by J. D. Robb
“Because?”
“Because I don’t have a sister. Do you think I wouldn’t find out? That he—my father—wouldn’t use it against me in some way? He’d—”
He broke off, and again Eve waited while he thought it through.
“You think my father sent her to Rod. To recruit him, to enlist him as a spy. To get close to me. That all this time, right from the beginning, Rod was my father’s dog?”
He pushed up from the table, walked to the two-way glass, and stared through his own image. “Yes, I see. I see how that could be, how he could and would orchestrate that. It doesn’t make this woman my blood. My sister. It just makes her another of Max Ricker’s tools.”
Peabody’s communicator signaled. She glanced at the text, nodded to Eve.
“We’ll be able to verify that shortly. If you’re being square with me on this, and if you were being square with me on wanting to know who killed Coltraine and why, you’ll do what I tell you now.”
“What are you telling me?”
“To stay here. It’s going to take some time to wrap this, and I want you inside.”
Alex continued to stare through the glass. “I’ve nowhere I have to be.”
Eve stepped out to the corridor to confer with Peabody. “Morris pulled it off.”
“McNab signals a go there. She left Coltraine’s. We’re on her, and she’s heading back to work. That’s a big plus as they’re not done at her apartment. I’m getting like a zillion signals during the Ricker interview. Her comp’s passcoded and it’s got a fail-safe. They’re bringing it in to Feeney. They haven’t found, as yet, a toss-away ’link.”
“She’d keep it with her. That’s what I’d do.”
“If she kept Coltraine’s ring, it’s not with her other jewelry. They haven’t found it yet. Callendar’s shuttle’s on schedule. Morris is taking the sample to the lab, personally.”
“Dickhead won’t mess with him,” Eve muttered, thinking of the chief lab tech. “Not with Morris. I want to pick her up, but we don’t have it. Not yet. Need the DNA, need the ring, the ’link. Any one of them would do it.”
“We could get her down here. Use the Sandy homicide with the Alex Ricker connection. We believe he’s responsible for both murders. We want to pick her brain, anything she might know, any take she might have. How we’re trying to put him away, but we’re hitting walls.”
“Not bad, Peabody. Make it happen. Set up a conference room away from Interview. I don’t want her running into Rouche when Callendar delivers him.”
She turned away to contact Baxter herself. “Why haven’t you found what I need?” she demanded.
“Working on it. We found a passcode. False bottom of her weapon’s lockbox. It’s a bank box. And before you tell me to contact Reo, I already did. We can’t stretch the warrant to the bank box. We need a separate warrant, and we don’t have enough for that.”
“Damn it.”
“Second that. There’s nothing here so far that doesn’t jibe with a cop’s life, a cop’s salary. No high-end electronics, jewelry, art. She’s got some pretty serious weaponry though. Six pieces over and above her departmental issue. A freaking army of knives. Not all under the legal limit either, but she’s got a collector’s license. We checked for prints, for blood. They’re showroom clean. She takes care of her tools.”
“Is there a stiletto?”
“Several. We culled them out for forensics.”
“Keep digging.”
She clicked off as Peabody came back. “Grady’s clearing it with her lieutenant. She’s juiced, I could see it. The idea of coming in and bailing us out, of finding a way to put the screws to Alex. She’s pumped.”
“Good. Keep on Dickhead, will you? But not enough to put his back up. I’m going to move Alex to one of the visitor rooms, put a babysitter with him. We’ll be working Grady, Rouche, and Zeban simultaneously, the way it’s panning. You take Zeban. He’s low rung, but that means he’s going to flip. He just helped out his drinking buddy, and now he’s in the soup. Work him quick and hard, Peabody. Scare the shit out of him.”
“Oh, boy, oh, boy.” Bouncing on her toes, Peabody rubbed her hands together. “Who’s juiced now?”
Eve moved Alex, arranged for Cleo to be taken straight to the conference room upon arrival.
