by J. D. Robb
“No.”
“Look different.” He poured coffee while she rolled her eyes. “Found our snake tattoo. Mavis hit Ground Zero at about two, bought herself a Screamer and a table dancer. Talked to the guy myself last night after I bounced to it. He remembers her. Said she was way out of orbit, and chugging them back. He offered her a list of accepted services, but she passed and staggered out.”
Feeney sighed, sat. “If she crawled into any other clubs, she didn’t use credit. I’ve got nothing after her totaling out from Ground Zero at two forty-five.”
“Where’s Ground Zero?”
“About six blocks from the murder scene. She’d been moving steadily down and across town from the time she left Pandora and walked into ZigZag. She went into five other clubs between, Screamers all the way, mostly triples. I don’t know how she stayed on her feet.”
“Six blocks,” Dallas murmured. “Thirty minutes before the murder.”
“I’m sorry, kid. It doesn’t make it look any better for her. Now, the security discs. Leonardo’s scanner was busted up at ten on the night in question. Lots of complaints about kids whacking outside cameras in that area, so it’s likely that’s how it went down. Pandora’s security was turned off using the code. No fiddling, no sabotage. Whoever went in knew how to get in.”
“Knew her, knew the setup.”
“Had to,” Feeney agreed. “I can’t find any blips on the discs from Justin Young’s building security. I’ve got them going in about one thirty, and her going out again at ten or twelve the next day. Nothing in between. But . . .” He paused for effect. “He’s got a back door.”
“What?”
“Domestic entrance, through the kitchen to a freight elevator. No security on the freight. It goes to six other floors and the garage. Now, the garage has security, and so do the other floors. But . . .” Another pause. “You can also take it to the rear utility, ground floor. The maintenance area, and security’s very spotty there.”
“Could they have gotten out unobserved?”
“Could have.” Feeney slurped coffee. “If they knew the building, the system, and if they were careful to time the exit to avoid the sweep in maintenance.”
“Could put a different light on their alibis. Bless you, Feeney.”
“Yeah, well. Send money. Or just give me these muffins.”
“They’re yours. I think we’ll have to talk to our young lovers again. We’ve got some interesting players here. Justin Young used to sleep with Pandora and is now intimately involved with Jerry Fitzgerald who is one of Pandora’s associates and her top rival for queen of the runway. Both Fitzgerald and Pandora are after a screen career. Enter Redford, producer. He’s interested in working with Fitzgerald, has worked with Young, and is sleeping with Pandora. All four of these people are partying at Pandora’s, at her invitation on the night she’s killed. Now, why would she want them there, her rival, her ex-lover, and the producer?”
“She liked drama,” Peabody put in. “She enjoyed friction.”
“Yeah, true. She also liked causing discomfort. I wonder if she had something she wanted to rub their faces in. They were all very calm in interview,” she recalled. “Very composed, very easy. Let’s see if we can shake them up.”
Eve glanced over as the panel between her offices and Roarke’s slid open.
“It wasn’t secured,” he said as he stopped on the threshold. “I’m interrupting.”
“It’s all right. We just need to finish up.”
“Hey, Roarke.” Feeney toasted him with a muffin. “Ready to strap on the old ball and chain? Just a joke,” he muttered when Eve scalded him with a look.
“I think I’ll continue to hobble along well enough.” He glanced at Peabody, lifted a brow.
“Sorry. Officer Peabody, Roarke.”
At Eve’s introduction, he smiled, crossed the room. “The efficient Officer Peabody. It’s a pleasure.”
Struggling not to goggle, she accepted the hand he offered. “Nice to meet you.”
“If I could steal the lieutenant for just a moment, I’ll get out of your way.” He laid a hand on Eve’s shoulder, squeezed. When she rose to go with him, Feeney snorted.
“You’re going to swallow your tongue, Peabody. Why is it just because a man’s got the face of a devil and the body of a god, women get all glassy-eyed?”
“It’s hormonal,” Peabody muttered, but she continued to watch Roarke and Eve. She’d developed an interest in relationship games recently.
“How are you?” Roarke asked.
“I’m fine.”
He cupped Eve’s chin, dipped his thumb lightly in its dent. “I believe you’re working at it. I have some meetings in midtown this morning, but I thought you’d want this.” He handed her a card, one of his own, with a name and address scrawled on the back. “It’s the off planet expert you asked about. She’ll make time for whatever you need. She already has the sample you gave to me, but would like another. Cross-testing, I believe she called it.”
“Thanks.” Eve slipped the card into her pocket. “Really.”
“The reports from Starlight Station—”
“Starlight Station?” It took her a moment. “Christ, I forgot I asked you. My mind’s not cued.”
“It has a great deal to do just now. In any case, my sources tell me Pandora did quite a bit of socializing this last trip—which is usual. There didn’t seem to be anyone in particular she was interested in. At least not for more than one night.”
“Shit, is it always sex?”
“With her it was a priority.” He smiled when Eve’s eyes narrowed and speculated. “And, as I said before, our short liaison was a long time ago. She did, however, make a number of calls, all on her pocket ’link. She never used the resort’s system.”
