows of surrounding buildings. Some would glance out, see and wonder. Then civilians would have to be dealt with.
She was going to shut down the park. So the mayor would have to be dealt with.
The fun never quit.
“What’s on your mind, Lieutenant?”
“Too many things, and I’ve got to start lining them up. I’m going to be calling Celina into Central, get a detailed report of her . . . vision. I’m going to have a couple of soft-clothes cops escort her in. Eight hundred.”
She stuck her hands in her pockets, pulled them out again when she remembered she’d wiped off the blood but hadn’t cleaned off the sealant. “Here’s the thing.”
When she said nothing else, only continued to stare into the park, Roarke cocked his head. “And that thing would be?”
“She said she was home in bed when she contacted me. I’d just like to verify that, that’s all. Just like to nail that down.”
“You don’t believe her?”
“I don’t not believe her. I just want to verify, so it’s off my mind. So I don’t find myself wondering. That’s all.”
“And if someone could . . . gain access to her bedroom when she was elsewhere, check her ’link, you wouldn’t find yourself wondering.”
“Yes.” She looked at him then. “And I can’t believe I’m standing here asking you to commit a crime. I know if she was home in bed when she contacted me, she couldn’t have been here when the murder took place—not when she called minutes after Napier’s death. I could request a check of her ’link, send an e-man to her place with her permission, but—”
“It seems rude.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about seeming rude, but I do about making an ass of myself. I do about potentially alienating a valuable source.”
“Eight o’clock then.”
She was torn between relief and worry.
“Listen, I’ll contact you when she comes in. Just to make sure it’s clear. If you get caught—”
“Darling Eve.” There was a deliberate wealth of patience in his tone. “I love you more than life itself and have, I believe, demonstrated that regularly throughout our relationship. So I can’t understand why you persist in insulting me.”
“Me neither. Just in and out. Just the ’link. Don’t go poking around. If it checks out, don’t contact me. If it doesn’t, tag me on my personal.”
“Shouldn’t we have code words?”
She sent him a withering look as he grinned at her. “Yeah. Bite me.”
Laughing, he jerked her forward and did just that, giving her a quick nip on the chin before brushing his lips over hers. “I’ll find my own way home. Get a little sleep.”
Eve turned back toward the arch, back toward death, and didn’t see how she could.
Notifying next of kin was always hideous, but it was worse, somehow worse, when it had to be done in the middle of the night. She depressed the buzzer on an apartment on the Lower West Side and prepared to take a slice out of someone’s world.
There was a wait, long enough she was preparing to ring again when the intercom blinked on.
“Yes? What is it?”
“Police.” Eve held up her badge, stood with it in view of the peep. “We need to speak with Carleen Steeple.”
“It’s four in the fricking morning. What’s this about?”
“Sir, we need to come inside.”
The intercom clicked off, followed by an irritated rattle of chains and locks. The man who opened the door wore nothing but a pair of loose cotton pants and an annoyed expression. “What’s this about? Some of us are trying to sleep, and I don’t want you waking up the kids.”
“We’re sorry to disturb you, Mr. Steeple.” The brother-in-law, Eve thought, according to the data. “I’m Lieutenant Dallas. This is Detective Peabody. We need to speak to your wife.”
“Andy?” A woman with short, curly, sleep-ruffled hair poked her face out of a doorway. “What’s going on?”
“Cops. Look, we reported the illegals’ deals we saw, and the junkies roaming around in the broad fricking daylight. We did our civic duty, and don’t appreciate getting hassled in the middle of the night.”
“We’re not with Illegals, Mr. Steeple. Carleen Steeple?”
The woman eased out, tugging at the belt of a robe. “Yes.”
“Your sister is Lily Napier?”
“Yes.” There was a flicker over her face. That first dawning of fear. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m sorry to inform you, your sister’s dead.”
“No.” She said it quietly, the single sound on the verge of a question.
“Oh Jesus. Jesus.” Andy Steeple transformed from pissed-off man to concerned husband in a snap. He walked quickly to his wife, gathered her against him. “Oh, honey. What happened?” he asked Eve. “What happened to Lily?”
“No,” Carleen said again. Just: No.
“Can we sit down, Mr. Steeple?”
He gestured toward a seating area with comfortably worn chairs, a sofa cheerfully covered in bright, overblown flowers. “Come on, honey. Come on, sweetie.” With his arm around his wife, he led her to the sofa. “Let’s just sit down.”
“Daddy?” A little girl, all curls and sleepy eyes, padded into the room.
“Go back to bed, Kiki.”
“What’s wrong with Mommy?”
“Go on back to bed, baby. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“I’m thirsty.”
“Kiki—”
“Would you like me to take care of her?” Peabody asked.
“I . . .” He looked undone for a moment, then nodded.
“Hi, Kiki, I’m Dee.” Peabody walked over, took the little girl’s hand. “Why don’t we get a glass of water?”
“My partner’s good with kids,” Eve told him. “She’ll be fine.”
“Could there be a mistake?”
“No, sir.”
“An accident?” Carleen turned her face into her husband’s shoulder. “An accident?”
“No. Your sister was murdered.”
“Junkies,” Steeple said. Bitterly.