She paced awhile as she worked out the best strategy. And was ready when she got word Detective Grady was in the house. She grabbed a mug of coffee, a file bag, and timed it so she swung into the conference room a few minutes after Peabody.
“Appreciate you coming down.” She kept her voice clipped, just a hair over into resentful.
“Not a problem for me,” Cleo assured her. “Everybody in the squad wanted a piece of this. Now we’ve got one. I hear you have the son of a bitch in holding.”
“For now. He’s got three lawyers with him and more on tap. I want to record this. Okay with you?”
“Sure.”
“Want some coffee, Detective?” Peabody asked.
“Sure. Thanks. I heard about the second murder. Rod Sandy? That’s on Ricker, too?”
“Has to be. Okay, this is the way it’s playing out.” All business now, cop to cop, Eve sat across from Cleo. “Ricker and Sandy kill Coltraine. Ricker does Sandy to put the first murder on him. Could work, but where’s Sandy’s motive? There’s no evidence of anything between Coltraine and Sandy. Sandy’s Ricker’s tool. Was. Like father like son,” Eve said with a shrug. “You use the tool until you’re done, then you break it so nobody else can. Ricker’s blood? It’s poison.”
Cleo only smiled. “That may be your opinion, but that’s not going to put Alex Ricker away for Ammy. If that’s all you’ve got, you’re not as good as everybody says you are.”
“I put the old man away.” Eve let anger—and some pride—punch through the words. “Nobody else ever did, or could. Don’t forget that. I’ll get his spawn, too. Count on it.”
“Then why do you need me?”
“You worked with her. Morris, he’s too close. I can’t get what I need out of him. Everything’s colored with emotion there. You worked with her, were friends with her. According to my partner, the fact you’re female adds another layer to that.”
“You said it yourself,” Peabody told Cleo, “women talk about things to each other. Maybe they don’t talk about those things even to guys they’re sleeping with. Plus, you were both cops.”
“She never mentioned Ricker to me, not by name. But like I already told you, she talked about a guy she’d been involved with. How they’d broken it off, and she’d come here.”
“She must’ve given you more than that,” Eve pressed. “Are you saying you never asked what happened? Nothing?”
“It was her business. Maybe I poked a little.” As if reluctant, Cleo hesitated, then sipped coffee. “I don’t know how it helps, not with a solid case, but she said a few things off and on. Like he had money, and she’d traveled with him some. It just wasn’t meant to be, and that kind of thing. She did say once he was too much like his father, but she didn’t get into it. I didn’t push because I didn’t know we were talking about Ricker, for God’s sake.”
She frowned a moment. Eve could all but see the wheels turning in her head. How much to add, how much to fabricate. “You know, I remember she said something about how he had this friend. How they were practically joined at the hip, and that was annoying. She said she’d have thought they had a love affair except he was too busy doing her.”
No, she didn’t, Eve thought. Coltraine wouldn’t have said that in a million.
“The friend didn’t like her,” Cleo added. “Tension there. Resented her. They had words at the end. He called her a cunt.”
Eve picked up her cue, narrowed her eyes. “You’re sure of that. That exact word?”
“Cunt cop, that’s what she said he said. Said it to her as she was walking out with stuff she had at the boyfriend’s place. She just kept walking. That was Ammy. No point in mixing it up when it was done, yo
u know? She was glad it was over, and that was that. She decided to transfer up here. That’s what she said.”
“But?” Eve prompted.
“I’ve gone over and over it, trying to read the nuances. Hindsight. I guess I’d have to say she was into Morris. She really cared about Morris. But she was still hung up on the guy back home. If I had to judge it, to judge her, I’d say if Ricker contacted her, made the play, she’d have gone for him. To him. He could’ve used her feelings to get at her.”
Eve started to speak, broke off when her communicator signaled. “Crap. Sorry. I have to handle this.”
“We can use some of this,” Peabody said as Eve walked out. “The nuances, like you said, to try to pressure Ricker.”
Keep it up, Peabody, Eve thought, and answered Morris’s signal.
