Imitation in Death

Chapter14

Shards of glass hitting the floor had, in Eve’s opinion, a more interesting musical note than the continued coo of Smith’s recorded voice.

She doubted any of his fans would recognize him now, with all the negative energy twisting his face. His bloody hand still clenched the shattered drinking glass.

She could hear his labored breaths before he sprang to his feet. She got to her own, slowly, and prepared to deflect any assault.

But he simply threw his head back, like a great dog about to bay, and howled out for Li.

She came on the run, bare feet slapping the floor and filmy robes flapping the air.

“Oh.Carmichael! Oh, you poor thing. You’re bleeding. Should I call the doctor? Should I call an ambulance?” She patted her own cheeks in rapid tat-tats.

While tears welled in his eyes, he held out his bleeding hand. “Do something.”

“Jesus.”Eve stepped forward, grabbed his injured hand, twisted it over to take a look at the cut. “Get a towel, some water, antiseptic, bandages. It’s not deep enough to worry the MTs.”

“But his hands, his beautiful hands.Carmichael is an artist.”

“Yeah, well, he’s an artist with a cut across his palm. No puncture.Peabody? Got a handkerchief?”

“Right here, Lieutenant.”

Taking it,Eve wrapped the cut while Li raced off, probably to call up a cosmetic surgeon.

“Sit down,Carmichael. You’re barely scratched.”

“You have no right, no right to come into my home and upset me this way. No right, no decency. You can’t come here, upset the balance. Threaten me.”

“I don’t recall threatening you, and I’ve got a pretty good memory for that kind of thing.OfficerPeabody, did I threatenMr.Smith?”

“No, sir, you did not.”

“You think because I live an ordered and privileged life I don’t know the darker corners.” His lips curled now, and he held his injured hand to his heart in a loose fist. “You want to extort money from me, payment to keep quiet about matters that are none of your business. Women like you always want to be paid.”

“Women like me?”

“You think you’re better than men. You use your wiles or your sex to control them, to suck them dry. You’re nothing but animals. Bitches and cunts. You deserve to…”

“Deserve to what?”Eve prompted when he stopped himself, when she watched the war for composure rage over his face. “To suffer, to die, to pay?”

“You won’t put words in my mouth.” He collapsed in the chair again, holding his hand by the wrist and rocking as if for comfort.

Li rushed back in carrying a fluffy white towel, a bottle of water, and what looked to be enough bandage to wrap an entire squadron after a bloody battle.

“Let my aide take care of it,”Eve told him. “She’s just going to mess it up, and hurt you considerably while she’s at it.”

Smithnodded curtly, and turned his head away fromPeabody and the blood.

“Li, please go out now. Close the door.”

“But,Carmichael…”

“I want you to go.”

She blinked at the slap in his voice and fled.

“How did you learn about… her?” he askedEve.

“It’s my job to learn about things.”

“It could ruin me, you know. My audience doesn’t want to know about that sort of… They don’t want the unseemly, the unattractive. They come to me for beauty, for romantic fantasy, not for the ugliness of reality.”

“I’m not interested in your audience or in making any information public, until and unless it applies to my case. I told you, I’m not interested in publicity.”

“Everyone is,” he retorted.

“Think what you like, it doesn’t change why I’m here. Your mother was an LC. She was abusive to you.”

“Yes.”

“You support her, financially.”

“As long as she’s taken care of, she stays away, and out of my life. She’s smart enough to know that coming forward, selling her story, might net her some quick money, but it would kill the golden goose. If my income suffers, so does hers. I explained this to her, very carefully, before the first payment was made.”

“Your relationship with your mother is adversarial.”

“We don’t have a relationship. I prefer not to think of the connection. It unbalances my chi.”

“JacieWootonwas an LC.”

“Who?”

“Wooton. The woman who was murdered inChinatown.”

“It has nothing to do with me.” More composed now, he waved it all away with his uninjured hand. “I also choose not to dwell on the darker shades of the world.”

“A second woman was murdered on Sunday. The mother of a grown son.”

