Memory in Death (In Death #22)(34)

"Well, cheer up, I won't be. Peabody'll handle it."

"Won't that be delightful?" He took her arms, turned her so they were toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye. "I want you to tell me—I want you to look at me and tell me, right now, if you believe I put hands on her."

"No." There was no hesitation. "It's not your style, and if you'd lost it enough to jump out of character, you'd have told me already. The fact is, it's my style, and I'll be putting her visit to me in my report."

He swore. "Bloody bitch is as much trouble dead as she was alive. Don't give me that look. I won't be lighting a candle for her. You would, in your way. Because for better or worse, she's yours now, and you'll stand for her because you can't do otherwise."

He continued to hold her arms, and now ran his hands lightly up and down. "I'll come with you now, and have it done."

"Crappy way to spend a Sunday."

"Wouldn't be the first," he said and opened the car door.

* * *

At Central, Peabody set up in one of the interview rooms. Her movements were a little jerky, and her eyes stayed down.

"Relax," Roarke advised. "I believe it's traditional for the subject to be nervous rather than the investigator."

"It's awkward. It's just a formality." Peabody looked up. "It sucks. It's a sucky formality."

"Hopefully, it'll be quick and painless for both of us."

"You ready?"

"Go ahead."

She had to clear her throat, but read the data into record. "Sir, we understand you're here voluntarily, and we appreciate your cooperation with this investigation."

"Whatever I can do..." He shifted his gaze to the long mirror, to indicate he knew very well Eve was observing from the other side. "For the department."

"You were acquainted with Trudy Lombard."

"Not really. I had the occasion to meet her once, when she requested a meeting with me, at my office, this past Friday."

"Why did you agree to meet her?"

"Curiosity. I was aware that my wife was briefly in her charge many years ago."

"Ms. Lombard was Lieutenant Dallas's foster mother for a five-and-a-half-month period in 2036."

"That was my understanding."

"Were you aware that Ms. Lombard had made contact with the lieutenant at her office in this facility this past Thursday?"

"I was."

"And how would you describe the lieutenant's reaction to that contact?"

"As her business."

When Peabody opened her mouth, shut it again, he shrugged. "My wife had no desire to renew the relationship. Her memory of that time was unhappy, and I believe she preferred to keep it in the past."

"But you agreed to meet with Ms. Lombard, at your office in Mid-town."

"Yes, as I said, I was curious." His gaze tracked to the mirror again, and, he was sure, met Eve's.

"I wondered what she wanted."

"What was it she wanted?"

"Money, naturally. Her initial pitch was to play on my sympathy, to enlist me to help her soften the lieutenant. Her claim was that my wife was mistaken in her feelings toward her, and her memory of that portion of her life."

He paused, looked at Peabody, and nearly smiled. "As the lieutenant is, as you know, rarely mistaken on such matters, I didn't find the woman's claims credible, and wasn't sympathetic. I suggested that she leave things as they were."

"But she wanted you to pay her?"

"Yes. Two million dollars was the suggestion. She would go back to Texas for that amount. She was unhappy when I informed her that I had no intention of paying her any amount, at any time."

"Did she threaten you in some way?"

"She was no threat, to me or mine. She was an irritant at worst. A kind of leech, you could say, who'd hoped to suck a bit of blood out of what was a difficult time in my wife's childhood."

"Did you consider her request for money blackmail?"

Tricky area, Roarke thought. "She may have hoped I'd see it that way—I can't say. For myself, I considered it ridiculous, and nothing that I, or the lieutenant, should concern ourselves with."

"It didn't make you angry? Somebody comes into your office, tries to hose you down? It'd tick me off."

He smiled at her, wished he could tell her she was doing a good job of it. "To be frank, Detective, I'd expected her to try me. It seemed the most logical reason for her contacting the lieutenant after all these years."

He leaned back in his chair. "Angry? No. On the contrary, I got some satisfaction out of the meeting, by letting her know, unmistakably, that there would be no payment. Now or ever."

"How did you make that clear?"

"By telling her just that. We spoke in my office for perhaps ten minutes, and I sent her on her way. I requested that my admin inform Security, to make certain she'd left the building. Oh, there's a record of her entering and exiting the building, and my office. Standard security measures. I took it upon myself to contact Captain Feeney of EDD, and ask that he personally retrieve those discs so that you have them for your files. I thought that would be best."