“Dallas.”
“I’m at the lab. Cleo Grady is Max Ricker’s daughter. We’re doing a second test, but—”
“It’s all I need.”
“I’m coming in, Dallas. I need to be there when you take her.”
“I’ve got her now, working her now. She thinks she’s helping me nail Alex Ricker. I don’t want her to see you, Morris.”
“She won’t.”
He cut her off, so she contacted Baxter. “DNA’s confirmed. Contact Reo. I want a warrant for that bank box.”
She cut him off in turn, pulled out her ’link when it signaled. And her communicator beeped in her hand. She saw Roarke on the readout of the ’link, answered with a, “Hold it a damn minute,” then switched to the comm.
“Hey, Lieutenant! We are back on Planet Earth.”
“Get your ass in here, Callendar. Turn over your prisoners. Go home.”
“Affirmative to one and two. Negativo on three. Come on, Dallas, I want to see it through.”
“Your choice. Peabody will let you know which interview rooms. Nice work, Detective.”
“Fucking A.”
Eve ended the transmission, switched to ’link. “Yeah?”
“Busy girl.”
“Yeah, and I’ve been trying to fit in a manicure all day.”
“I had a meeting cancel, and have a bit of time on my hands. To echo Callendar, I’d like to see this through.”
“There’s going to be plenty to see here. If you really want to come down, maybe you could hang with Morris. Feeney’s on the electronics. Unless he decides he needs super-geek, I’d like Morris to have a friend nearby.”
“I can do that.”
Yes, he could, she thought. “Then get your ass in here.”
“Fucking A.”
She shoved her ’link back in her pocket, dragged her communicator out again to tag Feeney. “Any hit?”
“No attempt to contact the Ricker ’link.”
“I’ll give her more time to try to talk to Daddy.” Like a boxer before the big match, she rolled her shoulders. Then walked back into the conference room.
22
THE TRICK, EVE THOUGHT, WOULD BE TO PIT all the players against each other and take them all down. Timing would be essential. Too much time and Grady would get suspicious.
“You’re going to take Sisto and work Zeban. You’re in charge.”
“I love the ‘in charge’ part.” Peabody grinned happily. “What about Grady?”
“I’m going to handle her in a minute. Meanwhile, we need to give her time and space, enough for her to use if she wants to call her daddy for kudos or instructions. But . . . little brainstorm.” Eve contacted Feeney again.
“Don’t give me grief, kid. I can’t make the woman use the damn ’link. And as for the unit, McNab’s on it.”
“Here’s the thing. The civilian consultant’s coming in because he wants to play. But I want you to give him another assignment, in case she doesn’t use the ’link. You’ll need to clear it with Whitney, and Omega, but here’s what I have in mind.”
“I like it,” Feeney said when she’d run it through. “I like it just fine.”
“Can you make it work?”
“Kid, up here’s where the magic sits. We’ll work it.”
“Within the hour?”
“That’s pushing, but with the civilian we can shove it through.”
“Then, I’m going to set up down here. Beep me when you’ve got it.”
“It’s devious,” Peabody commented when Eve clicked off. “But how can you be sure they won’t, well, band together instead of turning on one another?”
“Because it’s who they are. Let’s go give Grady some busywork, and get this rolling.”
She walked back into the conference room, letting a little frustration show. “Sorry. I’m getting a lot of pressure to make an arrest on Coltraine. I’m going to work Ricker again, but he’s a hard nut. Listen, if I clear it with your lieutenant, can you hang with this? I’ve got some files I’d like you to look through, to see if you can add anything, or if something in them pops for you. I’ve got plenty of dots, but I need to connect them to hang this bastard.”
“I’ll clear it. My boss wants this wrapped up as much as the rest of us.”
“Great. Do you want to work with someone else from your squad? I can—”
“No, not yet anyway. I’ll take a look at the files. We’ll go from there.”
“Your call.” Eve pulled out discs. “If you want more eyes, just let me know. I appreciate this, Detective, appreciate you not holding back because I had to come at you and the rest of the squad in the first pass.”