He flashed her a look now, and there was a hint of fear in it. “That doesn’t have anything to do with me, either. I survived violence. I don’t perpetuate it.”

“Victims of abuse often become abusive. Children who were beaten often become violent adults. Sometimes a killer is born, sometimes he is made. A woman hurt you, a woman who had control over you, authority over you. She hurt you for years when you were helpless to stop her. How do you make her pay for that pain, for that humiliation, for all the years you lived in fear?”

“I don’t! She’ll never pay. Her type never pays. She wins, again and again. Every time I send her money, she wins again.” Tears tracked down his cheeks now. “She wins because you’re standing there pushing her into my head again. My life is not an illusion because I made it. I created it. I won’t let you come into it and try to shatter it, to smear it.”

Empathy rolled into her stomach. His words, the passion behind them, could have been her own. “You have a home here, and one in London.”

“Yes, yes, yes! What of it?” He jerked his hand, and glanced down at the tug of Peabody’s. When his gaze landed on the bloody cloth, his face went white as bone.

“Go away. Can’t you go away?”

“Tell me where you were Sunday morning.”

“I don’t know. How can I remember everything? I have people to take care of me. I’m entitled to be taken care of. I give pleasure. I take pleasure. I deserve it.”

“Sunday morning, Carmichael, between eight and noon.”

“Here. Right here. Sleeping, meditating, detoxifying. I can’t live with stress. I need my quiet times.”

“Were you alone?”

“I’m never alone. She’s in every closet, under every bed, waiting in the next room to strike out. I lock her away, but it doesn’t mean she isn’t waiting.”

She hurt, looking at him. Understanding the words, she hurt. “Did you leave the house on Sunday morning?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Did you know Lois Gregg?”

“I know so many people. So many women. They love me. Women love me because I’m perfect. Because I don’t threaten them. Because they don’t know that I know what they are under it all.”

“Did you kill Lois Gregg?”

“I have nothing more to say to you. I’m going to call my attorneys now. I want you to leave my home. Li!” He put his injured hand behind his back as he rose, swaying a little. He stepped carefully to the side, away from the blood-smeared towel.

“Li, make them go away,” he ordered, as she hurried into the room again. “Make them leave. I have to lie down now. I don’t feel well. I need my quiet room.”

“There now, there.” Cooing, she put an arm around his waist, took his weight. “I’ll take care of everything, don’t you worry. Poor baby. Don’t you worry.”

She shot a vicious look at Eve over her shoulder as she led Smith from the room. “I want you gone when I get back. If not, your superior will hear about this.”

Eve pursed her lips, listening to Li’s voice fade as she cooed Smith away.

“Guy’s got some serious problems,” Peabody commented.

“Yeah. Maybe he thinks he can cover it up with meditation, herb drinks, and mind-numbing music.” Eve shrugged. “Maybe he can. He couldn’t look at the blood,” she added, studying the towel. “Made him sick to see blood. Hard to do what was done to those two women if blood makes you sick. Then again, maybe it’s just the sight of his own blood that does it.”

She checked the time as they left the house. “We’re running a little early.”

“Yeah?” Peabody perked right up. “Then maybe we could hit a cart, or a24 /7. I missed breakfast.”

“Not that early.” When Peabody’s face fell, Eve sighed. “You know I hate that kicked-puppy look. Whatever we pass first. And you have one minute to do the transaction, which will include getting me coffee.”

“Deal.”

They hit a cart, so Peabody settled for a scrambled egg wrap that Eve assumed tasted better than it smelled. The coffee didn’t but that was par. “We’re going to talk to Breen’s wife. I got a hassle when I called her office for her schedule, so I pulled in the reserves.”

Peabody’s response was an egg-substitute-filled mumble. She swallowed. “I’m supposed to arrange the appointments.”

“You’re going to bitch because I cut you a break?”

“No.” But she had to fight the pout. “I don’t want you to think I can’t fulfill my duties because I’ve got all this stuff going on.”

