Festive in Death (In Death #39)(110)

“So you got creative. You’re a creative guy. You dragged him onto the bed, got a knife out of his kitchen. You wrote a funny little message—you’re good at that, too—and you pinned it on his chest with the knife.”

“I didn’t do any of that.” His breathing shortened; sweat slicked his face. “That’s crazy. I was never there. I never went there. I want to talk to my lawyer. I demand to talk to my lawyer.”

“Peabody, get him some water. Take it down, JJ. Take it down before you end up in the Infirmary again. Believe me, I’ve got all the time in the world for this.”

“I don’t have anything more to say until I’ve talked to my lawyer.”

“No problem.”

She waited while Peabody brought in a cup of water.

His hand shook as he drank.

Eve stepped over to Peabody, spoke quietly. “Get a uniform to sit on him in case he has one of those fits again. Let’s find out what’s holding up the lawyer. We’ve got him on the ropes. We need to finish him off. I want to check something. Dallas, exiting Interview,” she said for the record.

Back in her office, she tried Felicity’s ’link. Her stomach clutched when an older woman answered.

“Yes?”

“This is Lieutenant Dallas, NYPSD. I need to speak with Felicity Prinze.”

“This is her mother. She’s not talking to you. You’re that friend of that Copley person.”

The muscles in Eve’s stomach loosened again at the use of present tense. “No, ma’am, I am not his friend. I have Copley in custody.”

“For what?”

“For murder.”

“Oh my God. Oh my God! My little girl.”

“Has she been harmed, ma’am?”

“No, no—not that way. But he hurt my little girl’s heart and soul. He killed his poor wife, didn’t he?”

Not for lack of trying, Eve thought. “Ma’am, I need to speak with your daughter. You’re welcome to stay with her while I do.”

“You can be sure I will. Chantal! Get your sister. Right now! She came home,” the woman said to Eve. “So I’m grateful for that. She came home because she found out he’d been lying to her, and using her. And I’ve been holding her ’link because he kept trying to reach her. Felicity, it’s that policewoman you told us about. She arrested that awful man.”

“Arrested! Mom, let me have the ’link. Hello, hello. I forgot your name.”

“It’s Dallas. Lieutenant Dallas. Felicity, did you see or speak to JJ Copley after we spoke?”

“I wouldn’t. I got thinking when you left. I’m not as stupid as people think.”

“Nobody thinks you’re stupid,” her mother said.

“He did. He thought I was stupid, and I was. But I started thinking, and I tagged up Sadie, and we talked.”

“That’s good.”

“And after I talked with Sadie, I did what he told me not to. I called his house. I got the housekeeper thing, and she said how she’d take a message because he wasn’t able to come to the ’link. So I said, Oh, he’s out of town, and the housekeeper thing said, No, he was in residence—that’s how she said it—but unable to come to the ’link, and she’d take the message. I just said never mind because I got upset. He lied to me. Did you know he lied to me?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, Felicity, I knew he lied to you.”

“It’s why you said I should talk to Sadie, and she said how I needed to find out for sure. So I did. I even went over there, to his house, and I watched, and I saw him. I saw him and his wife come out together and get in a car, and he wasn’t on a trip. They were laughing. She wasn’t being mean to him. He—he kissed her before they got in the car, and I knew it was all a lie. I came home. Am I in trouble?”

“Why would you be in trouble?”

“I took some of the clothes he bought me, and I used the credit card he got me to pay for the trip home. I didn’t have enough since I stopped working. I’ll pay it back.”

“Did he give you the clothes?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Did he give you the card to use?”

“He did.”

“Then you’re not in trouble.”

“I left him a memo cube. I said how I was leaving, and I wouldn’t have anything to do with somebody who lied and cheated like that, and made me a liar and a cheater, too. I’m not coming back, I don’t think. I think I don’t belong in New York. Did he do something really bad? Worse than lying and cheating?”

“It looks that way.”

“He was so nice to me, so I loved him. But it wasn’t real.”

“I may need to talk to you again, but I’m glad you went home. I’m glad you’re with your family.”

“Me, too. Um, Merry Christmas, Dallas.”

“Same to you.”

Eve clicked off, sat back, sorted through.

“Lawyer’s here,” Peabody said from the doorway.

“We’ll give them some time, then start again.”

22

Eve gave them an hour, taking the time to fine-tune her approach, then walked through the bullpen to get Peabody.