“Did you hear what they were saying to each other?”
Jack asked.
“Not really. I did hear Martha tell her mother she was
doing it for her. I assumed she meant that was why she worked all the time and
never visited her.”
“Was it normal for a week to pass without seeing her?”
Noah asked.
“Sometimes I’d go a month without seeing her. I hadn’t
planned to see her that night. I just ran into her at the door. I’d already
decided to evict her before that last argument but my lawyer had told me to give
her one more warning, and if she didn’t listen, then get photos of the mess.
Her going out gave me the opportunity to do that.”
“Did you get the pictures?” Jack asked.
“Yes, after Martha left that evening. I don’t normally
intrude on my tenants’ privacy, but I knew I needed to get her out or my whole
place would be infested with roaches.”
Noah felt a spurt of triumph. “Can we get a copy of
those pictures? For our files.”
Mrs. Kobrecki got them from her desk. “Oh, and I
suppose you should take her mail, too. The postman gave me that on Friday as I
was leaving for my weekend trip. Martha’s mailbox was full. He couldn’t stuff
any more in there, so I cleaned it out.”
“You didn’t think it unusual that she didn’t go to her
mailbox?” Noah asked.
“She’d go weeks without checking her mail, like she
was in her own little world.”
“Did she pay her rent on time?” Noah asked.
“She’d never missed a payment until a year ago. She
said she’d gotten wrapped up in a project and lost track of time. After that
she did automatic payment from the bank.”
Jack began sorting the mail, Noah the pictures.
Wow
.
The kitchen sink was filled with dishes, the garbage can overflowing with paper
plates. Her desk was covered with trash, coffee cups, and stacks of paper. In
the living room were stacks of newspapers, so many the wall was totally
obscured. Someone had done a very thorough cleanup.
Jack cleared his throat. “Mrs. Kobrecki, we’d like to
have a last look around the apartment before we close this case. Can you unlock
it for us?”
“Of course. I’ll get my keys. They’re in the back.”
CSU had sealed the scene. Jack didn’t need Kobrecki’s
keys. “What did you find?”
“Something that looks like a paycheck,” Jack murmured,
“plus a bank statement. Why don’t you chat with Mrs. Kobrecki and I’ll go to
the car and check this out.”
The two stood when Mrs. Kobrecki came back into the
room. “Let’s go,” she said.
“I have to start wrapping up,” Jack said. “Thank you
so much, Mrs. Kobrecki.”
Noah followed Mrs. Kobrecki upstairs. “I apologize. My
partner and I forgot that CSU sealed the scene with our lock. We’ll put your
lock back when the case is closed.”
“I didn’t realize a suicide was a case,” Mrs. Kobrecki
said, suddenly suspicious.
“It’s procedure, ma’am. Who lives in the apartment
next to Miss Brisbane?”
“Nobody. The Smiths lived there, but they got
transferred about three months ago.”
The hair rose on the back of Noah’s neck. “You mean
this apartment was empty?”
“Yes. I won’t rent either of them for months after
this.”
“Could you open it for me? The empty unit?”
Mrs. Kobrecki stiffened. “I don’t have the key to that
unit on this key ring.”
Oh, really.
“I thought you had a master.”
“I do, but it only works on the doorknob and the last
tenants installed a deadbolt. Could you hurry, please? I’d like to get this
over with.”
“Of course.” Noah opened the door, waited for her
reaction. She didn’t disappoint.
Her gasp echoed off the walls. “Oh my God. Was she
robbed?”
“We took her computer into our lab. But the rest of
the place looks different?”
“Like day and night. I heard that people will call
family and friends and give things away before they kill themselves. Do they
clean, too?”
“Apparently Miss Brisbane did. Was her apartment
always messy?”
“Not like at the end. She was always a little cluttered
and always had dishes in the sink but the disgusting messes started… about a
year ago.”
Noah wondered what had happened a year ago that had so
changed her life. “Ma’am, who does maintenance and repair for you?”
“My grandson,” she said, still stunned and off-guard,
as he had hoped she would be.
“I’d like to have his statement for the report, if
that’s all right.”
Her eyes grew sharply suspicious once again. “Why? You
have the pictures, why do you need to talk to Taylor?”
Smart old bird.
“Just following procedure.” Her defenses were up. That was telling.
“Taylor is out of town. He won’t be home for weeks.”
“Can I get a phone number?”
Her lips pursed. “It’s stored in my cell phone, which
as I mentioned, is dead. I don’t remember it by heart. I’ll have to call you
with it.”
Ooh, very smart old bird
. “Please do that, Mrs. Kobrecki. Thank you for your
time.”
“Can I have my pictures back?”
“I’ll need them for my report. I’ll make copies and
ensure you get these back.”
Her cheeks darkened. “Thank you. If there’s nothing
else?”
“No ma’am. You’ve been very helpful.”
She looked as if she wanted to curse. Instead she left
silently fuming. Noah locked the door and attached the crime scene tape. They
needed to find Taylor Kobrecki.
Monday, February 22, 2:45 p.m.
Eve stood on Martha Brisbane’s apartment building
manager’s welcome mat, her fist an inch from the woman’s door. She’d stopped
herself from knocking twice already.
Eve’s attempt to talk with Christy Lewis had fallen
flat. Christy hadn’t come into the office and hadn’t called in sick. That meant
Christy had either overslept after spending all night online, or was still
online. Frustrated and needing to
do something
, Eve had driven to
Martha’s, hoping to learn where the woman’s funeral would be held.
But what if the building manager asks how I know
Martha? You’ll say you know her from work. That’s not a lie
. Drawing a breath, Eve lifted her hand to knock just
as a little old lady came stomping down the stairs to the manager’s basement
apartment.
