Echoes in Death (In Death #44)(43)

“Let’s sit down, Rosa. I’ll get you some tea.”

“Tea would be good. I’d like some tea.” Rosa sat, rubbed her wedding ring. “I don’t want to say it all again. I don’t want to say again what he did.”

“Okay. I’d like to ask you if, looking back now, there was anyone who made you feel uncomfortable. Anyone who said or did anything, however minor, you felt inappropriate?”

“No. I answered that before. It wasn’t someone I knew.” She said it quickly, almost desperately. “It was a stranger.”

“Mrs. Patrick, there are similarities in all three attacks. Not only what was done, but who it was done to. We believe there’s a reason for that.”

“The second couple, they—they were older than we are, and married longer. And they didn’t live in our neighborhood or…”

“Mrs. Patrick.” Peabody interrupted gently. “We see a pattern, and that’s a good thing. That’s something we can use to identify him, to stop him, to put him away where he can’t hurt anyone else. If we can help you see the pattern we do, you might think of something that gives us another piece.”

“I didn’t know him. His face was white, like the dead, and his eyes were black, and the light in the room was dim and gray.”

She took the tea Neville brought her, but the cup rattled in the saucer, and she set it down.

“We’re not going to ask you about the specifics of the attack,” Eve told her. “The pattern, as my partner pointed out, is important. It’s what we want you to think about. It may be someone you met in passing, or your husband met, someone who did some work for you, or was involved with one of your projects, your charities. As far as we can ascertain, you were the first couple attacked. We need to figure out why. Why you were first, how you were targeted.”

“Sometimes a man might flirt a little, but nothing like you mean. It’s like—you know, Neville—Boris always asks when I’m going to leave you and run away with him. Boris is gay. He’s just being charming. And Micah, he’s one of the show runners for At Sea, he used to say we should be each other’s hall pass. That means…”

“I know,” Eve said.

“He doesn’t say it now, after this.” Pausing, she pressed her lips together, hard. “People act differently now. But Micah, I mean to say, has been with Kate for ten years. They have two children. He’s just flirting. Or was.”

“I love that show.” Peabody smiled. “At Sea. It always makes me laugh, and sometimes a laugh is the best part of a day. Does he work here, in the building?”

“He’s been with At Sea since the beginning. He works here and at home.”

“What about people who perform, who do makeup, costumes?”

“I know everyone who works in the studio.” Neville sat beside Rosa. “Rosa knows most.”

“Anyone you’ve had to let go in the last year?”

“No one. There are some who come on, of course, for a specific production, and that’s a limited time frame. We’re relatively small, privately owned. It’s almost a family at the core.”

“Mrs. Patrick, you’ve used Jacko’s Catering, correct?”

“On Screen’s used them, and I recommended them to a friend who was in charge of that area for a fund-raiser. She used them personally after that.”

“How long ago did you recommend them?”

“Last year, I think … Yes, it would’ve been around this time last year for a fund-raiser we were doing in March. She had food and beverage, I was flowers and decor. They were very good, and she used them for a dinner party later. We—I—we haven’t done much socializing since the summer, so I can’t say if she’s used them again.”

“How about Loan Star Rentals?”

“Several committees I’ve been on use Loan Star. They’re reliable and have a diverse catalog. I don’t understand.”

“It’s details, that’s all,” Eve said easily. “Every detail can matter. Could I have the name of the friend who worked with Jacko’s?”

“Marlene Dressler.”

“Did you have much interaction with the staff of either company?”

“Some, but Marlene’s so efficient. And the rental company, I wouldn’t have been in charge there, either. I’d have helped with the setup if I was around. You think someone from one of those vendors—”

“We’re going to look at everything, everyone. St. Andrew’s Hospital.”

“I chaired a committee for two of their fund-raisers, and have served on the committee for others.”

“Who did you work with, from the hospital?”

“Oh, the first was more than two years ago.” As she rubbed her temple, Rosa looked a little lost. “At least two. I don’t— Wait, I do remember. It was for the pediatric wing. I worked with Daphne Strazza. Her husband’s a surgeon there. I liked her so much.”

“So you’ve kept in touch?” Eve prompted.

“Actually, no. We had lunch a couple of times, then, well, she could never make it. Then Neville and I got engaged, and there were wedding plans, and finding a home. We lost contact.”

“Happens,” Eve said. “You haven’t seen or spoken to her in a while?”