“If I have a complaint about your work, Peabody, you’ll be the first to know.”

“That’s a given,” Peabody muttered and took a slug of her orange-flavored energy drink. “You said reserves?”

“Julietta does fashion. I happen to know somebody in the fashion forefront. Ms. Gates’ schedule miraculously cleared when she got a call from Leonardo’s main squeeze.”

“You tagged Mavis. Mag.”

“It’s not a girl outing, Peabody, it’s a murder investigation.”

“Silver linings, sir. I like a nice silver lining.” Peabody washed down egg substitute with reconstituted citrus product. “I can’t wait to tell her we’re going to be neighbors. At least until she has the baby. I guess they’re going to want a bigger place.”

“Why? How much room could a baby take up?”

“It’s not the baby so much, it’s all the stuff. You got your crib, your changing table, your activity center, your diaper unit, your-”

“Never mind. Jeez.” It gave her the mild weirds just to think about it.

“It was really smart to horn in using Mavis.”

“I have my moments.”

“Of course, you could’ve just told them you were Mrs. Roarke, and they’d have bowed to you.”

“I don’t want them to bow to me, I just want a damn interview. And don’t call me Mrs. Roarke.”

“Just saying.” Cheerful now, Peabody polished off the wrap. “Boy, nothing like a good breakfast to lift your mood. It’s not such a big deal, getting a place with McNab. It’s just another step in an evolving relationship. Right?”

“How the hell do I know?”

Fastidiously, Peabody dug out a wipe for her fingers, and made a mental note to replace the bloody handkerchief she’d left at Smith’s. “Well, when you moved in with Roarke you didn’t get all stupid and nervous and knotted up.”

There was a long pause, a long silence.

“You did?” Peabody’s head thunked back on the seat. “That’s so great. It makes me feel so much better. If you can get all screwed up over moving in with the god of men, into that palace, it’s okay for me to get wigged about moving to an apartment with McNab. It’s okay.”

“Now that we’ve solved that thorny dilemma, maybe we can concentrate on the case.”

“I just have one more question. When did you get over it? I mean, how long did it take for you to feel normal about hooking up with Roarke-living in the same space and all that?”

“I’ll let you know when it happens.”

“Wow. That’s…” She thought it over, and a dreamy smile bloomed on her face. “That’s sweet.”

“Please shut up before I have to hurt you.”

“Dallas, you said please. You’re mellowing.”

“Insults,” Eve grumbled. “All I get are insults. Mrs. Roarke, sweet, mellowing. We’ll see how mellow I am when I stuff your head up your ass.”

“And she’s back,” Peabody announced, and rode in contented silence.

– -«»--«»--«»--

You could always count on Mavis, Eve thought. For a favor, for a laugh, for a shoulder. And most of all for sheer surprise.

Being four months pregnant hadn’t depleted her energy or affected her bent for fashion risks. At least Eve assumed they were risks as nobody, absolutely nobody, looked quite like Mavis Freestone.

She’d gone for summer pastels, for her hair in any case, and had swooped it up in some sort of snaky twists that twined gleaming hunks of blue and pink and greens together. They were anchored here and there with lavender pins in the shapes of what Eve took for tiny flowers, until she got a closer look and realized they were naked babies curled into the embryonic position.

Talk about the weirds.

A dozen thin chains of gold and silver dangled from each ear. On each chain, colorful balls hung that clanged together every time she moved. Which meant constantly.

Her tiny body was decked out in a skirt the size of a table napkin, matched with a swingy vest, both in white, and both covered with tiny question marks that echoed the hues of her hair. She wore shoes with one clear strap. The thick soles and clunky heels were filled with more little balls that jingled with each step. Her toenails were painted in every color of the rainbow.

For Mavis, it was business attire.

“This is absolutely magalicious,” Mavis claimed. “Outré is like the cutting edge. It was my bible of style before I met my honeybear. I still go through it every month, but now I never have to think how I’m going to afford all the friggin’ clothes. Leonardo is the ult.”

“I need five minutes with her.”

