“Neuschwander. No, but he says it’s been at least a few hours from the drying of the blood and what he can see of lividity.”
“So make it around then-thirty. The nine-one-one call came at eleven-fifty-two. His boys say he was with them past eleven o’clock, quarter after, and he’s home free.”
“Yeah, but what do you think of him? You worked a lot of these, thirty years in the Burgh. How’s he strike you?”
“I don’t put too much faith in first impressions. Only cops I know solve cases off hunches are on television. Still, he seems legit. People act all kinds of different ways when something like this happens. He was rattled, not hysterical. Didn’t take it personal when I asked about his alibi, did they have family trouble, stuff like that. Distracted enough to seem for real.”
Doc leaned back against the sink. Grabek read over his notes. Together barely three weeks, their first serious case. Paramedics had the husband, Neuschwander had the crime scene, and neither knew enough about the crime or each other to have much to say.
Doc broke first. “It’ll be another half hour before he’s done upstairs. How about we talk to some of the ghouls?” The emergency vehicle lights had attracted half a dozen neighbors to the sidewalk in front of the house.
“You go. I wanted to work in the middle of the night, I could’ve stayed in Pittsburgh.” Grabek’s eyes showed he’d had a few, maybe more, before the call came in. His breath was fine, but anyone standing close would smell the alcohol in his sweat. “Thought this was a nice quiet town, maybe I’d scare a kid smoking reefer once in a while. Live off the salary and send my daughter to Penn State with the pension. I’m here three lousy weeks and I’m out of bed working a genuine whodunit.” He took a seat at one of the elevated island stools. “It’s cold out there. I’ll call you when Neuschwhatever’s ready.”
Doc walked to the front door. He’d heard Grabek’s story before. Guy was smart, experienced, and the laziest prick Doc had ever worked with. Lived in the gray area between drinking too much and being a drunk. Still, it was only three weeks. Some people’s virtues took a while to surface.
Outside, police and emergency lights reflected off the clouds; it would look like half the town was on fire to someone on Coxcomb Hill. Two hours ago Argonne Drive would have been as quiet as a nursery at nap time. Dark enough to be peaceful, sufficient light for everyone to feel safe. No one around but the stray kid sneaking in or out. Maybe someone taking a dog for an evening stroll in the still. Safest place in the world.
Mike Zywiciel kept a knot of the curious away from the house. He had his hands full with a neighbor who looked like he’d been over-served and wanted to make up for it by going out of his way to act responsible now.
“Listen, Officer, uh, Zy-wuh-keel, how are my kids supposed to sleep with those goddamn lights flashing in their bedroom window?”
“It’s Zuh-wiss-ee-ul, sir, and I’m sorry. We have to keep them on while the street’s partially blocked. It shouldn’t be too much longer.”
The man leaned over, traced the letters on Zywiciel’s nametag. “Yeah, right. Zy-wuh-keel. What did I say?”
“You said Zy-wuh-keel, sir. It’s Zuh-wiss-ee-ul.” Pronouncing every syllable.
“That’s what I’ve been saying, Zy-wuh-keel. Says right here: Officer Zy-wuh-keel.”
“Actually, sir, it’s Sergeant Zy-wuh-keel, and I’m going to have to ask you to step back a little. We’ll get these lights out as soon as the medical examiner’s done.”
The neighbor looked like he wasn’t finished debating the lights or Zywiciel’s name when Doc interrupted them.
“Hey, Eye Chart. What are you doing out in the field? I thought you requested per diem for anything farther away than Clementine’s.”
“I just come to see how detectives justify drawing a check. Patrol cops actually go to crimes in progress. Nothing much to do by the time you guys get here.”
“Don’t forget I rode patrol with you. You taught me everything you know. Took you almost twenty minutes.”
“Shouldn’t have taken me that long if you had any talent. What do you need?”
“I know your guys did a quick canvass of this crew, names and addresses, basic statements.”
“Yeah. They’re searching the area now. We’ll get the other shifts out tomorrow to catch people when they’re awake.”
“I want to cut a few from this herd while I wait for Noosh to finish up with the scene. Anyone worth starting with?”
Zywiciel lit a cigarette, shook his head. “Uh-uh. Take your pick. No one here knows dick.” He switched to his generic “female citizen” voice, an octave higher, hinting at a room temperature IQ. “Oh my God, Carol’s such a sweetheart, Marty’s such a nice guy, what’s the world coming to?” Returned to his normal voice. “You know. The usual bullshit.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll start with her.” Doc pointed to a forty-ish woman whose idea of bundling up didn’t include hiding her cleavage. “Looks like she might have a couple of guns in that housecoat.”
“I talked to her already. She has issues with authority.”
“She doesn’t like cops?”
“I don’t think she likes anybody. I get the feeling she’s only flashing her knockers to show us what we’re missing. You get up close and they’re not all that impressive”
Zywiciel was right: Michelle Prince didn’t appear to like anybody, and her breasts didn’t justify her high opinion of them. She didn’t have much to say about the Cropchos, not wanting to speak ill of the dead and Marty suffering like he must be. She didn’t spare anyone else. Doc could have kissed Grabek on the mouth for calling him back to the house.
They found Neuschwander in the bedroom packing up. “It’s all yours, soon as the ME’s done. I’ll get what I have here out to the lab soon as I get it logged and separated. When it comes back is anyone’s guess.” He held up a hand before Grabek could speak. “This ain’t the big city. We suck hind tit on this kind of stuff. I’ll give them the usual ‘violent offender at large’ spiel, so maybe you’ll get it in six weeks instead of eight. Except for the DNA. Jesus Christ couldn’t come down from heaven and get you DNA results in less than four months.”
“You have DNA?” Doc said.
“We should. She put up a hell of a fight. There’s skin, blood, and fiber under her nails. The ME will bag her hands and send what we find to the lab. If you luck into a suspect in the next few days, he’ll have scratches on him. Willie, you talked to the husband. Did he say anything about puking when he found her?”
“No.”
Neuschwander smiled. “Someone did. I’d guess he lost it when he got a good look at her. I see some swirls and a wipe pattern, so he tried a half-assed clean-up job, but I got a good enough sample to use.”
“What do you think happened?” Grabek said.
“I don’t know how it started, just how it ended. Television’s on and she’s dressed for bed, so let’s say she’s watching whatever HBO had on at ten.”
“I thought you didn’t have time of death.”
“That’s just a guess. The ME will take her temperature here and check her stomach contents at the autopsy.”
“Speaking of which, where the hell is the ME?” Grabek said. “This call went out a couple of hours ago.”
“Didn’t you hear? There was gang trouble down Wilkensburg tonight. Two dead for sure and a couple wandered off they’re not sure about. He’s been busy, but I just talked to him. He’s on the way.”
“What’s our guy doing in Allegheny County?”
“Allegheny County is our guy. We don’t do enough business here in Neshannock to rate a full-time ME, so we borrow whoever’s on call in Allegheny. Sometimes they get backed up.”