But Caputo said, “Not to my door. Mostly students and older people live here because of the low rents. Nobody’s got much money, and we’re all pretty careful. We know everyone in the place, at least by sight. It’s nice and quiet. Don’t have much traffic going in and out.”
“How about parties, Rich? You let off steam now and then when the pressure gets too high?”
Caputo allowed himself a small smile. “We’ve had a few friends over, sure, but no time or money for parties, man.”
“Mind giving me a list of these friends?”
With the list in hand, the detectives thanked him and left, passing the yellow police tape across the door of 2B.
“Anything?” Skovich asked.
Hacker said, “Don’t think so. How about you?”
“No. Alibi’s too good. But it might pay us to look into the friends.”
Mae Halloran opened the door with one hand firmly gripping a cane and a fierce-faced white cat cuddled in her other arm. She gazed up at them from under fluffy gray bangs and said, “Oh, I didn’t expect you to be so big!”
She ushered them into a small overstuffed living room and planted them side by side on a sofa, lowering herself into a facing chair and transferring the cat to her lap. The cat glared at Skovich and hissed.
“Stop that, Lovey,” Mrs. Halloran admonished. “You’ll have to excuse her, I’m afraid. She doesn’t make friends.”
She wasn’t sure how much she could help them. She had already told the first officers everything she knew.
“I found her, you know. We were supposed to watch a certain television program together, and when she didn’t come down I called her, but she didn’t answer.” She sighed. “At our age you never know what will happen, so I took the elevator up to see if she was all right. When I found the door unlocked I knew something was wrong. Lorena never left her door open. So I just peeked in a little and... well, I saw her lying there. I didn’t go all the way in. I couldn’t. I came right back here and called the police.” Her eyes filled. “Poor Lorena. She was such a good friend. For twelve years. I’m sure going to miss her.”
“I know you’ve been asked this before,” Hacker said gently, “but can you think of anyone who might have done this?”
“No sir, I can’t. Most of us older folks here don’t socialize much except with each other. Lorena was more independent. She tried to get out and about as much as she could. I went with her sometimes, but she was more able than me, you see.” She thumped her cane hard on the floor as if to punish it. The cat spat at Skovich again. He gave it a baleful look and got one in return. Hacker grinned.
The old woman reinforced Rich Caputo’s contention that people off the street were not a problem in the building. One time, years ago, a man came through pretending to be a repairman, but no one let him in. She heard later that he’d been arrested and put in jail.
“We’re not that old or foolish. No one would let a stranger into their apartment. And Lorena most certainly wouldn’t have. She was very careful, Lorena was.” Her eyes moistened again.
“Maybe it was someone she knew,” Skovich suggested. The white cat seemed to sneer.
“The thing is, she didn’t know that many people outside this building. All her family was gone, you know. That’s why she and I kind of took care of one another. I have a son but he doesn’t live close-by, so we made up our own little family. Lorena ran errands for me when she was out — that’s if my leg wasn’t up to going with her. And when she was in the hospital a few days last year getting some tests I took care of Butch for her. Went up and fed him, played with him to keep him from getting lonesome. I would have brought him down here but he and Lovey don’t get along.” She smoothed the white cat’s fur. “It wasn’t Butch’s fault, it was Lovey’s. She didn’t take to Butch at all.”
Meeting the cat’s cold green eyes, Skovich wasn’t at all surprised.
“They took Butch to the pound,” Mrs. Halloran said with a catch in her voice. “I expect he got a good home, don’t you?”
“I’m sure he did,” Hacker said quickly, before Skovich could open his honest mouth.
She was hugging the cat now, tears beginning to fall.
“I certainly hope you catch the man. Lorena never hurt a soul. Just watched television and read her books. She did lovely needlepoint. Do you know—” She cleared her throat. “Did you know he took the rings right off her fingers? Who would do a thing like that?”
After receiving her promise that she would call if she remembered anything else, the partners eased themselves from the apartment and into their car. While Skovich gulped a couple of antacids Hacker observed quietly, “This is a good neighborhood. Fairly low crime rate. A nice old lady should feel safe living here. If we’re lucky enough to catch this guy, I think I’d like to impress that on him before we take him in. Inflict some pain, you know? That might make me feel good.”
“That’s police brutality,” Skovich told him. “I’d have to stop it if I saw it.”
“I never said I’d do it. Just said I’d like to.”
“And I said if I saw it. I never said I’d be looking right at you.”
The first item on the agenda for the following morning was to track down Mickey Wise.
“Mickey’s never hurt anyone before,” Skovich reasoned, “just ran his insurance scams and disappeared. But who knows what he might do if given the opportunity?”
Hacker looked dubious. “I don’t have my heart set on him, but it’s worth a shot.”
As they rounded the corner of the station, heading for their car, a sharp “Psst!” brought them up short, tensing. Hands dropping towards holsters, they swung to see P.T. stepping from the shrubbery.
Skovich relaxed. “Oh God,” he muttered. “Again?”
The old man was alone and beaming. “Bet you thought we’d forgot, didn’t you? Nossir, we talked it over last night and here’s what we came up with. I told you, we kept an eye on this lady because Marsh thought she was cute. Okay, she walked her dog every day between four and four-thirty. Sharp. Always took the same route — down Piedmont, through the park, back up Piedmont, got it? She had her hair done every Tuesday at the Hair Today beauty parlor on Copeland. Might turn up somebody suspicious there, you think? She bought her groceries on Friday from the U-Save Market on Rochester, and every coupla weeks she went to the library on Willow. She carried her books in a little bag with the name of the library on it. Oh yeah, and Sid says to tell you there’s been a ratty-looking guy in the park a few times lately. Little fella with greasy dark hair and a leather jacket that says ‘More Power’ on it.” He leaned towards them eagerly. “You got all that? You didn’t write it down.”
Skovich tried not to smile, wondering what undercover vice cop Overfelt would say if he knew he’d just been turned in.
“I got it up here,” he said seriously, tapping his temple. “Doesn’t pay to write too much down. You never know. And stay away from the guy in the park. We know about him. We’re watching him.”
“Well, that’s good,” P.T. said. He glanced nervously over each shoulder. “Not too safe to be seen together, I guess. Someone might catch on. I’d better get going.” He wagged a warning finger under Hacker’s nose. “You got a good boss here. Pay attention to him. That’s how you learn things, understand?”
Hacker blinked. “He’s not my—” he began.
“Thanks, P.T.,” Skovich broke in smoothly. “Don’t worry about him. He’s a good one. Catches on fast.”
“We’ll let you know when we got more,” P.T. said, and he was gone, scuttling along the side of the building. Skovich turned back towards their car.