“It’s a dunk, Dallas. If she could’ve kissed my ass over the ‘link, I’d have lip dye smears on my butt. Just watch.”

They crossed the wide lobby. It was done in sharp geometric patterns of white, red, and black. Fanning out from the central data desk were pathways that led to boutiques, a fancy café, and a home decor center.

Between them on the walls were screens on which elongated models walked runways in outfits that might have been designed by a mental patient on Pluto.

“Fall fashion shows,” Mavis told her. “New York, Milan, Paris, and London.” She let out a squeal and pointed. “See that? That’s my babycakes’ designs. Nobody comes close.”

Eve studied the ensemble of skintight red stripes that boasted an explosion of gold tail feathers and a transparent skirt that glowed with little white lights at the hem.

How could she argue?

Mavis marched by the data center to the security station that guarded a bank of glossy red elevators. “Mavis Freestone to see Julietta Gates.”

“Yes, Ms. Freestone, you’re to go right up to thirty. Someone will meet you.” The guard’s hand came up to stop Eve and Peabody. “Only Ms. Freestone is cleared for thirty.”

“You don’t really think I travel alone, do you?” Mavis spoke in icy tones before Eve could work up a snarl. “If my entourage isn’t welcome, neither am I.”

“I beg your pardon, Ms. Freestone. I just need to check upstairs.”

“Quickly.” Mavis shot her little nose in the air. “I’m a very busy woman.”

She made a show out of tapping her foot, examining her nails in the twenty seconds it took the guard to clear them.

“You and your entourage are cleared for thirty. Thank you for your patience.”

Mavis maintained the diva mode until the elevator doors shut behind them. “Subzero! I could eat that with a spoon. ‘You and your entourage are cleared for thirty.’ Is that hot shit, or what?”

She did a quick butt-wiggling dance, then patted her belly. “I only said entourage because I thought you might punch him.”

“I was thinking about it.”

“I’m keeping the baby away from displays of violence. Not even watching much screen. I heard how serenity and positive energy’s really good for brewing babies.”

With some trepidation, Eve glanced down at Mavis’ belly. Could the thing hear in there? “I’ll try not to punch anybody when you’re around.”

“That’d be good.” Mavis shut off her beaming smile as the doors opened. The diva was back. She lifted her eyebrows at the woman who waited for them.

“Ms. Freestone, such a pleasure to meet you. I’m an enormous fan of yours, and of Leonardo’s, of course.”

“Of course.” Mavis extended a hand.

“If you’ll just come with me, Ms. Gates is very anxious to see you.”

“I dig this to China,” Mavis said out of the corner of her mouth as they walked through another generous lobby.

In this one, clear cubes were set up for busy drones. Headsets and keyboards were fully manned by a troop that had obviously watched the fashion shows and tried to outdo them.

The space once again fanned out, and at the far curve were double doors in what Eve now assumed was Outré’s signature murder-red.

Their escort hurried along in a skirt snug as a bandage, on heels sharp as scalpels. She pressed a button at the center of the left door. Seconds later, a brisk impatient voice snapped: “Yes.”

“Ms. Freestone is here to see you, Ms. Gates.”

Rather than a response, the doors slid back into the wall, revealing an enormous office, ribboned with privacy-screened windows.

The black-and-white theme continued here. Black carpet, white walls, a massive white workstation. Wide chairs were covered in thin black-and-white stripes.

The red came from the scarlet roses massed in a tall black vase, and from the sharp, powerful business suit that decked Julietta’s impressive body.

She was tall, curvy with a simple sweep of honey blonde hair that swung around a diamond-shaped face. Keen cheekbones, keen chin, keen nose, with a mouth just a shade too thin for beauty. But the eyes, a deep, deep brown, pulled the attention away from the minor flaw.

She was crossing the room as the doors opened, her hand extended, a delighted expression on her face. “Mavis Freestone, what a pleasure. I’m so glad you got in touch. I’ve been wanting to meet you for the longest time! Of course, I’ve known Leonardo forever. He’s such a sweetheart.”

