Immortal in Death (In Death #3)(17)

“The victim attacked you?”

“She popped me one,” Mavis said ruefully, fingering the bruise on her cheek. “She started out just being bitchy. The way her eyes were wheeling around in her head, I figured she was pumped.”

“You believe she was using illegals.”

“Big time. I mean her eyes were like crystal wheels, and that punch. I tangled with her before, you saw it,” Mavis went on while Eve winced. “She didn’t have that kind of power before.”

“You hit her back?”

“I think I got one in, at least one. She scratched me — those damn nails of hers. I went for her hair. I think it was Justin Young and the suit that pulled us apart.”

“And then?”

“I guess we spit at each other for a couple of minutes, then I left. Went bar crawling.”

“Where did you go? How long did you stay?”

“I went a couple of places. I think I hit the ZigZag first, the joint over on Sixty-first and Lex.”

“Did you speak to anyone?”

“I didn’t want to talk to anyone. My face hurt, and I was feeling lousy. I ordered a Triple Zombie and sulked.”

“How’d you pay for it?”

“I think… Yeah, I think I just entered my credit account on screen.”

Good. There’d be a record, time, place. “From there, where did you go?”

“I walked around, bumped into another couple of dives. I was pretty blitzed.”

“Were you still ordering drinks?”

“I must have been. I was pretty drunk when I thought about going over to Leonardo’s.”

“How’d you get downtown?”

“I walked. I needed to sober up a little, so I walked. Took a glide a couple of times, but mostly hoofed.”

Hoping to spark some memory, Eve repeated all the information Mavis had just given. “When you left the ZigZag, which direction did you walk?”

“I’d just had two Triple Zombies. I wasn’t walking, I was stumbling. I don’t know which way. Dallas, I don’t know the name of the other joints I went into, what else I drank. It’s all a blur. Music, people laughing… a table dancer.”

“Male or female?”

“A guy. Hung, with a tattoo, I think. Could have been paint. Pretty sure it was a snake, maybe a lizard.”

“What did he look like, the table dancer?”

“Shit, Dallas, I never looked above the waist.”

“Did you talk to him?”

Mavis put her head in her hands and struggled to bring it back. Holding onto the memory was like trying to hold a fistful of water. “I just don’t know. I was seriously impaired. I remember walking and walking. Getting to Leonardo’s, thinking it was the last time I was going to see him. I didn’t want to be drunk when I did, so I took some Sober Up before I went in. Then I found her, and it was a lot worse than being drunk.”

“What was the first thing you saw when you walked in?”

“Blood. Lots of blood. Things knocked over, ripped, more blood. I was so afraid that Leonardo had hurt himself, and I ran back to his work area, and saw her.” This was a memory she could bring back with perfect clarity. “I saw her. I recognized her because of the hair, and because she was wearing the same outfit as she’d had on earlier. But her face… it really wasn’t even there at all. I couldn’t scream. I knelt down beside her. I don’t know what I thought I could do, but I had to do something. Then something hit me, and when I woke up, I called you.”

“Did you see anyone as you were going into the building, on the street outside?”

“No. It was late.”

“Tell me about the security camera.”

“It was broken. Sometimes street punks get a charge out of bashing them. I didn’t think anything of it.”

“How did you get into the apartment?”

“The door wasn’t locked. I just walked in.”

“And Pandora was dead when you got there? You didn’t speak with her, argue?”

“No, I told you. She was lying there.”

“You’d fought with her earlier, twice. Did you fight with her tonight in Leonardo’s apartment?”

“No. She was dead. Dallas — “

“Why did you fight with her on the previous occasions?”

“She threatened to ruin Leonardo’s career.” Emotions flickered over Mavis’s bruised face. Hurt, fear, grief. “She wouldn’t let him go. We were in love, but she wouldn’t let him go. You saw the way she was, Dallas.”

“Leonardo and his career are very important to you.”

“I love him,” Mavis said quietly.

“You’d do anything to protect him, to see that he wasn’t harmed, personally or professionally.”

“I’d decided to get out of his life,” Mavis stated with a dignity that warmed Eve. “She’d have hurt him otherwise, and I couldn’t let that happen.”

“She couldn’t hurt him, or you, if she was dead.”

“I didn’t kill her.”

“You went to her home, argued, she hit you and you fought. You left and got drunk. You made your way to Leonardo’s apartment, found her there. Maybe you argued again, maybe she attacked you again. You defended yourself, and things got out of hand.”