Eve left them alone, walked into a galley-style kitchen with a bump out for eating. There were benches for seating covered by cushions with zigzagging patterns of yellows and blues. Yellow curtains with blue borders framed the windows.
Place mats, she supposed you called them, lay on the table at each space, and matched the bench cushion.
Eve picked one up, lingering it.
"Lieutenant Dallas?" Steeple came to the doorway. "We're ready now. I'm going to make some coffee. I think we could all use some."
– -**--
They sat in the living area, and with the little girl settled down, Peabody joined them. Carleen's eyes were stark and damp, but she was making an effort to compose herself, Eve saw.
"Nothing about this is easy," Eve began. "We'll be as brief as possible so we can give you some privacy." "Can I see her?" "Not at this time, no. I'm sorry. Your sister worked at O'Hara's Bar and Grill?" "Yes. Five years now. She liked it there. It's a friendly place, and close to her apartment. She made good tips. She liked working nights and having most of her afternoons free." "Was she in a relationship?" "Not right now. She dated some, but she's been a little shy of men since the divorce." "And the ex-husband?" "Rip? He's remarried and lives in Vermont. I think, really, he was the love of her life, but she wasn't his. Things just fell apart. It wasn't ugly. It was just sad." "Don't go looking at him for this." Temper spiked in Steeple's voice. "Some junkie maniac did this, and you waste time hassling a decent guy. A moron, but a decent guy, while the bastard who-" "Andy." With a muffled sob, Carleen gripped his hand.
"Don't. Just don't." "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But whoever did this is out there running around right now, and we're just sitting here. Next thing, she's going to ask where I was, and shit like that. Oh, goddamn." He lowered his head to his hands. "Oh, goddamn." "The sooner questions are asked and answered, the sooner we can leave you alone. Do you know if anyone's been bothering her?" "No." Carleen stroked her husband's hair as she spoke.
"Some of the guys at the bar tease her, but it's not like that.
She's shy. Lily's shy, but she's comfortable there. They're nice people. We go in sometimes. She never hurt anyone. I have to tell our parents. They live in South Carolina now.
On a houseboat. They… how do I tell them Lily's gone? How do we tell Kiki?" "Don't think about that yet," Steeple said before Eve could speak. He lifted his head, appeared to have regained some composure. "One step at a time, sweetie. Is this like the other woman?" he asked Eve. "I saw it on the news. I saw you. Is this the same?" "We're pursuing that probability." "She was-" Eve saw it in his eyes. Mutilated. But he stopped himself from saying the word, and drew his wife closer. "She was killed uptown." "Yes. Mrs Steeple, did Lily do crafts?" "Crafts? Lily?" A smile trembled onto her lips. "No. She didn't like to play house, as she called it. It was part of the problem between her and Rip. He wanted a homebody, and Lily just wasn't." "You have what look like banderafted pieces in the other room." "Kiki's room, too," Peabody added. "It's a lovely quilt on her bed." "That's my work. When I got pregnant with Drew, our son, I decided well, we decided," she amended, linking her fingers with her husband's, "that I'd try the professional mother route.
I wanted to be able to stay home with the children. Then I realized, pretty quickly, I'd need something to do. I started quilting, then that expanded to needlepoint, macrame. I enjoy it." "Where do you get your supplies?" "What does this have to do with Lily?" "Mrs Steeple, where do you get your craft supplies?"
"A number of places." She named several on Eve's list.
"Did Lily ever go with you, when you shopped for supplies?" "Well, yes. We often shopped together, for a lot of things.
She liked to shop, to spend time with me and the kids. We shopped together at least once a week." "Thank you for your help." "But… Isn't there something else?" Carleen asked when Eve got to her feet. "Isn't there something more we can do?" "There may be. We'll stay in touch, Mrs Steeple. You can reach either Detective Peabody or myself through Central, any time. I'm very sorry for your loss." "I'll show you out. Carleen, you should check on the kids." He walked them to the door, waited until he was sure his wife was out of earshot. "Look, I'm sorry I shot off like that." "No problem." "I want to know. Was she mutilated like that other woman? I don't want Carleen to see her if…" "Yes. I'm sorry." "How?" "I'm not going to give you those details, not at this time.
They're confidential to the investigation." "I want to know when you find him. I want to know. I want-" "I know what you want. But what you need to do is take care of your wife, of your family. You need to leave the rest of it to us." "You didn't know her. You didn't know Lily." "No. But I know her now."
CHAPTER 11
It was after five a.m. when Eve walked into Homicide. The skeleton squad from the graveyard shift was handling the "links, catching up on paperwork. Or sleep. She gestured a come-ahead to Peabody so her partner would follow her into her office.
"I've got to contact Whitney." "Better you than me." "While I do, you tag Celina. Inform her we're sending a couple of plainclothes to bring her in for a statement. I want her here at eight hundred hours. Then find me two cops to take the detail. When you get that set, you should catch a couple hours in the crib." "Don't have to tell me that twice. Gonna join me?" "No, I'll stretch out in my office." "Where?" "Just get this set up and close the door behind you." Alone, Eve stared at the "link, and recited a little mantra in her head.
Let the commander answer and not his wife, let the commander answer and not his wife. In the name of all that's holy, let the commander answer and not his wife.
Then, sucking it up, she sat down and made the call.
She nearly let out a cheer when Whitney's tired face popped on screen.
"I'm sorry to wake you, sir. There's been a homicide in Memorial Park. Single victim, Caucasian female, age twenty-eight.
Sexual homicide with mutilation. The same MO as Maplewood." "Scene secure?" "It is, sir. I've closed the park and have men at every entrance." "Closed it?" "Yes, sir. It's necessary, for the next ten to twenty-four hours." He let out a long, long sigh. "Which means it's necessary for me to wake up the mayor. I want a full report on my desk by eight hundred hours. I'll see you in my office at nine hundred." "Yes, sir." Eve looked at the blank screen. No, she didn't see how she was going to manage sleep.
She input her notes and the record from on scene. Preparing for the long day ahead, she programmed a full pot of coffee, then sat to refine her report.
She read it over, searching for any missed details. Finding none, she ran standard probabilities, included the results. Then she saved it, filed it, and copied her commander, her partner, and Mira.
Rising, she pinned Lily Napier's photos, alive and dead, to her board.
At seven-fifteen, she set her wrist unit, stretched out on the floor and slept, restlessly, for twenty minutes. Primed with another cup of coffee, she took a shower in the facilities off the locker room. Briefly, she considered popping some Stay-Up, but it always made her feel jittery and strange.
If she was going to be heavily caffeinated, she preferred doing it with coffee.
She opted to use a conference room rather than her office for her session with Celina, and since Peabody didn't appear to be up from her nap, scheduled it herself.