“He’s certainly mine.”

“Please, sit down. What can I offer you? Iced coffee perhaps?”

“I’m dodging caffeine these days.” Mavis remained standing, patted her belly.

“Yes, of course. Congratulations. When are you due?”

“February.”

“What a nice Valentine’s present.” Ignoring Eve and Peabody, she drew Mavis toward a chair. “Get off your feet, and we’ll have a cold, sparkling juice.”

“We’d love one. Got time for a drink, Dallas?”

“I can make time, since Ms. Gates found an opening in her busy calendar.” Resting an arm on the back of Mavis’ chair, Eve cocked her hip. “My questions shouldn’t take long.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“LieutenantDallas, NYPSD.”Eve took out her badge. “My aide,OfficerPeabody. Now that we all know each other, and we’re all cozy, maybe you could answer some questions.”

“I repeat”-Julietta walked around her desk to assume a position of command-” I don’t understand. I agreed to seeMs.Freestone. We’d very much like to do a major article on you, Mavis, with a photo layout.”

“Sure, we can talk about that. AfterDallas is done.Dallas and I go way back,” she added with a wonderfully guileless smile. “When she mentioned she was having trouble getting an interview, I said I was sure it was just a communication glitz, and you’d make time. Supporting our local police is a really important issue with me andLeonardo.”

“Cleverly done.” Julietta replied.

“I thought so.”Eve stayed on her feet as Julietta sat down. “If you’re not comfortable, I’m sure Mavis wouldn’t mind waiting outside the office until we’re finished.”

“No need for that.” Julietta leaned back, swiveled in her chair. “You’ve already spoken toTom. I don’t know what I can possibly add. I don’t get involved in his work, and he doesn’t get involved in mine.”

“How about each other’s lives?”

Her tone remained perfectly pleasant. “Which area of our lives do you have in mind?”

“When was the last time you were inLondon?”

“London?” Her brow creased. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“Humor me.”

“I was there a few weeks ago on business.” With the annoyance still creased between her eyebrows, she picked up a small pocket calendar, keyed in for the date. “July eight and nine and ten.”

“Alone?”

There was a quick flicker in her eyes before she set the calendar down. “Yes, why?”

“Your husband ever go over with you?”

“We went in April. Tom thought the experience would be fun for Jed. I had business, and he wanted to do some research. We took an extra two days for a family holiday.”

“Buy any souvenirs?”

“What are you getting at?”

“I guess you travel to Europe pretty regularly,” Eve said, changing tack. “For your business.”

“I do. For fashion shows, for events, to meet with my counterparts in our European offices. Just what does this have to do with Tom helping you in an investigation?”

“It’s part of my investigation.”

“I don’t-” She broke off when her pocket ‘link rang. “Excuse me, that’s my private line. I need to get this.”

She shifted it to privacy mode, slid on a miniheadset, and angled away so Eve couldn’t see the ‘link’s view screen.

“Julietta Gates. Yes.”

Her voice warmed, several degrees, and that just-a-little-too-thin mouth tipped up in a smile.

“Absolutely. I have it on my calendar. One o’clock. Mmm-hmm. Yes, I’m in a meeting.” There was a long silence as she listened, and Eve noted the faint flush that rose to her cheeks. “I’ll look forward to that. Yes, I will. Goodbye.”

She disconnected, slipped off the headset. “Sorry, afternoon meeting. Now-”

“Can you tell me where you were Sunday morning?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She let out a huff of breath. “Sundays, I let Tom sleep in and take Jed to the park, or to some other activity. I’m trying to be cooperative, Lieutenant, since Mavis has asked me to, but I’m finding this very annoying.”

“Almost done. How about the night of September second, between midnight and three?”

Julietta snatched up her calendar again, keyed in. Again, Eve saw the slight change cross her face. “I had a meeting with an associate. I can’t tell you precisely when I got home as I didn’t make note of it, but I think it was after nine, maybe close to ten. I was tired, and went straight up to bed since Tom was working.”