“No outside record,” Eve mused.
“That would be my take. She was on assignment, and did her job with her usual flair. There’s some talk about the way she bragged about a new product she was going to endorse, and a video.”
Eve grunted and filed the data away. “I appreciate the time.”
“Always happy to support our local police. We have an appointment with the florist at three. Can you make it?”
She shuffled obligations in her head. “If you can squeeze it in, so can I.”
Not willing to risk it, he took her logbook out of her pocket and programmed the appointment himself. “I’ll see you there.” He lowered his head, watched her eyes shift toward the table across the room. “I doubt this will diminish your authority,” he murmured, then pressed his lips softly to hers. “I love you.”
“Yeah, well.” She cleared her throat. “Okay.”
“Poetry.” Amused, he skimmed a hand through her hair, kissed her again to fluster her. “Officer Peabody, Feeney.” With a nod, he stepped back into his office. The panel slid shut behind him.
“Wipe that stupid grin off your face, Feeney. I’ve got a drop-off for you.” She pulled the card back out of her pocket as she went back to the table. “I need you to take a sample of the powder we took from Boomer’s to this flora expert. Roarke’s cleared it. She’s not a police and security attaché, so keep it low profile.”
“Can do.”
“I’ll be checking in with her later today on her progress. Peabody, you’re with me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Peabody waited until she was in Eve’s car before she spoke. “I guess it’s a lot of work for a cop to juggle personal relationships.”
“Tell me about it.” Grill suspect, lie to commanding officer, hassle lab tech. Order bridal bouquet. Jesus.
“But if you’re steady, you know, careful, it doesn’t have to bog down your career.”
“If you ask me, cops are a bad bet. But what do I know?” In a nervous rhythm, she tapped her fingers on the wheel. “Feeney’s been married since the dawn of time. The commander has a happy home. Others do it.” She blew out a breath. “I’m working on it.” It struck her as she drove through the gate
s. “You got a personal thing going, Peabody?”
“Maybe. I’m thinking about it.” She rubbed her hands on her pants, linked them, pulled them apart.
“Anybody I know?”
“Actually.” Peabody shifted her feet. “It’s Casto.”
“Casto?” Eve headed crosstown to Ninth, swung around a commuter tram. “No shit. When did this happen?”
“Well, I ran into him last night. That is, I caught him shadowing me, so—”
“Shadowing you?” Quickly, Eve rammed the car to auto. It shuddered, whined, then chugged. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“He’s got a good nose. He sniffed out we were digging at a lead. I was pretty steamed when I tagged him, then I had to admit, I’d have done the same thing.”
Eve tapped her fingers on the wheel, thought about it. “Yeah, so would I. Did he try to pump you?”
Peabody flushed deep red, stuttered.
“Jesus, Peabody, I didn’t mean—”
“I know, I know. I’m not used to this, Dallas. I mean I like men, sure.” She brushed at her bangs, checked the collar of her stiff uniform shirt. “I’ve been around some, but men like Casto—you know, like Roarke.”
“They fry the circuits.”
“Yeah.” It was a relief to be able to lay it out to someone who would understand. “He did try to slide some data out of me, but he took it well enough when I wouldn’t give. He knows the route. The chief says interdepartmental cooperation, and we pretty much ignore it.”
“You think he’s got something of his own?”
“He might. He made the rounds at the club just like I did. That’s how I tagged him first. Then, when I left, he followed me. I led him around for awhile, just to see what he’d do.” Her smile spread. “And I backtracked him. You should have seen his face when I came up behind him and he knew he’d been nailed.”
“Good work.”
“We got into it a little. Territory, and all that. Then we, well, we had a drink, agreed to put the cop routine on hold. It was nice. We have a lot of common ground, outside the job. Music and films and stuff. Hell, oh Jesus, I slept with him.”
“Oh.”
“I know it was stupid. But, well, I did.”
Eve waited a moment. “So, how was it?”
“Wow.”
“That good, huh?”
“Then this morning, he said maybe we could have dinner or something.”
“So, it sounds pretty normal to me.”
Sober-eyed again, Peabody shook her head. “Guys like that aren’t attracted to me. I know he’s got a thing for you—”
Eve’s hand shot up. “Hold on, playback.”
“Come on, Dallas, you know he does. He’s attracted to you. He admires your skill, your mind. Your legs.”
“You’re not going to tell me you and Casto discussed my legs.”
“No, but your mind came up. Anyway, I don’t know if I should take this any farther. I’ve got to concentrate on my career, and he’s steeped in his. When this case is resolved, we’ll lose the connection.”
Hadn’t Eve thought the same when Roarke had hit her between the eyes? It should have been true. It usually was. “You’re attracted to him, you like him, you find him interesting to be around.”
“Sure.”
“And the sex was good.”
“The sex was incredible.”
“Then, as your superior, Peabody, my advice is, go for it.”
Peabody smiled a little, then looked out the window. “Maybe I’ll think about it.”
chapter fourteen
Eve was pleased with her timing. She clocked into Cop Central at 9:55, went directly to Interview. By avoiding her office, she avoided any messages from Commander Whitney demanding her presence. She hoped by the time she had to face him, she’d have the buffer of new information.
