For the first time since the woman had walked down the hall, she looked flustered. It was momentary, just a slight heightening of color on that creamy skin, a slight frown around the rosy mouth. Then it was smooth and pale again.
“I find this very tedious, Lieutenant.”
“Yeah, me, too. But there you go. Sunday,Mrs.Renquist.”
Pameladrew air sharply through her chiseled nostrils. “We have brunch on Sundays at ten-thirty. Prior to that, my husband would have enjoyed a well-deserved hour in our relaxation tank, as he does every Sunday, when schedule permits, between nine and ten. While he was doing so, I would have joined him in our home health center for my own Sunday morning hour of exercise. At eleven-thirty, after brunch, my daughter would have gone with her au pair to a museum, while my husband and I prepared to go to the club for a doubles match with friends. Is that detailed enough, Lieutenant?”
She said lieutenant as another woman might have said nosy, insolent bitch.Eve had to give her credit for it. “You and your husband were home on Sunday from eight untilnoon.”
“As I’ve just said.”
“Mummy.”
They both turned and looked at the young girl-gold and pink and white, as pretty as a frosted cake-on the stairs. A woman of about twenty-five, with a spill of black hair clipped back neatly at her nape, held the girl’s hand.
“Not now, Rose. It’s impolite to interrupt. Sophia, take Rose back upstairs. I’ll let you know when the guests have arrived.” She spoke to her daughter and the woman in the same polite and distant tones.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She gave the girl’s hand a little tug-Eve saw it, and the slight resistance of the child before the girl went obediently back up the stairs.
“If there’s nothing more, Lieutenant, you’ll have to make an appointment with either myself or my husband through our offices.” She walked to the door, opened it. “I hope you find who you’re looking for soon, so this can be put to rest.”
“I’m sure Jacie Wooton and Lois Gregg feel exactly the same way. Thanks for your time.”
Chapter10
With the help ofLois Gregg’s daughter-in-law,Eve mapped out the daily routine of the victim’s life.
LeahGreggserved iced tea in the compact nook off her compact kitchen. She wanted to keep her hands busy,Eve could see. And her mind occupied. More,Eve saw a woman who wanted to take some active part in standing for her husband’s mother.
“We were close. Actually,Lois was closer to me than my own mother. Mine lives inDenver with my stepfather. We have issues.” She smiled when she said it, a tight-lipped grimace that indicated they were big issues. “ButLois was the best. Some of my friends have trouble with their in-laws. Unwanted advice, little digs, interference.”
She shrugged, and sat across fromEve at the narrow service bar. Then she nodded at the ring on Eve’s left hand. “You’re married, so you know how it can be-especially with mothers of sons, who don’t want to let go of their baby boy.”
Evemade a noncommittal sound. There was no point in saying no, she didn’t know how it could be. Her husband’s mother had been forced to let go of her baby boy a long, long time ago.
“But I didn’t get any of that fromLois. Not that she didn’t love her kids. She just knew how to keep it all balanced. She was fun, and smart, and had a life of her own. She loved her kids, she loved the grands, she loved me.”Leah had to take a long, calming breath. “Jeffand his sister, all of us really, are just flattened by this. She was young and healthy, vital and active. The sort of woman you expect to live forever, I guess. To lose her this way, it’s just cruel. But well…” She took another breath. “I guess you know that, in your line of work. And it’s not why you’re here.”
“I know this is hard,Mrs.Gregg, and I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.”
“I’ll do anything, absolutely anything, to help you find the bastard who did this toLois. I mean that.”
Evesaw that she did. “I take it you talked to her often.”
“Two, three times a week. We got together very often: Sunday dinners, shopping sprees, girl days. We were friends, Lieutenant.Lois and I… she was, I guess I’ve just realized, she was my best friend. Oh, shit.”
She broke off, pushing off to grab some tissue. “I’m not going to lose it, it won’t help her orJeff or the kids for me to lose it. Just give me a second.”
“Take your time.”
“We’re having a memorial tomorrow. She didn’t want anything formal or depressing. She used to joke about it. ‘When my time comes,’ she’d say, ‘I want you to have a nice, tasteful memorial service and make it short. Then, break out the champagne and have a party. Celebrate my life.’ That’s what we want to do, we will do because she wanted it. But it wasn’t supposed to be now. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I don’t know how we’ll get through it. One minute at a time, I guess.”
She sat again, breathed again. “Okay. I know what was done to her.Jeff told me. He tried not to, but he fell apart and it all came pouring out, so I know what was done to her. You don’t have to be delicate with me.”
“She must’ve liked you a lot.” It was the first timePeabody had spoken, and the comment had Leah’s eyes tearing again.
“Thanks. Now what can I do?”
“She wore a ring, third finger, left hand.”
“Yes, she considered it her wedding ring though she andSam never made it formal.Sam was the love of her life. He died a few years ago in an accident, and she continued to wear his ring.”
“Can you describe it?”
“Sure. Gold band, channel set with little sapphires. Five little sapphires because he gave it to her on their fifth anniversary. Very classic, very simple.Lois didn’t like flashy jewelry.”
She paused a moment, andEve could see it sink in. “He took it? He took her ring? The bastard, the filthy son of a bitch. That ring mattered to her.”
“The fact that her killer took the ring may help us find and identify him. When we find it, and him, you’ll be able to positively identify it. That will help us build our case.”
“All right, all right. Thanks. I can think of it that way now, think of it as a way to lock him up. That helps.”
“Did she mention anything, however casually,”Eve began, “about meeting someone, seeing someone hanging around the neighborhood?”
“No.” Her kitchen ‘link beeped, and she ignored it.
“You can get that,”Eve told her. “We can wait.”
“No, it’s someone calling with condolences. Everyone who knew her is calling. This is more important now.”
Eveangled her head. “Officer Peabody’s right. She must’ve liked you very much.”
“She’d have expected me to handle this, the way she would’ve handled it. So I will.”
“Think carefully then. Any mention of anyone she might’ve met or seen in the last few weeks.”
“She was friendly, the sort who talks to strangers on line at the market or strikes up conversations in the subway. So she wouldn’t have mentioned anything like that unless it was out of the ordinary for her.”
“Take me through the places she’d go, the routes she’d take. Daily business sort of thing. I’m looking for repetition and habit, the kind of thing someone who was tracking her could use to determine she’d have been alone in the apartment Sunday morning.”
“Okay.”Leah began to outline Lois’ basic routines asEve took notes.
It was a simple life, if an active one. Fitness classes three times a week, bi-weekly sessions at a salon, market on Fridays, Thursday evenings out with friends for a meal and a vid or play, volunteer work Monday afternoons at a local day-care center, her part-time job at a lady’s boutique on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
“She dated once in a while,”Leah added. “But not so much recently, and nothing serious. As I said,Sam was it for her. If she’d been seeing anyone, even very casually, I’d have known about it.”