Strangers in Death (In Death #26)(49)

Not a street whore. Not even one pumped up on illegals. Too prepared, too vicious. A whore wants to roll a mark, maybe she sticks him, but more likely she gets herself a zapper off the black market, immobilizes and cops his money and jewelry. Walks away.

Custer was dead before he walked in that room, he just didn’t know it. Would anyone have done? she wondered. Or was it target specific?

She dug deeper, shooting out a message for Baxter and Trueheart to report to her when they came on shift. And she made her own notes.

She grunted at the tap on her doorjamb, then glanced up at Trueheart in his spotless uniform. “You wanted to see me, Lieutenant.”

“Yeah. Where’s Baxter?”

“He’s not in yet. I, um, try to get in a little before shift when I can, to look over yesterday’s work.”

“Uh-huh.” Eager beaver, she mused. Young but steady, with a good eye. And he’d lost a lot of the green he’d had on him when she’d first seen him on scooper detail. “I’ve been looking over the Custer murder book. You and Baxter were thorough. How many cases have you caught since?”

“Nine,” he said immediately. “Two open. Plus Custer, so that’s three open.”

“What’s your take on this one?”

“The vic led a dangerous kind of life, Lieutenant. He cruised the bars and the red lights, picked up his dates from low-level LCs. We talked to a lot of working girls and found a couple who remembered him. They, ah, said he liked it fast and rough—and ah, cheap.”

“I see that. You covered the area of the crime scene, did the door to doors, hit the bars, the working girls.”

“Nobody remembers who he went off with that night, other than a couple saying he might’ve been hooked up with a redhead. Short, straight hair—or short curly hair, depending on the wit. You know how it is.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s not the kind of area where people remember. The guy working the desk on the flop said maybe he’d seen her before, maybe not, but he’s pretty sure about the hair that night. He’s on the red, short, straight side.”

She’d read all this in the book, but let Trueheart wind it out.

“One thing he swears on is she didn’t come back down. If he didn’t check them off when they came down, how could he turn the room? He gets paid on the turn. So he swears she didn’t come back by the desk, and you can’t get out the front without going by the desk. The fire escape was engaged. She had to go out through the window and down. And the scene, it was full of prints and DNA, fiber, hair. It’s not the kind of place where housekeeping’s a priority. We ran everything, interviewed everyone when we could find a match and locate the individual. Nobody stands out.”

She started to speak, held off as Baxter hurried up to join his aide. “This about Custer?”

“I’ve reviewed the book. It’s a thorough investigation so far.”

“Without a single suspect.”

“You’re not looking at the wife.”

“She’s alibied up, Dallas, literally on her house ’link trying to reach the vic when he was being sliced. Trueheart and I were the ones to notify. She wasn’t faking her reaction.”

“No like crimes before or after, not following this pattern. It smells target specific.”

“Yeah, it does.”

“So who benefits?”

Baxter raked his fingers through his hair. “Okay, the wife gets rid of a guy who cheats and may be bringing home an all-you-can-eat buffet of STDs, and who tunes her up when the whim strikes. She comes into a pension and life insurance policy through his employment. Not princely, but solid. But she wasn’t there, that’s a fact. The vic wasn’t going to go into that flop with his wife when he hunted strange. And he’d’ve recognized her. She’s three inches over five feet so she’s not tall enough or strong enough to have made the cut.”

“Maybe she knew somebody who was. A relative, a friend, somebody who thought she was better off with the cheating, heavy-handed husband dead. And she is.”

“She’s got a sister down in Arkansas, a father doing a dime on assault with intent down there, and who used to knock his wife around. Her mother’s in New Jersey, but believe me, she couldn’t have pulled this off either. As for friends, she doesn’t have anybody she’s tight with. Sure as hell not tight enough to slit her husband’s throat for her.”

“A boyfriend. The killer skews tall and strong for a female.”

“Working a team.” Baxter’s eyes changed as he considered. “Guy’s already in the bathroom, she brings the mark in…Then why doesn’t she just go out the front? Why—”

“Lots of whys,” Eve interrupted. “Who says he went up there with a woman?”

Trueheart cleared his throat. “Um, everybody, sir.”

“And did everybody see the killer’s plumbing? You’ve seen enough trannies, Baxter, to know how pretty they are when they’re on the stroll. If you’re not looking close enough, if you’ve had a few brews under your belt, a guy could find a big surprise when he reaches into the box. Everybody sees a woman, so you’re looking for a woman.”

“And don’t I feel stupid,” Baxter mumbled. “I never made the lateral move to male possibility.”