It barely took any effort to put it out of her mind, again, as they badged plant security and waited for clearance. And the manager.
She was a peppy little thing, all of four feet ten in her work boots. She had a wide smile and sparkling eyes that made Eve wonder what she’d consumed during her last break.
“Stella Burgess, nice to meetcha. Something I can help you with?”
New Jersey was as deep as the Hudson in her voice as she beamed welcome and cooperation.
“You process castor beans at this facility.”
“Sure do. We process a variety of agricultural products for nonconsumptive use. Your castor oil’s used in some industries as a lubricant. Not so much in the U.S. of A., but we export. It’s also used in the preparation of leather goods. We export that, too, and ship directly to certified clients nationally. You want to see the processing operation?”
“Probably not. Do you have accounts for the oil in New York?”
“I sure can check on that for you, Lieutenant. That’d likely be for artisans, craftsman, and like that there, ones who like to use natural products only. You want I should get you a list?”
“Yeah, I want you should. As soon as you tell me why you’re handing all that over with a smile.”
“’Scuze?”
“You don’t ask questions, Stella. You don’t do any dance about privacy of accounts. Just sure, here are the names.”
Stella flashed her teeth again. “Yeah, sure. I got the memo.”
“What memo would that be?”
“From the top dog. It got sent out first of the year. Full cooperation from all managers, department heads, supervisors, and yadda-yadda is expected to be given to Lieutenant Eve Dallas if and when she has occasion to request information or services. Right?”
“Right. I’ll need an employee roster, too. Current, and back the last six months.”
“You got it.” Stella pointed her index finger, thumb cocked. “Give me five, okay?”
“Sure.”
As they waited, Peabody cast her eyes to the ceiling and whistled a tune.
“Shut up, Peabody.”
“I’m just wondering what it’s like to be married to a guy who owns so many things you don’t know the half of them.” Then she gave Eve an elbow nudge. “He sent out a memo.”
“It takes the fun out of it. He cut out my intimidation perk.”
“Saves time, though. And it’s really considerate. He’s always thinking about you.”
“Weird.”
But it was nice to hear it, even though it made her feel only more stupid about how she’d behaved that morning.
She would run cross-references and searches on the lists provided. That she could do back at Central, or at home. For the moment, they’d knock on a few doors. Starting with Hallie Wentz.
Hallie lived in a two-story townhouse, running her business on the street level. Eve would have tagged her as the exact opposite of Stella Burgess. Hallie was tall, slim, wearing fashionable ankle-breakers. Her eyes were cool and suspicious as she studied Eve’s badge.
Obviously, she hadn’t gotten the memo.
“What’s this about? I’ve got a client coming by in ten minutes. Cops aren’t good for business.”
“Craig Foster.”
“Oh.” Hallie blew out a breath, glanced toward a doorway. “Listen, my kid’s in the next room. She’s pretty upset about what happened. I really don’t want her to have to talk to the cops about this. Not until she feels better.”
“Actually, we’re here to talk to you.”
“Me? About Mr. Foster? Why?”
“We’re talking to everyone who was on school grounds yesterday.”
“Right. Right. Wait a minute.” She walked to the doorway, peeked in, then eased the door nearly closed. “Studying,” she said to Eve and Peabody. “Kid’s a gem. What do you need to know?”
“We’ll start with why you were there.”
“Show and Share Day. Em wanted to take Butch in for it. Our African Gray. Parrot?” she explained. “He’s a big guy. She couldn’t handle his cage herself, so I carried it to class for her.”
“You signed in at eight-twenty, didn’t sign out until ten-forty-two. How far did you have to carry Butch?”
“It’s a big school,” Hallie said, coolly again. “Are you interrogating all the parents?”
“It’s not so big it took you better than two hours to deliver a parrot. Did you see or speak with Mr. Foster yesterday?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“But you’ve had occasion to see and speak with him in the past.”
“Sure. Em had him last term. He seemed like a good one. She did really well in his class, and he showed a lot of interest in her.”
“Did you have any interest in him?”
Hallie drew a breath. “I don’t hit on Em’s teachers, and if I did, I’d go more for the little blonde who runs the Drama department. I’m gay, for God’s sake.”
“You have an assault on your record, Ms. Wentz.”
“Fuck that.” Temper sparked like flying embers. “That idiot son of a bitch deserved the broken shoulder, and a hell of a lot more. You know what he called my Em? Lesbo spawn.”
She sucked in another breath, held up a hand until she got herself under control. “He said that to me, so all I did was warn him to knock it off. But he kept it up, and started calling out things during the game. He called her a dyke. As in, ‘You can’t hit for crap, you little dyke.’ It wasn’t the first time he’d tossed out ignorant homophobe comments at a game, but they were tossed at me, not shouted out so she could hear. Nobody talks to my kid that way. I’d had enough.”
If the rundown were true, Eve was surprised the woman hadn’t aimed for the asshole’s skull rather than his shoulder. “Did Mr. Foster have anything inappropriate to say to your daughter?”
“Hell no. He was a decent guy, as far as I know. A good teacher, made his class fun for the kids. Emily liked him, a lot. She’s upset and confused over this. I don’t want her to be any more upset and confused than she has to be.”
“Then tell us why you were on school grounds for two hours and twenty-two minutes.”
“Jesus. I hung around in the class awhile, talking to some of the kids and Janine-Mrs. Linkletter-about Butch. Getting him to talk for them. Then…Listen, does this have to go on the record?”
“It depends on what ‘this’ is,” Eve told her.
“It doesn’t apply to what happened, so I just want you to say-if you agree it doesn’t-it doesn’t have to get around.”
“All right.”
“I slipped down into the kitchen. Laina Sanchez, the head nutritionist, moonlights for me. She’s not supposed to take outside jobs. I don’t want her to get in any trouble.”
“She won’t, not over that.”
“We just talked about an event we have coming up next week. A change in menu the client wanted. I had a cup of coffee while I was there. I didn’t have a meeting until eleven, and it was only a couple blocks away, so I hung. That’s it.”
“Okay. She’ll verify that?”
“She will, but listen, don’t ask her about it at the school, okay? Mosebly gets wind, she’ll come down on Laina.”
“Are you and Laina involved?”
Hallie relaxed enough to grin. “Not like that. I used to date her sister, a half a million years back. I helped her get the position at Sarah Child when they needed a new nutritionist. She’s got a two-year-old kid to feed, and another well on the way. She and her husband need the money I can toss her.”
“We’re not looking to jam her up.” Something more here, just a little more, Eve thought. “Did you see anything or anyone out of the ordinary?”
“I didn’t. Classes were just starting when I went down to the kitchen. Second period would have been going on when I left. I’d help if I could. Something bad like this happens around my kid, I want to know who, what, and why. I can’t protect her otherwise.”
Maybe protection was an angle, Eve mused, as they traveled the block and a half to the next name on the list.