Imitation in Death

Chapter4

They ate in the dining room at Roarke’s suggestion that they have a meal like people who have lives outside their professions. The remark was pointed enough to haveEve checking her intention of grabbing a burger at her desk in her home office. But her initial enjoyment of the crab salad was spoiled by his reminder that they had plans the following evening.

“Charity dinner dance,” he prompted when she stared blankly. “ Philadelphia. We need to make an appearance.” He sipped his wine and smiled at her. “Not to worry, darling. It won’t hurt very much, and we won’t have to leave until after seven. If you’re running late, you can change on the shuttle.”

She poked sulkily at chilled crab. “Did I know about this?”

“You did. And if you ever glanced at your personal calendar, you wouldn’t so often be surprised and appalled by these little obligations.”

“I’m not appalled.” Dinner, dancing. Fancy outfit, fancy people. God. “It’s just that if something breaks at work-”

“Understood.”

She bit back a sigh because it was true. He understood. She heard enough comments from other cops about spouses or lovers who didn’t, or couldn’t, or wouldn’t, to appreciate it.

And she knew she wasn’t nearly as flexible and understanding about the role she had to play as the wife of one of the richest and most influential men on or off planet.

She stabbed more crab and made an effort to pull her marital weight. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“It might actually be fun. Sunday promises to be.”

“Sunday?”

“Mmm.” He topped off her wine, figuring she’d need it. “The cookout atDr.Mira ’s. It’s been a very long time since I attended something I suppose would be termed a kind of family picnic. I hope there’s potato salad.”

She picked up her wine, drank deep. “She talked to you. You said yes.”

“Of course. We should take a bottle of wine or I wonder if beer’s more appropriate.” Enjoying himself, he lifted an eyebrow. “What do you think?”

“I can’t think. I don’t know about this stuff. I’ve never been to a cookout. I don’t understand the ritual. If we’re both off on Sunday, we could just stay home, in bed. Have sweaty sex all day.”

“Hmm. Sex or potato salad. You’ve hit me at two basic levels.” Then he laughed at her, and passed her half a roll he’d already buttered. “Eve, it’s a simple family gathering. She wants you there because you’re important to her. We’ll sit around and talk about, I don’t know, baseball or some such thing. We’ll eat too much and enjoy ourselves. And you’ll have the chance to meet her family. Then we’ll come home and have sweaty sex.”

She scowled at the roll. “It just makes me nervous, that’s all. You like having conversations with strangers. I don’t get that about you.”

“You have conversations with strangers all the time,” he pointed out. “You just call them suspects.”

Defeated, she filled her mouth with bread.

“Now, why don’t we talk about something that won’t make you nervous? Tell me about the case.”

There was a lovely twilight outside the windows, and candles flickering prettily on the table. Wine sparkled in crystal and silver gleamed. And her mind, she realized, kept slipping back to a hacked body in a cold drawer at the morgue. “It’s not exactly dinner conversation.”

“Not for normal people. But it works for us. The media reports were sketchy.”

“I’m not going to be able to keep them that way if and when he hits again. I ducked reporters all day, but I’m going to have to give them something tomorrow to stem the appetite. She was an LC, bumped down to street level because of some illegals busts. She seemed to be clean now, though I’d still like to find her supplier just to knot that thread.”

“A down-on-her-luck LC shouldn’t have the media slathering very long.”

“No, it won’t be who, it’ll be how that gets them drooling. He took her in an alley. The way it looked, she went in to do the job. He faced her to the wall, slit her throat. Even from behind, he couldn’t have avoided all the blood spatter.”

She picked up her wine again, staring into it rather than drinking. “Then he laid her out, across the alley floor.Morris thinks a laser scalpel. He cut her pelvis out, took the whole works. You could all but swim in the blood.”

She drank now, let out a breath. There was something about blood, she thought, the scent of death blood. Once you smelled it, you never completely got it out of your system.

“Clean job, though, almost surgical. Had to have a bag to take it away in, had to work fairly quickly, had to clean himself up before he walked back out again. Even down there, that time of night, somebody’s going to notice a guy covered in blood.”

“And no one did.”

“No.” They’d check again, she thought. And again. But odds were they’d come up zero. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak all you want as long as it doesn’t put you in the mix. He didn’t know her, I’m almost sure. Otherwise, he’d have gone for the face some. That’s what they do. Thrill crime, lust driven. Woman hater.Peabody got dog-sick, and spent a good part of the day kicking herself about it.”

He thought of what the victim, what the alley must have looked like and rubbed a hand overEve ’s. “Have you ever? Gotten sick?”

“Not on-scene. It’s like saying you did more than I can take, more than I can handle, and I can’t stand over this body and look at what you did. But sometimes, later, it comes back on you. Middle of the night mostly. Then you get sick.”

She drank now. “Anyway… he left a note, addressed to me. Don’t freak,” she said when she felt his fingers tighten over her hand. “It’s professional rather than personal. He’s admired my work, wanted to give me a chance to see his. He wanted me on this one, an ego thing. I’ve had two very hot cases this summer, with wall-to-wall media attention. He wants that sort of buzz.”

