Imitation in Death (In Death #17)(95)

"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 carried Mr. 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 see Mrs. Renquist."

"Mrs. Renquist isn't at home, Nor is she expected to be until this evening."

Eve looked 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?"

Stevens looked 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 after Eve 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 when Eve 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 leave Jed 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 beard the media reports on the attack early this morning. Guy pulled a Bundy. What I 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 two A.M.?"

"At home, asleep. I knocked off work about midnight. 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 to Peabody.

"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 some how manage to break your face."

He continued to rock while he studied Eve. "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 short cuts."

Now he looked at Peabody. "Nailed her, didn't I?"