“So he was home the entire night.”

“Why wouldn’t he be? He was working. I took a pill and went to bed. I told him I was going to, so he’d hardly have left the house because of Jed. Tom’s completely devoted, and somewhat overprotective of Jed. What is this?”

“That’s it for now. Thanks for the time.”

“I think I’m entitled to some sort of-”

“If you still want, we can talk about that article.” Mavis popped to her feet. “I just need a minute first.”

She scooted out of the office with Eve, then dropped her voice to a whisper. “So? Did she kill somebody or what?”

“Doubtful. The worst I figure she’s done is cheat on her husband with whoever called her on her private ‘link.”

“She did? She is? How do you know?”

“Plenty of tells. Look, if you don’t want to deal with her, you can leave with me and Peabody. We’ll get you home.”

“No, it’s chilly. A spread in Outré’s like my fantasy. And it’ll give a boost to my disc sales. Won’t hurt Leonardo’s biz either. It cooks for all of us. We did good, right?”

“We did good.”

“Night or day, day or night. Hey, what do you think about Vignette or Vidal?”

“What are they?”

“My baby. Vignette for a girl, Vidal for a boy. They’re French. We’re experimenting with French names, and I ditched Fifi. I mean, who names a kid Fifi?”

Eve didn’t know who might name a kid Vignette either, but made a noncommittal mouth noise.

“Somebody will call her Viggy,” Peabody said. “Which rhymes with piggy, so she’ll be Piggy Viggy in school.”

Mavis looked horrified. “You think? Deep-six Vignette.” She gave her belly a comforting rub. “Plenty of time to come up with something else. Catch you later.” She swung back into Julietta’s office.

“Impressions, Peabody?” Eve asked as they rode down.

“She looks great, and she’ll come up with something better than Vignette or Vidal.”

“About Julietta Gates, you moron.”

“I know, I just wanted to annoy you. Sir,” she added when Eve looked at her. “Used to running the show, and likes it. Dresses for power even more than style. Ambitious. She’d have to be to have gotten where she is at her age. Strikes me as a little cold-blooded. There’s no zing when she talks about her kid. That was a good catch with the extramarital. Blew right by me. Then when you said it, and I played it back, it was right there. The way her voice changed, the body language.”

“And from the way her face flushed up, I’d say the voice on the other end was letting her know a few games they’d be playing at their one-o’clock today. I’m going to want to confirm the dish on the side, in case we need to push on her later.”

“We going to surveil?”

“No, don’t want to risk her spotting either one of us this close to our little interview. I’ll see if Baxter can handle it. How much does a kid like hers talk?”

“At that age, they rarely shut up. Hardly anybody but immediate family can understand them, but it doesn’t stop them from talking.”

“She met her side piece on Sunday, you can take that to the vault. And she had the kid with her. Wouldn’t he tattle to daddy?”

“She probably told him it was a secret.”

“Huh.” This was foreign territory, so she took Peabody at her word. “Kids keep secrets?”

“No, but she doesn’t strike me as the type who knows her own kid very well. And the boy seems pretty tight with his dad. My best guess is he kept the secret until she was out of hearing, then blabbed. Daddy, me and Mommy and Uncle Side Dish played on the swings, but it’s a secret.”

Eve let it play in her head, and nodded. “And I doubt it’s the first time. Daddy knows what’s going on, and wouldn’t that irritate him? Wouldn’t he be a bit put out? Here he is, staying at home watching the kid, taking care of the house, while she’s running around town-and Europe-with some other guy. Playing with some other guy with his son in tow. Yeah, that’s a real pisser.”

“Mother and whore,” she said as they got back into the vehicle. “We keep coming back to that. No problem for him to get out of the house for either murder, and he might’ve picked up the writing paper-paying cash-on his spring trip toLondon. Hell, the paper could’ve been a gift from a fan for that matter. And he decided it fit the bill. He knows the prototype murders as well as the initial killers.”

“Means, motive, opportunity.”

“Yeah,ThomasA. just jumped to the top of our list.”