“No.” Eve studied Carleen’s face, the pallor, the tears, the plea in her eyes. “I know this is difficult. It’s going to get more so. It appears that your sister was attacked on her way home from work. In Memorial Park.”
“She always cut through the park.” Carleen groped for her husband’s hand. “It’s quicker. It’s safe.”
“A mugging?”
Get through it, Eve told herself. Get it done fast, so they don’t suffer in the speculation. “She was raped and strangled.”
“Lily?” Carleen’s teary eyes went huge in shock. “Lily?” She would have slid to the floor if her husband hadn’t held her. “No, no, no.”
“The city should be safe.” There were tears in Steeple’s eyes now as he rocked his wife. “A woman should be able to walk home from goddamn work and be safe.”
“Yes, sir. She should. We’re going to do everything we can to find who did this to her. We need your help. I need to ask you some questions.”
“Now?” He tightened his hold on his wife. “Can’t you see we’re grieving?”
“Mr. Steeple.” Eve leaned forward so he met her eyes, so he saw what was in them. “Did you care for your sister-in-law?”
“Of course I did. Jesus.”
“Do you want the man who did this to her punished?”
“Punished?” He spat out the word. “I want him dead.”
“I want to find him. I want to stop him. I will find him, and I will stop him. But with your help, I may be able to do it faster. I may be able to do it before he does this to someone else’s sister.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “Could you give us a minute? A minute alone?”
“Sure.”
“You could go in the kitchen over there.” He gestured.
Eve left them alone, walked into a galley-style kitchen with a bump out for eating. There were benches for seating covered by cushions with zigzagging patterns of yellows and blues. Yellow curtains with blue borders framed the windows. Place mats, she supposed you called them, lay on the table at each space, and matched the bench cushion.
Eve picked one up, fingering it.
“Lieutenant Dallas?” Steeple came to the doorway. “We’re ready now. I’m going to make some coffee. I think we could all use some.”
They sat in the living area, and with the little girl settled down, Peabody joined them. Carleen’s eyes were stark and damp, but she was making an effort to compose herself, Eve saw.
“Nothing about this is easy,” Eve began. “We’ll be as brief as possible so we can give you some privacy.”
“Can I see her?”
“Not at this time, no. I’m sorry. Your sister worked at O’Hara’s Bar and Grill?”
“Yes. Five years now. She liked it there. It’s a friendly place, and close to her apartment. She made good tips. She liked working nights and having most of her afternoons free.”
“Was she in a relationship?”
“Not right now. She dated some, but she’s been a little shy of men since the divorce.”
“And the ex-husband?”
“Rip? He’s remarried and lives in Vermont. I think, really, he was the love of her life, but she wasn’t his. Things just fell apart. It wasn’t ugly. It was just sad.”
“Don’t go looking at him for this.” Temper spiked in Steeple’s voice. “Some junkie maniac did this, and you waste time hassling a decent guy. A moron, but a decent guy, while the bastard who—”
“Andy.” With a muffled sob, Carleen gripped his hand. “Don’t. Just don’t.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. But whoever did this is out there running around right now, and we’re just sitting here. Next thing, she’s going to ask where I was, and shit like that. Oh, goddamn.” He lowered his head to his hands. “
Oh, goddamn.”
“The sooner questions are asked and answered, the sooner we can leave you alone. Do you know if anyone’s been bothering her?”
“No.” Carleen stroked her husband’s hair as she spoke. “Some of the guys at the bar tease her, but it’s not like that. She’s shy. Lily’s shy, but she’s comfortable there. They’re nice people. We go in sometimes. She never hurt anyone. I have to tell our parents. They live in South Carolina now. On a houseboat. They . . . how do I tell them Lily’s gone? How do we tell Kiki?”
“Don’t think about that yet,” Steeple said before Eve could speak. He lifted his head, appeared to have regained some composure. “One step at a time, sweetie. Is this like the other woman?” he asked Eve. “I saw it on the news. I saw you. Is this the same?”
“We’re pursuing that probability.”
“She was—”
Eve saw it in his eyes. Mutilated. But he stopped himself from saying the word, and drew his wife closer. “She was killed uptown.”
“Yes. Mrs. Steeple, did Lily do crafts?”
“Crafts? Lily?” A smile trembled onto her lips. “No. She didn’t like to play house, as she called it. It was part of the problem between her and Rip. He wanted a homebody, and Lily just wasn’t.”
“You have what look like handcrafted pieces in the other room.”
“Kiki’s room, too,” Peabody added. “It’s a lovely quilt on her bed.”
“That’s my work. When I got pregnant with Drew, our son, I decided—well, we decided,” she amended, linking her fingers with her husband’s, “that I’d try the professional mother route. I wanted to be able to stay home with the children. Then I realized, pretty quickly, I’d need something to do. I started quilting, then that expanded to needlepoint, macramé. I enjoy it.”
“Where do you get your supplies?”
“What does this have to do with Lily?”
“Mrs. Steeple, where do you get your craft supplies?”
“A number of places.” She named several on Eve’s list.
“Did Lily ever go with you, when you shopped for supplies?”
“Well, yes. We often shopped together, for a lot of things. She liked to shop, to spend time with me and the kids. We shopped together at least once a week.”