“I don’t want any,” she said. She slammed the door so
hard the walls shook.
“I think I’ll wait for the obituary,” Eve murmured.
She started up the stairs, then heard footsteps coming down. The hairs on the
back of her neck lifted, and she’d learned long ago to trust her senses.
Slowing, she waited until whoever was coming was gone.
It was a man, all in black. All the way up to the
fedora on his head.
Oh
. It was
more quiet exhalation than a word, but he’d heard. He paused at the door, then
turned, and her stomach rolled, just as it did every time she saw him.
Mr. Tonic Water himself. He came to the head of the
stairs, eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat.
“Eve?”
He sounded as
surprised as she was.
“Detective.” It was the only word that would move from
her brain to her lips.
Why was he here?
Why did her heart have to hammer
like a piston every time she saw him?
“Why are you here?” he asked, which was a damn good
question.
She walked past him to the door. “I was wondering when
Martha’s funeral would be.”
“That I don’t know,” he said. “How did you know Miss
Brisbane?”
She stared up at him unflinchingly, her mouth dry as
dust. “From work.”
His dark brows lifted slightly. “From Sal’s? I never
saw her there.”
You only come in once a week
. “Not from Sal’s. I’ll check the paper for her
obituary.”
“Eve, wait. I need to know more. You knew her from
work, but not from Sal’s?”
“I just wanted to pay my respects. Excuse me.” She
could feel his eyes on her as she escaped, staring from beneath the brim of his
fedora.
Fedora.
Why
was the Hat Squad here? Abruptly she turned. “I read Martha committed suicide.”
“That’s what the paper said, yes,” he said, his stare
too penetrating for her comfort.
“But you’re homicide.”
“We investigate suicides.”
“But that’s not why you’re here. If Martha killed
herself you would have closed it last night.” When he’d come by to fetch Jack,
he was so angry she’d felt it across the bar. She came closer, until she could
see under the brim of his hat. “Did Martha kill herself?”
His jaw tightened, almost imperceptibly. “Why?”
Because if she didn’t, I’m not guilty or responsible.
Someone else was.
Oh my God. Martha was murdered
.
By whom? And why?
She was in Shadowland eighteen fucking hours a day.
How could any real person have known her to murder her?
She drew a breath of frigid air. “It matters to me,
okay? Martha mattered.”
His eyes shifted and suddenly they were no longer
unreadable. She saw a flash of pain, of grief, of anger. And suddenly she knew
Martha mattered to him as well.
In that moment Eve wanted, needed to tell him
everything. Which terrified her.
“She didn’t kill herself,” he said. “Where did you
know her from? I need to know. Please.”
I didn’t do it. I didn’t kill her
. Relief sent a shudder down her spine. “Work. I knew
her from work. I have to go.” And when she turned, he didn’t try to stop her.
“Was that Eve from Sal’s?” Jack asked when Noah got
back to the car.
“Yeah. She said she knew Martha ‘from work.’ ”
“Really? I never saw Martha at Sal’s.”
“No, Eve said it was from Martha’s work.”
Jack blinked, clearly taken aback. “
Really?
Well, well, well. Still waters, they say.”
“What the hell are you babbling about?” Noah asked
irritably.
Jack held out a paycheck. “Payable to Martha Brisbane
from Siren Song, Inc.”
“Siren Song. Never heard of them,” Noah muttered.
“Me either, so I had Faye run them through the system.”
“And?” Faye was their office administrator. “What did
she say?”
“Siren Song is a phone sex business.”
Noah’s jaw dropped.
“What?”
“Yep. I called the number on their business
registration, but only got a voicemail. Here’s the address. Let’s go pay them a
visit.”
“Wait.” Noah’s mind was still spinning. “
Eve
is
a
phone sex provider
?”
Jack looked amused. “Um, so was Martha. Our victim?
Remember her?”
Noah opened his mouth. Closed it again. “Goddammit,”
he said.
He started the car and Jack shrugged. “I checked
Martha’s bank statement while you were in there. She spent almost every penny
on that nursing home for her mother, which is expensive. She needed the money,
Web. Maybe Eve does, too. It’s not illegal.”
I’m just disappointed.
He’d thought more of Eve. For a moment, seeing her
there, outside of a bar… For a moment he’d thought it was fate kicking him in
the ass, like Trina said. But now…
A phone sex provider?
“Bartenders
make good money.”
“She’s a grad student,” Jack said. “College is
expensive.”
Noah’s scowl deepened. “How did you know she’s a grad
student?”
“You think I’ve been going up to the bar to get your
water because I’m nice? I’ve been trying to get Eve to go out with me for six
months, ever since… Well, you know.”
Yeah, Noah thought bitterly. He knew. Before six
months ago Jack wouldn’t have given Eve the time of day. Her scar had put him
off. The man was a prince.
Jack made a rude noise. “Don’t you look at me like
that, Web.
You
sure weren’t making a move, before or after she got her
face fixed.”
Sometimes, I swear to God
… Noah gripped the wheel to keep his hand from balling
into an annoyed fist, but couldn’t stop himself from asking, “What did she
say?”
“She evades me every single time. She’s a smooth one.”
Noah thought about the way she’d bolted away minutes
ago. Not so smooth. He’d known she was hiding something. A damn big something.
His mind was still reeling.
“But I bet she’s good at it,” Jack added as Noah
pulled out of the parking lot.
“What?”
“Eve. Phone sex. She’s got that smoky voice. I bet she
makes good money.”
Noah knew Jack was riding him, but still the anger
rose higher. “Shut. Up. Jack.”