“It’s the job.” She held out her hand for the discs. “Anything that takes that fucker down works for me.”
“Does this space suit you?”
“Coffee in the AC?”
“Sure.”
“Then I’m solid.”
“I’ll check back in with you as soon as I can. Peabody, with me.”
“What did you give her?” Peabody wanted to know when they headed down the corridor.
“Bullshit. Busywork. Enough to keep her occupied, enough to have her coming up with other little lies. Set up for Sisto and Zeban.” She spotted Reo heading in her direction. “Flip him, Peabody. Fast and hard.”
“This is the best day. Hey, Reo.”
Eve waited while Reo caught up. “Ricker’s daughter and my prime suspect is in the conference room. She thinks she’s helping me hang Alex. I’m going to put a couple uniforms on the door, just in case, but the room’s wired.”
“You wired the room? You—”
“I asked her, straight off, if she minded being recorded. She said no—on record. It’s slippery, but it’ll hold. Alex is in one of the visitor areas. I could spring him, he’s got nothing else to give me at this point. But I think he should stay for the finale. He’s a criminal, but he cared about Coltraine. His father, his sister, and his best friend tried to frame him—however casually—for her murder. I figure he’s entitled to the payoff.”
With her shorter legs and snappy heels, Reo hustled to keep up with Eve’s long, booted strides. “Which is?”
“Peabody’s going to flip Zeban on Rouche. I’m flipping Rouche on Ricker, which should include Sandy and possibly Grady. Then I’m going to get a confession out of Grady for Coltraine and Sandy, and flip her on her father.”
“Is that all?”
“They’re all connected. It’s going to fall like a house of dominoes.”
“I think that’s house of cards, maybe rows of dominoes.”
“Whichever, it’s coming down.” She paused by Vending, pulled out credits. “Get me a tube of Pepsi. I don’t want to interact with the damn machine. I’m on a roll here, and I’m not jinxing it.”
“You’ve got some strange habits, Dallas.”
Eve studied Reo’s high, elegant shoes while the APA ordered up the Pepsi. “I’m not the one wearing stilts. This show’s going to require a lot of hiking from one room to another. Your feet are going to cry like babies before it’s done.”
Eve drank, explained the setup. “I want Morris to observe—anything he wants to observe.
Mira wants to observe when I interview Grady.”
“I can take care of that. If your men find anything in the bank box, and I’m betting they will, you won’t need all the bells and whistles.”
“It’s not enough. Sure, that ring’s going to be in there and probably more to take Grady down, and that’s enough for the arrest. But it’s not enough payback, not on my scale. I promised Morris justice for Coltraine.” And, Eve supposed, she’d promised the same to a dead cop. “I’m going to get him every ounce of it.”
“If you pull this off, you’ll have made my job very easy.”
“I’m counting on you to do it.”
“Yo.” A very hollow-eyed Callendar bounced up. “Swig of that?” she said and snatched the tube out of Eve’s hand. Glugged some down. “Thanks.”
“Keep it.”
“Double thanks. Sisto hooked with the Peamiester. I’ve got your asshole in interview A as ordered.” She glugged down more Pepsi. “This shot ought to get me through observation while you fry his ass.”
“You’re not in observation. You’re taking him with me.”
“In interview?” Callendar’s tired eyes popped wide. “Hot shit, this is uptown and over the bridge.”
“You earned it.”
“I’ll get started on my end,” Reo said. “Good luck.”
“How’d you swing with this guy?”
“Kept it low and chill,” Callendar began. “I’m just the girl.” She fluttered her exhausted eyes. “He’s interested in my tits, but they all are. Who could blame?”
“Yes, they’re exceptional. Use them if it works.”
“He hasn’t said the L word yet, but he’s thinking about it. I can tell.”
“He can lawyer. It won’t matter. If he does, he won’t get the deal. I’m going to be mean. You can be shocked. Let’s go.”