Redford was prompt, she had to give him that. And he was as sleek and unruffled as he’d been the first time she’d seen him.
“Lieutenant, I hope this won’t take long. It’s a very inconvenient time.”
“Then we’ll get started right away. Have a seat.” She closed and secured the door behind her.
Interview wasn’t the most pleasant of atmospheres. It wasn’t meant to be. The conference table was small, the chairs hard, the walls unadorned. The mirror was obviously two-way glass and meant to intimidate. She went directly to her recorder, engaged, and recited the necessary data.
“Mr. Redford, you are entitled to counsel or a representative at Interview.”
“Are you reading me my rights, Lieutenant?”
“If you request I do so, I’ll oblige. You are not charged, but you are entitled to counsel when being questioned in a formal interview. Do you wish counsel?”
“Not at this time.” He flicked a speck of lint from his sleeve. Gold winked at his wrist in the form of a cuff bracelet. “I’m more than willing to cooperate with this investigation, as I’ve proven by coming here today.”
“I’d like to replay your previous statement so that you have the opportunity to add, delete, or change any portions thereof.” She slipped the labeled disc into the slot. With mild impatience in his eyes, Redford listened.
“Do you wish to stand by that statement, as given?”
“Yes, it’s as accurate as I can remember.”
“Very well.” Eve replaced the disc and folded her hands. “You and the victim were sexual partners.”
“That’s correct.”
“This was not an exclusive arrangement.”
“Not at all. Neither of us wished it to be.”
“Did you on the night of the murder engage with the victim in the use of illegals?”
“No.”
“Did you, at any other time, engage with the victim in the use of illegals?”
He smiled. When he angled his head, she caught more gold, threaded through the sleek queue twisting to his shoulder blades. “No. I didn’t share Pandora’s affection for substances.”
“Did you have the victim’s security code for her town house in New York?”
“Her security code.” His brow furrowed. “I might have it. Probably.” For the first time he appeared uneasy. Eve could all but see his mind weighing his answer and the consequences. “I imagine she gave it to me at one time or another to simplify matters when I visited her.” Composed again, he took out his notebook, keyed in data. “Yes, I have it here.”
“Did you use her code to gain access to her home on the night of her murder?”
“A domestic let me in. There wasn’t any need for it.”
“No, there wouldn’t have been. Before her murder. Are you aware that her security code also engages and disengages her video system?”
Caution flickered in his eyes again. “I’m not sure I follow you.”
“With the code, which you state is in your possession, the outside security camera can be deactivated. That camera was deactivated for a period of approximately one hour after the murder. During that period, Mr. Redford, you state you were at your club. Alone. During that period, someone who knew the victim, who was in possession of her code, who was aware of the workings of her home and security, deactivated the system, entered the house, and it would seem, took something from the house.”
“I would have no reason to do any of those things. I was at my club, Lieutenant. I keyed in and out.”
“A member can key in and out without ever going in.” She watched his face harden. “You saw an ornate, possibly Chinese antique box, from which you state the victim took a substance and ingested it. You further state that she then locked the box away in the vanity of her bedroom. This box has not been found. Are you sure this box existed?”
There was ice now, but beneath it, just around the edges of it, she thought she caught something else. Not panic, not yet. But wariness, and worry.
“Are you certain the box you described existed, Mr. Redford?”
“I saw it.”
“And the key?”
“No chain or key was recovered on the body or at the scene.”
“Then it would follow that the murderer took it, wouldn’t it, Lieutenant?”
“Did she wear the key openly?”
“No, she—” He stopped, the muscles in his jaw twitching. “Very good, Lieutenant. As far as I am aware, she wore it under her clothes. But, as I have stated, I am not the only one who was invited to see Pandora without clothing.”
“Why were you paying her?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Over the past eighteen months, you transferred over three hundred thousand dollars into the victim’s credit accounts. Why?”
His eyes went blank, but Eve saw, for the first time, fear behind them. “Certainly what I do with my money is my own business.”
“No, it’s not. Not when it’s murder. Was she blackmailing you?”
“That’s absurd.”
“Plays for me. She had something on you, something dangerous, embarrassing, something she enjoyed holding over you. She nibbled away, demanding little payments here and there, and some not so little. I imagine she was the type to flaunt that kind of power, to enjoy it. A man could get tired of that. A man could begin to realize there was only one way to end it. It wasn’t the money, really, was it, Mr. Redford? It was the power, the control, and that enjoyment she rubbed in your face.”
His breathing deepened raggedly, but his face remained still. “I would say that Pandora was not above blackmail, Lieutenant. But she had nothing on me, and I would not tolerate threats.”
“What would you do about them?”
“A man in my position can afford to ignore quite a bit. In my business, success is much more important than gossip.”
“Then why did you pay her? For sex?”
“That’s insulting.”
“No, I suppose a man in your position wouldn’t have to pay for sex. Still, it might add a certain twist to the excitement. Do you ever frequent the Down and Dirty Club on the East End?”
“I don’t frequent the East End, and I certainly don’t frequent a second-rate sex club.”