Of course, I might’ve been dead by now if I’d come home sooner.
As Suzie looked around, I felt my eyes water. This had to be the last straw in a truly sucky day.
First, the confrontation at lunch with Ian, then finding Enrico’s body-after spending time in a dark closet with another intruder who turned out to be Derek, then being stalked by yet another intruder who turned out to be Ian.
I couldn’t forget almost getting caught by Minka at Enrico’s, then her surprise smack-down, followed by the summons to show up at Homicide headquarters to be interrogated. Oh, and being left to wait alone for two hours while my mother was being arrested for a murder she didn’t commit.
I had to wonder if my father was currently confessing to the same crime that got Mom arrested. Oh God.
And now this.
I stared at my ravaged studio. I knew I could clean it all up and put things away, but someone had been here, touching my things, creating havoc. Someone evil, who had killed two people. I could only assume he was now focused on me.
“I wonder if anyone else in the building was hit,” Suzie mused.
“I’m pretty sure this was personal, but we should-”
Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall. Suzie shrieked and clutched my arm, then cursed out loud when Vinnie stepped into the room.
“Mercy, Brooklyn!” Vinnie cried as she grabbed my other arm. “You are all right?”
“I thought I told you to stay put,” Suzie shouted, as she jerked my arm possessively.
Vinnie’s eyes narrowed on her. “You are not the boss of me.”
Suzie shot back, “Well shit, somebody ought to be.”
Vinnie pulled me closer. “You are disturbing Brooklyn with your foulness of speech.”
“No, it’s okay,” I said, easing away from both of them. I’d never seen them bicker before and didn’t want to be the cause of it now. And gads, my arms were starting to hurt. “We’re all a little shaken.”
“Did you lock our door?” Suzie asked in a slightly more subdued tone.
“Of course, you silly squirrel,” Vinnie said crossly.
I traded looks with Suzie. We burst out laughing and I grabbed both of them in a fierce hug.
“Thank you for being here,” I said. “I’m so lucky to have you as my neighbors.”
“We are the lucky ones,” Vinnie said.
“Cops should be here any minute,” Suzie said.
Despite her warning, at the sound of another set of footsteps tapping against the wood floor, Vinnie yelped and threw herself into Suzie’s arms.
Robin entered cautiously, clutching a brown grocery bag. She wore high-heeled boots that made her appear a foot taller, a red cashmere sweater and black pants.
“What the hell is going on here?” she asked, looking around at the damage. Then she focused in on the worst of it. “Oh, shit. My vase.”
“I know, I’m so sorry,” I said miserably.
“It is not her fault,” Vinnie said staunchly. “There has been a burglary. We have barely escaped with our lives.”
Robin looked at me, puzzled. I shook my head. “It’s not that bad.”
“But it could have been,” Vinnie insisted. “We are all in mortal danger.”
“No,” I insisted. “Your place is safe. I’m certain this was a deliberate attack on me.”
“That sucks,” Suzie said.
“I’m so sorry, Brooklyn,” Vinnie said.
“It’s okay,” I assured them. “The police will sort it all out.”
“You’re staying at my house tonight,” Robin said, then held up the brown bag. “I brought wine. I’ll pour you a drink while we wait for the police.”
I was surprised to see Inspector Lee show up at the door with two uniformed officers. They walked into the studio, carefully skirting the mess. One cop pulled out a small digital camera and started taking pictures. The other had a clipboard and began to write up a report.
Inspector Lee took out her cell phone and made a call, then joined me and the girls at the bar that separated my kitchen from the living room.
Lee raised an eyebrow as Robin offered her a glass of wine.
“Thanks but no thanks.” She turned to me. “Fingerprint guys are on their way. You want to tell me what happened?”
She wrote in her small leather notebook as I talked. Since I’d just finished relating the whole story to Robin and my neighbors, they all took turns jumping in to fill in any details I’d forgotten.
Lee finally held up her hand to stop the chatter. “Is anything missing?”
“I have no idea,” I said. “Nothing seems to be missing back here, but I haven’t checked the studio yet. I didn’t want to disturb anything before the police had a chance to do, you know, whatever they need to do.”
“I know,” Vinnie piped up. “They will diligently search for fibers and hairs that may reveal the DNA of the perp, then dust for fingerprints, which will later be processed through IAFIS to find a match. After this, they will go door-to-door in the building and around the neighborhood, conducting interviews in order to find any eyewitnesses, but no one will come forward to squeal like a pig.”
Inspector Lee frowned at her.
Suzie drained her glass. “Law and Order junkie.”
Vinnie beamed, her cheeks pink from the wine. “I particularly enjoy Mr. Ice-T. If any man can bring sexy back, I believe it is he.”
Robin burst out laughing.
Lee was speechless.
Suzie grinned. “She’s a trip, isn’t she?”
“Yeah,” Lee agreed, then turned to me. “So the heavy damage was pretty much limited to your studio?”
“Yes.”
“Are your supplies and tools expensive? Would a burglar be able to sell them quickly?”
“I doubt it.” I looked at Robin, who grunted in agreement. Both sculpting and bookbinding tools could get expensive, but I doubted they would generate much cash on the street. “I can’t see some burglar coincidentally picking my place up on the sixth floor, just to make some easy money.”
Lee gave me the raised eyebrow. “No, neither can I.”
“Everyone in the building can hear when the elevator’s moving,” Suzie explained. “The stairwell takes a key to access. No other loft was broken into.”
“So what do you think they were looking for?” Lee asked.
I frowned. “I don’t know.”
She tapped the pen against her notepad and studied me for a moment. “If there’s something you’ve been avoiding telling me, you might want to reconsider.”
I couldn’t make eye contact. “Nothing I can think of.”
She looked as though she might ask me something else, but instead, she slapped her notebook closed and reached for her purse. “Okay, we’ll be in touch.”
I followed her down the hall to the front room. “Inspector, did you let my mother go?”
She pokered up. “That’s police business.”
I fisted my hands on my hips. “My mother, my business. You know she didn’t kill anyone.”
“I can’t discuss it.”
“I thought we were friends.”
She actually laughed. It sounded silly to me, too. She patted my shoulder, with some affection, I thought. “Be careful. I’ll be in touch.”
“Okay.”
The two cops were still working in the studio as Lee opened the door. She took one last glance around. “You might want to consider staying somewhere else for a few days.”
“I’ll be at Robin’s tonight.” I wrote down Robin’s phone number and handed it to her.
“Smart,” she said. “Because if this was personal, they might be back.”
“Good to know. Thanks for that.”
She chuckled as she left. More cop humor?
I walked back to the kitchen in time to see the girls gathered at the west-facing window to watch the sun set.
Robin topped off my glass. “I called a locksmith. He should be here within the hour.”
I almost collapsed with gratitude. I’d completely forgotten that little detail. I sat on the couch and watched as the sky filled with pink and coral streaks.
Vinnie broke the silence. “We are happy to have the morning sun on our side, but the evening sun is more dramatic.”