But some of those who came in talked about Maria, which was when Stella pricked up her ears, tuned out whatever soft-rock classic was playing, and listened.
"Is it true that one of the girls here died?" one asked. Jeanie provided as noncommittal an answer as she could. No doubt she was under orders from Belluso to minimize the perception of the bakery as the scene of a crime.
"Hey, Jeanie. Geez, sucks about Maria, huh? Can't believe that. Who'd do something like that?"
"I heard somebody got shot here. Is that true?"
"You guys should seriously consider getting a gate. Stuff like that don't happen when you got a gate."
"Hey, somebody told me that Karen got killed here. That true?" When Jeanie explained that it was actually Maria: "Oh. Okay. I didn't really like her all that much."
"Can I see where that girl got killed? C'mon, I've never seen where a dead body was before. Please?"
"Heard you guys got robbed. That's gotta suck." Jeanie didn't change that person's misapprehension.
"Oh, God, I'm so sorry, Jeanie, I heard about Maria. Are you guys holding up okay? God, that's so terrible! Is there anything I can do?"
"You know, someone told me that someone died here, can you believe that? What a silly notion."
"Hey, Jeanie. Heard about Maria. You guys doin' okay?"
"Look, I can't stay, but I had to stop in to give my condolences. Maria was such a nice girl. Please, if you know the family, tell them I'm praying for them."
"Why would anybody kill Maria? I mean, she was such a sweet girl. Whole world's goin' to hell, I swear to Christ."
By the time Stella finished her second cannoli-and third iced coffee-she was about ready to give up. It had been a long shot, in truth.
Just as she was preparing to call it a day, she saw a large man wearing blue scrubs walk across the street and entered. Since one of the storefronts across Riverdale Avenue sported a big sign that read FELDSTEIN'S VETERINARY SERVICE, Stella assumed he came from there. He entered and walked right up to the counter, giving Stella a good view of the purple-and-yellow bruise on his cheek.
"What's up, Jeanie?"
"Hey, Marty how's life in the animal kingdom?"
So he did work at the vet's. Stella also seemed to recall something from Angell's notes about someone named Marty who worked at the vet and was friends with Maria.
"Not bad. Dr. Wentworth's out sick today, so it's kind of a mess. Can I get a half dozen of the cherry cookies?"
"Sure. And a coffee?"
"Yeah. Black, two sugars."
"I know," Jeanie said with a smile.
While Jeanie bent over to retrieve six of the shortbread cookies, which had a glazed maraschino cherry on top, Marty said, "Sucks about Maria, huh? Getting strangled like that-that really shocked the hell out of me."
"All of us, yeah," Jeanie said absently, only half-listening as she gathered Marty's order.
Stella, though, found herself on full alert. A second ago, she'd been swallowing the last of her cannoli, contemplating what traffic would be like going back to Manhattan. But as soon as this Marty person mentioned Maria Campagna's COD, she abandoned all thoughts of going home anytime soon.
Neither she nor Lindsay nor Angell had ever mentioned the exact cause of Maria Campagna's death out loud outside of the lab. Angell had spoken to some press but said nothing about how Maria was killed, either.
While it was possible that either Jeanie or Dina could have mentioned it-they found the body, and enough people watched cop shows on TV to possibly recognize a case of strangulation when they saw it-that didn't strike Stella as likely. Certainly not Jeanie, who'd been going out of her way to avoid talking about Maria's death in any but the most perfunctory of details.
Marty had a large enough build to have been the one to strangle Maria, and the bruise he sported on his cheek was approximately the right size to have been made by Maria's fist.
Stella got up and went to the counter. "Can I have another iced coffee?" she asked the young woman who wasn't Jeanie. Then Stella turned to Marty. "That's some bruise you got there."
Lowering his head and smiling sheepishly, Marty said, "Yeah, I got into it with a Great Dane. I'm a tech at Feldstein's across the street." He jerked a thumb behind him, indicating the door-and the veterinarian beyond it.
Stella glanced back, though she already knew where he worked. Deciding to go for broke, she pulled her shield out of her back pocket. "I'm Detective Bonasera, with the New York Crime Lab. Mind if I ask you a few questions?"
"Yeah, I do mind. I just came in here for some cookies and coffee, okay?"
"It's just that I'm looking into Maria Campagna's death, and I was wondering-"
"That has nothing to do with me, okay?" He took the bag with the cookies and the small coffee cup from Jeanie, then threw a five down on the counter. "Keep it." To Stella, he all but snarled, "See you later, Detective."
Jeanie was giving Stella an odd look. "You don't think he had anything to do with Maria, do you?" she asked in another low whisper.
Leaning over the counter to minimize eavesdropping, Stella asked, "What do you know about him?"
"Who, Marty? He works across the street. He and Maria went to the same high school, so they talked about that a lot. But that was it, really."
When the other woman came by, Stella said, "I'll take that to go."
Once she paid for the coffee, she left the cafй and went across the street to Feldstein's.
It might well be a dead end-but so was Jack Morgenstern at this point, and Marty's bruise and knowledge of the COD were enough to make him worth pursuing. Probably wasn't enough for a warrant just yet, but it was enough for her to question the other people at Feldstein's.
She pulled open the glass door to find a large reception desk in front of a big waiting area that included several long wooden benches along the walls and an open center floor, which provided plenty of room for dogs to gad about. At present, only two people were in the waiting area, both with cat carriers. One cat was lying quietly in its carrier, but the other was yowling in protest.
There were two women behind the desk, one of whom was on the phone. The other, a short, round woman with spiky white hair, asked, "Can I help you?"
Again, Stella flashed her shield. "I'm Detective Bonasera, with the New York Crime Lab. I'm investigating the death of Maria Campagna, and I was wondering if you could answer a few questions."
Even as she spoke, she couldn't help but notice that behind the desk was an HP laser-jet printer-the exact same model that was used to print the anonymous love letters to Maria.
The woman behind the desk formed an O with her mouth. "Oh, you mean the girl across the street? Yeah, I heard about that-it's awful."
"Did you know her?"
"Yeah, I saw her when I went for tea and pastries a couple of times." She leaned forward and said in an almost conspiratorial tone, "They have the best cannoli."
Stella smiled. "I know, believe me." Then she grew serious and took out a notepad and pen. "What's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Jaya-Jaya Nissen."
"Who else from here goes to Belluso's regularly?"
"God, everybody. I don't think Dr. Feldstein does, but he usually just brings food from home. He keeps kosher-I know that they say their food is all kosher, too, but I don't think Dr. Feldstein trusts that. But most of the rest of us do, yeah."