Forgotten in Death(81)

“I’ll tell him.”

“All righty then. Hold on a sec.”

The screen went to waiting blue; the audio to some drippy music.

It didn’t take long.

“This is Chief Wicker. What can I do for you, Lieutenant?”

No cowboy this one, Eve noted. He had a square face with a hard jawline that was tanned rather than ruddy. With skin that looked pampered to her. He wore his dark brown hair in a buzz cut, adding a military tone.

She could all but feel the starch in the collar of his tan uniform shirt.

“Chief Wicker, I have some difficult news regarding your ex-wife.”

“Genna?”

“No, sorry, I should have been more specific. Your first ex-wife. Alva Elliot.”

His brown eyes widened. “Alva. She took off for who knows where years ago. She’s in New York?”

“She was. I’m sorry to tell you she was killed, two nights ago.”

“I’ll be damned.”

No grief, no regret. Just what Eve saw as mild interest.

“I’ve got to tell you, Lieutenant, I figured she’d been dead years now. That Alva, she had a flighty nature. I’m real sorry to hear she’s passed on, but I don’t know why you’re notifying me. I wouldn’t be her next of kin.”

“I’ve notified her siblings, Chief. I want to say she didn’t simply pass on. She was murdered. I’m Homicide.”

That got his attention. Narrowed those eyes, stiffened those shoulders.

“How the hell’d she get herself murdered? If you’re doing some fishing here, looking at me—who hasn’t seen or heard from her since she took off—”

“The individual responsible for her murder is in custody. She was a witness to his illegal activity. As her former husband, as a police officer, I’m sure you’re satisfied justice is done.”

“Of course.”

“Of course,” she repeated. “I felt obliged to contact you, Chief, as during the course of our investigation we recovered a number of notebooks—handwritten notebooks.”

“She picked that up again?” Like a man pitying a wayward child, Wicker shook his head. “She had a strange habit of keeping those books—rule books—before we got married.”

“We recovered a considerable collection. I haven’t been able to read them all. Fortunately, the case broke quickly, so I’ve had no need. But as your name was mentioned in one I skimmed, I felt I should let you know.”

“I’m in there?”

“Some of them are dated during the period you were married. As I said, the case broke and the investigation ran in other, more immediate avenues, so there was no reason to read the older notebooks. While we’ll turn over the victim’s effects to her next of kin, I felt you might want to have those that applied to the years you and the victim were married.

“Just as a courtesy,” she added. “Cop to cop.”

“I appreciate that.” He pumped a little warmth into his voice. “She was young and foolish back in those days. But I loved her. She broke my heart when she took off that way. I’ve carried that a long time, to be honest about it. I’d like to have them, have that memory of her.”

“I understand. As a fellow police officer, you know this is a little irregular. Now that the case is closed, I expect the next of kin to make arrangements to transport the body and retrieve her personal effects. Still, I’m sure they’d agree to turn over the ones written during her marriage to you.”

She watched annoyance, then calculation come into his eyes.

“You’re talking about her siblings, I expect.”

“That’s right, Chief. Her brother and sister.”

“I’m not sure they would agree, to be honest. The fact is, a lot of blame got tossed around when Alva ran off and that caused some hard feelings on all sides. I’ve made peace with that, but … I’d like to have that part of Alva, those memories of her, to help put the rest of my heart at rest. If you could send them to me, I’d be grateful.”

“It’s one thing to hand them off to you, Chief. I can justify that. But to ship them out, well, I’d need to have a record of that, paperwork. My boss is a stickler.”

“How about I come to you then?”

“I know it’s a long way to travel.”

“She was my wife once. This is all I’ll have left of her. I can fly out there first thing in the morning, pick them up, then head right on back.”

“I’ll have them for you. We will have some paperwork, but I can slide that through.”

“I’m grateful to you.”

“I’m at Cop Central. Lieutenant Dallas. Morning’s best, as I had another case fall in my lap, and I have to get on it.”

“Big-city busy.” He flashed a smile. “I’ll be there by nine.”

“That works. I’ll see you then. And I’m sorry for your loss.”

Big-city busy, Eve thought when she sat back. You have no idea.

Driving home, she let the noise of the city wash over her. She didn’t bother to separate the blasting horns from the rumbling maxibuses, the rumbling from the overhyped shouts of sales and more sales from the overhead ad blimps.

She didn’t bother to fight the traffic, to dodge and weave, but simply adjusted to its fits and starts, its snarls and stops.