Devoted in Death (In Death #41)(84)

“I’ll come to you. Five minutes.”

She was prompt. In five minutes Eve heard the skinny-heeled boots clicking toward her office. When Mira stepped in, Eve held out a mug of the flowery tea Mira preferred.

“Oh, thank you! I can really use this.”

“Don’t sit in that chair. You know what it’s like.”

“Considering I’ve spent most of today on my feet, I’ll take yours. Thanks.” She sat, took a long, slow sip. “While not altogether careless, the conclusions reached previously on both victims are incorrect. Injuries were misinterpreted. Given the more limited experience and equipment in these cases, it’s not unreasonable to understand how those conclusions were arrived at.”

“In both cases, there were people – Banner and the second vic’s wife – pushing for further investigation. Those people were dismissed by the local authorities and the federal authorities.”

“Agreed, however, assessed from one angle, the victims appeared to have had accidental deaths. Regardless, they were murdered. DeWinter is writing the reports, on both, in minute detail.”

“I just bet.”

“She’s also requested the exhumation of Noah Paston’s remains, and their transfer to her.”

“I’m going to owe her that drink.”

Mira smiled. “And you’re busy and distracted by what’s happening now, so this doesn’t matter.”

Eve shook her head. “It does matter. Victims always matter, and I’m grateful you took the time to throw your weight on the pile. I’ll inform Agent Zweck of your conclusions, and tell him DeWinter’s report is forthcoming.”

She turned to her board, pointed at Parsens and James. “These people will pay for the two victims you gave your time and skill to today. And for Noah Paston. They’ll pay for all of them.

“They have a kid.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Stunned, Mira lowered her tea. “The killers have a child?”

“A baby. She had it while he was doing time for getting caught trying to steal her a ring. True love.”

“This changes things.” Shifting, Mira studied the board. “Having a child, taking a child on a killing spree across country —”

“No, she dumped it on her mother before they started. From the timing, she got pregnant on a conjugal while he was inside, had the kid before he got out. She went home with it, lied about how she got knocked up, played the I’m-turning-over-a-new-leaf card, then stole what she wanted, left the kid behind. The mother hasn’t heard from her since. That was back in June. James got out about six weeks later.”

“Is he aware she had his child?”

“She listed him as father on the birth certificate, which is how we knew about it. She named the girl Darra, and I figure Darryl, Darra.”

“Yes, I see.” Slowly, processing, Mira nodded. “She had the child – the physical proof of their love – but didn’t want it with them, didn’t feel what a mother would feel and didn’t want the child close. This is a kind of honeymoon for them.”

“Yeah, that occurred to me. I know her now. Having the kid served a purpose. It binds him to her even more, ties them together tight. It was – is – a vehicle, that’s all. If she felt it would be useful, she’d go back for it, but she doesn’t give the kid a single thought.”

Saying nothing, Mira nodded, sipped more tea.

Eve understood the silence perfectly.

“Stella had me because I served a purpose.” She said it flatly – it meant nothing now. “She had to tolerate having me around because I wasn’t old enough to serve the purpose she and Troy had in mind for me. She had something with Troy, then with McQueen, that this one has with James. Only Troy and McQueen were the dominants. I think Parsens runs the show here. She might not make it obvious, she might let James think he’s the big, strong man, but she’s calling the shots.”

“There are variables that may play in to the dominant/submissive dynamic between them.”

Eve shook her head. “I know her. She had the kid, dumped the kid. I’m betting she visited James in prison like clockwork. She waited for him, three and a half years. That’s not a small thing.”

“They see it as love. For them it is love. Once in a lifetime.”

“Yeah, and she’ll do whatever she thinks will keep him with her. He’s a romantic, so when we close in, he might sacrifice himself for her. He calls her his Juliet. He’s into Shakespeare.”

“And doesn’t understand that story was a tragedy, not a romance. He might, yes, die trying to protect her, but with this new information I think it’s unlikely they’d choose suicide. Or that she would. It’s not glory they’re after, or even the thrill of death. It’s love, a sexual bond heightened through sadism. To love, they need to live.”

“Factoring in what we know, and what we’re learning, do you think Campbell’s still alive?”

Now Mira’s gaze shifted to Campbell’s board image. “I think the probability of that is higher now than I would have estimated it this morning. How long that remains true… In any of their more urban murders, the bodies have been carelessly dumped, no attempt to conceal. I don’t see why they’d change that pattern now, here in New York, so until her body is found, she’s alive.”