His fingers stayed over hers. “What did it say?”

“Just that-cocky. He signed itJack.”

“Emulating the Ripper then.”

“You save me a lot of steps when you get it. Yeah, the choice of victim, the location, the method, even the note to a cop. Too much of it’s already leaked to the media, and if they get their teeth in it, it’s going to be a frenzy. I want to shut him down fast, before the panic. Been working with the note-the paper.”

“What’s unique about it?”

“Unrecycled, very pricey, manufactured inEngland, sold exclusively inEurope. Do you manufacture unrecycled paper products?”

“Roarke Industries is green. Just our little contribution to environmental responsibility, which also earns a healthy tax break in most markets.” He ignored the server droid who came to clear the plates and bring out small dessert parfaits and coffee.

“Where’s the paper taking you?”

“I’m focusing onLondon outlets first, playing the Ripper angle. I’ve got a couple of celebs, a politician type, a retired financier, and the asshole lover of some actress named Pepper.”

“PepperFranklin?”

“Yeah, she strikes me as straight up, but the guy…” She trailed off, narrowing her eyes as Roarke scooped up a spoonful of parfait. “You know her.”

“Mmm. This is very nice, refreshing.”

“You banged her.”

Though his lips twitched he managed to maintain a sober expression as he sampled more parfait. “That’s a very unattractive term. I prefer saying we had a brief and mature relationship, which included the occasional banging.”

“I should’ve known. She’s just your type.”

“Is she?” he queried.

“Gorgeous, elegant, sophisticated sex.”

“Darling.” He sat back to sip his coffee. “How conceited of you. Not that you aren’t all those things, and more.”

“I’m not talking about me.” She scowled at him a moment, then went to work on the parfait. “I should have figured her for one of your formers the minute I saw the portrait.”

“Ah, she still has that, does she? TheTitania portrait?”

She shoveled parfait in her mouth. “You’re going to tell me you gave it to her.”

“As what you might call a parting gift.”

“What, like on a game show?”

His laughter was rich and full of fun. “If you like. How is she? I haven’t seen her in,Christ, seven or eight years, I suppose.”

“She’s dandy.” Watching him, she licked her spoon. “But her taste in men has seriously declined.”

“Why, thank you.” He grabbed her hand, kissed it. “While mine, in women, has seriously improved.”

She wouldn’t have minded working up a good head of jealousy steam, to see what it felt like. But it just didn’t work for her. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. She’s hooked up with a guy namedLeoFortney. Operator. He’s got operator all over him, and a couple of pops, including sexual assault.”

“Doesn’t sound like Pepper’s usual fare. Is he your prime suspect?”

“He’s number one right now, though he was home in bed during the time involved. She’s corroborating, but since she was sleeping, I’m not putting much weight there. Plus, he lied, said they went nighty-night together, and she said different before she realized she’d be blowing it for him. Still, she struck me as a straight shooter.” She paused, waited.

“She is, yes.”

“So whether or not he was there, she thinks he was. We’ll see where it goes. Meanwhile, I’ve got informals set up tomorrow withCarmichaelSmith to start.”

“Pop music king. Irritatingly saccharine lyrics, over-orchestrated melodies.”

“So I’m told.”

“You may not have been told, as I’ve been, thatSmith enjoys young women, preferably more than one at a time. And makes considerable use of groupies, as well as professionals, to help him… relax between recording sessions and gigs.”

“Minors?”

“There’ve been rumblings that there might have been an underage fan now and again, though he’s usually more careful. No violence that I’ve heard of. Though he likes bondage games, he prefers being the one bound.”

“He one of yours?”

“No, he’s still with his original label. I could probably poach him, but his music just annoys me.”

“Okay, moving on. There’s Niles Renquist, works forU.N. Delegate MarshallEvans.”

“I know Renquist, slightly. So do you.”

“I do?”

“You met him, I think it was last spring, at another appalling obligation.” He watched her eyebrows draw together as she tried to place it-the place, the meet, the man. “More a quick introduction than a meet, actually. A silent auction benefiting, well, there you have me,” he murmured. “I’d need my book for that. But it was a few months ago, here inNew York. You’d have been introduced to him and his wife at some point.”

Because she couldn’t bring it in, she let it go. “Did I have an impression?”

“Apparently not. He’s, let’s see… conservative, leaning toward stuffy. Late thirties, I’d say, well-spoken, well-educated. What you might call a bit prissy. His wife’s quite pretty in the British tea-party style. They have homes here and inEngland, I know, as I recall his wife telling me she enjoyedNew York, but much preferred their home outsideLondon where she could garden properly.”

“Did you have an impression?”

“Can’t say I liked either of them overmuch.” He lifted a shoulder in a vague shrug. “A bit on the pompous side, and very aware of class distinctions and levels of society. The sort I’d find tedious if not downright annoying with regular exposure.”

“You know a lot of people who fit that box.”

His lip twitched. “I do. Yes, I do.”

“ElliotP.Hawthorne?”

“Yes, I’ve had dealings with him. Seventies, sharp, lives for golf. Apparently dotes on his third, considerably younger wife, and travels quite a lot now that he’s retired. I like him quite a bit. Is that helpful at all?”

