April nodded at the uniform, then opened the door. Camille was sitting in the same position April had left her. The dog was laid out, boneless across her lap, its head hanging over her knee. A thick curtain of long red hair covered Camille’s face.
The mug of tea on the table was half empty; the cookies didn’t appear to have been touched. In the corner, Goldie shook her head. Nothing had happened since April and Sergeant Joyce left.
Puppy heard the door open and sat up, barking excitedly. Camille whispered to it. “Shhh.”
April approached the table with Jason beside her. “Miss Stanton, I’ve asked Dr. Frank to come and speak with you.”
“Who’s speaking?”
“It’s Detective Woo,” April said, feeling weird.
Camille moved her hair to one side. “Woo, I’ve been waiting for you. Where’ve you been?”
“I went to get Dr. Frank. He’s a psychiatrist. It would be very helpful if you’d talk to him, you know, openly. Tell him whatever you want. He’s a good listener.”
Camille let her hair fall back over her face.
“Miss Stanton, is it okay if I leave Dr. Frank with you?”
“Fine.” The response came through the curtain of hair.
April looked at Jason uncertainly.
“Would you prefer if Detective Woo stays?” Jason spoke for the first time. “She’s very busy and has a lot of things to take care of.”
Camille turned her head away and didn’t respond.
“I think it would be better if I leave,” April said finally.
Camille didn’t object.
April turned to Jason, indicating the uniform in the corner with a jerk of her head. He nodded. Yes, she could go and yes he would deal with the uniform.
Relieved, she ran upstairs to the squad room. Maybe Mike hadn’t left without her.
54
Mike waved a piece of paper at her. “Got it. Did she say anything?” He picked up a paper bag from the desk that was his because they were now on duty until midnight.
“Who?” The suspect or Sergeant Joyce?
“The suspect.”
“Oh, not a lot. She was too busy eating her arm.”
“Whaa?”
“The woman is an alien. I’m not certain she can add two and two. Dr. Frank is in with her now.” April eyed the bag, hoping it contained food.
“I heard. How did you manage that?” They headed downstairs.
“I asked him. Didn’t want to spend the night at Bellevue and miss the fun. What’s in the bag?”
“What do you want it to be?”
April waved at the Desk Sergeant, and they stepped out into the night. It was about sixty degrees, bright and clear.
“I want it to be something really spicy and hard to eat, with lots of sauce. But I’d settle for a tuna sandwich.”
“Done.” He handed her the bag. “Tuna salad with lettuce on white toast.”
“Thanks. What did you get for yourself?”
“Something really spicy and hard to eat, with lots of sauce.”
She laughed, punched his arm as he headed for the driver’s side of the car. “That’s twice in one day. It’s my turn to drive.”
“Yeah, maybe. But wouldn’t you rather eat? I had mine after I met with the ADA.”
“Who’d you get?”
“Penelope Dunham, no problem at all. Know her?”
April shook her head. She’d never met this assistant district attorney. “Why are you such a nice guy?” she asked, settling in the passenger seat. Then she opened the bag. Shit. It was two chicken enchiladas with mole sauce.
Mike grinned. “Don’t ever say I don’t take care of you. And there’s no cheese on it anywhere. I know you don’t like cheese.”
“Thanks,” she said. “Really thanks. It’s great.”
She wrinkled her nose and dug into the enchiladas with the plastic fork thoughtfully provided, knowing the food would be all over her and the car by the time they got across town. Mike was trying to get her used to Mexican cooking. She had to admit she liked the green sauce made of tomatillos, but the mixture of chocolate and chilis in the mole tasted to her kind of like dirt.
“How is it?” Mike jerked to a stop at the red light on Central Park West.
A blob of mole splattered off her fork and hit the front of her white shirt.
“Great. Just great. How much do I owe you?”
“More than you’ll ever know.”
Yeah yeah. He accelerated through the park while she worked on the enchiladas.
Six minutes later, as Mike pulled into an empty spot on Second Avenue near Fifty-fifth Street, she crumpled everything back into the bag. The black sedan with Lieutenant Braun and Sergeant Roberts in it was parked in front of 1055 Second.
Mike killed the motor and the lights, tossed the keys to April. “You can drive home.”
Her attention had been on the brown spot on her blouse. She caught the keys, but only just. Nice.
Braun and Roberts were out of the car, heading toward them before they could move. “Got it?” Braun demanded.
Mike handed the search warrant over. “Any sign of him?”
“Man at the garage says the car’s in there and he hasn’t taken it out since Sunday.”
Braun stuffed the warrant in his pocket without looking at it. “Okay, let’s go in.”
All four headed toward the door with the crudely paneled top half. April prayed Braun wouldn’t make them stay outside as backup. Before the thought was complete, she saw he’d already thought of that. She saw him nod at his two other people, one at each corner, by the litter baskets. Oh, and there was somebody across the street leaning against the skinny tree in front of European Imports. The Lieutenant wasn’t taking any chances.
Roberts opened the downstairs door with no trouble. They trooped up the stairs with Braun in the lead. He had to move aside on the tiny landing at the top so Roberts could get at the door. There were four locks on it. Roberts worked on them for about thirty seconds. He got all four unlocked, and went inside.
For a second Mike and April stood outside on the landing while Braun and Roberts, stuck in the doorway, fumbled around for a light. A single pale bulb shone over their heads.
“Weird,” April murmured softly.
“Yeah what?”
“The whole setup. Guy owns a chandelier shop and look at what he’s got hanging here.” She pointed at the bare bulb. It flickered, as if in response.
“That’s not the only weird thing. Maggie Wheeler was hung on a chandelier,” Mike reminded her.
From inside the apartment came the sound of a crash as something was knocked over.
“Shit.” Braun’s voice sounded pained.
A light came on, the logjam was broken, and April quickly followed Mike through the door.
“Wow.” Mike whistled.
The four detectives huddled together for a confused instant, frozen with surprise. The place was not exactly what they had expected. It looked like some kind of warehouse. All kinds of furniture, a huge mirror, lamps, tables, settees, chairs, and sideboards were jumbled together, apparently at random, in the room fronting Second Avenue. There was so much of it, they could hardly get through it to the kitchen and the stairs. It almost seemed as if the furniture had been assembled that way to form a barricade to block entry to the living quarters.
The place smelled dusty and stale. Braun and Roberts began picking their way through it, turning on more lights as they went.
“This is going to take a while,” Braun muttered. “You could hide anything in here.”
April took another route, behind a sideboard, a desk, the mirror, and three chairs to the kitchen. Positioned behind the stairs between the front room and back rooms, it was a pretty sad affair. The walls hadn’t been painted in decades. The plaster of the ceiling was crumbling to a fine powder in several places. The refrigerator, sink, and stove were from another era. Dirty dishes filled the sink and covered every counter surface. April studied the dishes with interest. All fine china, several patterns. The glasses looked like crystal.