Chapter19

A call to Renquist’s office netted her the information that he’d been called out of town, and would be unavailable for the next two days. She went through the formality of making an appointment upon his return, then drove to his house.

The housekeeper gave her the same information.

“You see him leave? You personally?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You watch him walk out the door with his suitcase?”

“I fail to see the relevance of such a question, but as it happens, I carriedMr. Renquist’s luggage to the car myself.”

“Where’d he go?”

“I’m not privy to that information, and would not be free to divulge it if I were.Mr. Renquist’s duties often require travel.”

“I bet. I’d like to seeMrs.Renquist.”

“Mrs.Renquistisn’t at home. Nor is she expected to be until this evening.”

Evelooked past her, into the house. She’d have given a month’s pay for a search warrant.

“Let me ask you something, Jeeves.”

She winced. “Stevens.”

“Stevens. When did the boss get this call to duty?”

“I believe he made the arrangements very early this morning.”

“How’d he find out he was hitting the trail?”

“Excuse me?”

“A transmission come in, a call, a private messenger whiz by, what?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know.”

“Some housekeeper you are. How’d his eyes look this morning?”

Stevenslooked perplexed, then simply annoyed. “Lieutenant,Mr. Renquist’s eyes are not my concern nor yours. Good day.”

She thought about booting the door open when it started to shut in her face, but decided it was a waste of energy.

“Peabody, start the EDD troops doing a search to find out where Renquist went, and how he’s getting there.”

“I guess he’s the one.”

“Why?”

It was Peabody’s turn to look perplexed and she hurried afterEve to the vehicle. “He’s molesting the nanny. He and his wife lied about him being home all morning on Sunday. He’s got a private, locked room in his house, and this morning, he’s conveniently called out of town.”

“So you cross off Fortney, just like that.Peabody, you’re an investigative slut.”

“But it all fits.”

“You can fit it this way, too. He’s molesting the nanny because he’s a royal shit and a perv. His wife’s not putting out, and he’s got a young, pretty girl in the house who’s afraid to say no. They lied because they’re both royal shits who don’t want to be hassled by the police, and saying he was home is more convenient. He’s got a locked home office because he’s got staff who might poke into sensitive material, and a kid he doesn’t want bothering him when he’s working. He’s called out of town this morning because his line of work demands he get up and go when the call comes.”

“Well, hell.”

“If you don’t think it from both ends, you don’t get the right answers. Now let’s see how Breen holds up in formal interview.”

– -«»--«»--«»--

He was waiting, examining the one-way glass whenEve stepped into Interview Room B. He turned, and sent her one of his boyish smiles.

“I know I should be pissed off, and yelling lawyer, but this is just iced.”

“Happy to entertain you.”

“I had to leaveJed with a neighbor though. I don’t trust the droid when I’m not in the house. So I hope this isn’t going to take too long.”

“Then sit down, and let’s get started.”

“Sure.”

She engaged the recorder, recited the case data, and the Revised Miranda. “Do you understand your rights and obligations,Mr.Breen?”

“Oh yeah. Look, I heard the media reports on the attack early this morning.Guy pulled a Bundy. What do you think-”

“Why don’t you let me ask the questions,Tom?”

“Sorry. Habit.” He flashed a grin.

“Where were you this morning at twoA.M.?”

“At home, asleep. I knocked off work aboutmidnight. By two, I was sawing them off.”

“Was your wife at home?”

“Sure. Sawing them off right beside me, but in a delicate, ladylike manner.”

“You think you get points for witty remarks in here,Tom?”

“Can’t hurt.”

Saying nothing,Eve shifted her gaze toPeabody.

“Well, yeah,”Peabody responded. “If you piss her off, it can hurt. Trust me.”

“Are you going to do the good cop/bad cop gambit?” He rocked back in his chair, balancing it casually on its back legs. “I’ve studied all the basic interrogation techniques. I can never figure out why that one works. I mean, come on, it’s the oldest one in the books.”

“No, the oldest one in the books is where I take you into a private room and during our little chat you trip and somehow manage to break your face.”

He continued to rock while he studiedEve. “I don’t think so. You’ve got an attitude for sure, and some innate violent tendencies, but you don’t pound on suspects. Too much integrity. You’re a good cop.”

He spoke earnestly now, obviously high on his own intellect and intuition. “The kind that digs in and doesn’t let go because you believe. More than anything else you believe in the spirit of the law, maybe not the letter, but the spirit. Maybe you take shortcuts now and then, stuff that doesn’t find its way into your official reports, but you’re careful about the lines-the ones you cross, the ones you don’t. And beating confessions out of suspects isn’t one of your shortcuts.”

Now he looked at Peabody. “Nailed her, didn’t I?”

“Mr. Breen, you couldn’t nail the lieutenant if you made the attempt your life’s work. She’s beyond your scope.”

“Oh, come on.” He gave an irritated little twist of his lips. “You just don’t want to admit I’m as good at this sort of game as you are. Listen, when you study murder, you don’t just study murderers, you study cops.”

“And victims?” Eve put in.

“Sure, and victims.”

“All that studying, researching, analyzing, writing… that would hone your observational skills, wouldn’t it?”

“Writers are born observers. It’s what we do.”

“So when you’re writing about crime, you’re writing about who committed it, who it happened to, who investigated it, and so on. In essence, you’re writing about people. You know people.”

“That’s right.”

“An observant guy like you, you’d pick up on nuances, on habits, on what people think, how they behave, what they do.”

“Right again.”

“So, being so observant, so in tune with human nature and behavior, you wouldn’t have missed the fact that your wife’s out having chick sex while you’re at home playing horsey with your kid.”

That wiped the smug look off his face as if she’d hit a delete button. What replaced it was the shock that turned the skin shiny white before the heat of humiliation and rage bloomed.

“You’ve got no right to say something like that.”

“Come on, Tom, your amazing powers of observation haven’t failed you inside your own little castle where a man is king. You know what she’s been up to. Or maybe I should say down on.”

“Shut up.”

“It’s gotta be a pisser, doesn’t it?” Shaking her head, Eve rose, strolled around the table to lean over his shoulder, to speak directly in his ear. “She doesn’t even have the courtesy to fuck another guy while you’re home playing mommy. What does that say about you, Tom? The sex was so boring she decided to see what it was like in the other end of the pool? Doesn’t say much for your equipment, does it?”

“I said shut up! I don’t have to listen to this kind of crap.”

Fists balled, he pushed up from the chair. Eve shoved him down again. “Yeah, you do. Your wife wasn’t at a meeting the night Jacie Wooton was slaughtered. She was with her lover, her female lover. You know that, don’t you, Tom? You know she’s been sneaking off, cheating on you for nearly two years. How do you feel about that, Tom? How does it feel to know she wants another woman, loves another woman, gives herself to another woman while you’re raising the son you made together, keeping the house together, being more of a wife than she ever was?”