“Anybody you don’t know?”

“Not worth mentioning.”

– -«»--«»--«»--

The evening at home with Roarke had helped clear her mind,Eve decided as she rode up in the jammed elevator to the Homicide Division. Not only did she feel rested, well-fed, and tuned up, but his informal rundown of some of the names on her list gave her a different insight. It was more personal and certainly more informative than the dry facts from a standard ID run.

She could shuffle his data around in her head as she questioned each party, and angle those questions around the more personal information. But first, she needed to check for any updates on lab and ME reports, round upPeabody, and face the media music.

She elbowed her way out of the elevator and turned toward her sector.

And all but ran intoNadineFurst.

The on-air reporter had a new short and sleek hairdo. What was it,Eve thought, with new hair on everybody? It was blonder, swingier, and swept back from Nadine’s perfect, angular face.

She was wearing a short, fitted jacket over slim, fitted pants, both in power red, which toldEve she was camera-ready.

And she carried a huge white bakery box that smelled gloriously of fat and sugar.

“Doughnuts.” There was no mistaking that scent, andEve homed in on it like a hound on a fox. “You’ve got doughnuts in there.” She tapped a finger to the box. “That’s how you get through the bullpen, avoid the civilian and media lounges, and end up in my office. You bribe my men.”

Nadinefluttered her lashes. “And your point is?”

“My point is, how come I never get a damn doughnut?”

“Because generally I time it better, dump my offering in the bullpen, sometimes it’s brownies, and while every cop in Homicide descends like a pack of coyotes, I settle down in your office and wait for your arrival.”

Evewaited a beat. “Bring the doughnuts, leave the camera.”

“I need my camera,”Nadine said, gesturing to the woman beside her.

“I need a sunny Sunday at the beach where I can romp naked as a puppy in the surf, but I’m not going to get it any time soon either. Doughnuts in, camera out.”

To ensure obedience, and to prevent her men from rioting, she snatched the bakery box herself before striding into the bullpen.

Several heads lifted, noses sniffed the air. “Don’t even think about it,”Eve ordered and kept right on walking through choruses of protests and complaints.

“There are three dozen in there,”Nadine told her as she followedEve into her office. “You can’t possibly eat them all.”

“I could, just to teach those greedy hogs a lesson. However, this is a lesson in discipline and authority.” She opened the box, sighed deep as she perused her choices, all glossy, all hers. “I’ll let them think I’m keeping them all, and have my fill, then have them weeping with gratitude when I take out the leftovers to share.”

She plucked one out, brought up coffee on the AutoChef, then bit in. “Cream filled. Yum.” Chewing, she checked her wrist unit, then counted back from ten as she crossed to the door.Peabody rushed to the doorway asEve hit one.

“ Dallas! Hey! I was just-”

Taking another enormous bite,Eve closed the door in her aide’s sorrowful face.

“That was really cold,”Nadine commented and did what she could to swallow the laugh.

“Yeah, but fun.”

“Now that we’ve had our fun, I need an update on the Wooton murder, and a one-on-one. It would’ve been easier to set this up if you’d bothered to return any of my calls.”

Evesat on the corner of the desk. “Can’t do it,Nadine.”

“I need to verify if there was, as rumored, some sort of communication left at the crime scene, and the contents therein. Also what progress has or has not been made since-”

“Nadine, I can’t.”

Undaunted,Nadine helped herself to coffee, sat in Eve’s battered visitor’s chair, crossed her legs. “The public has a right to know, and I, as media representative, have a responsibility to-”

“Save it. We can go through the dance, but you’ve brought me these nice doughnuts and I don’t want to waste your time.” GivingNadine a moment to stew,Eve licked sugar off her thumb. “I’m going to issue a press release, give a statement, and you’ll have it along with the other media reps within the hour. But I can’t give you a head start, or agree to a one-on-one. I need to pull back a little-”

Nadinewas finished stewing and ready to cut to the core. “What makes this case different? If there’s to be some sort of media shutdown-”

“Stop. Shift out of reporter mode for one goddamn minute. You’re a friend of mine. I like you, and beyond that I think you do a good job, a responsible one.”

“Great, fine, and right back at you, but-”

“I’m not shutting you out. The fact is, I’m treating you as I would any other media rep.”

Except,Eve thought, for the doughnut gorging and private chat. “My tendency to show favoritism toward you is one of the reasons you were pulled into theStevenson case last month.”

“That was-”

“Nadine.” It was the quiet patience in Eve’s tone-something rarely heard-that hadNadine subsiding again. “There were complaints. And there’s speculation of the sort that could bring us both grief if I don’t throttle back on the cop/reporter relationship a bit. So I can’t feed you this time. I need the rumbles to quiet down before I start to be known as Furst’s pet, or you as mine. Enough reporters get together and start crying foul and favoritism, it’s not going to be good for either of us.”

Nadinehissed through her teeth. She’d heard the complaints, and the speculation, and had already weathered some resentment among her own rank and file. “You’re right, and that’s a pisser. Doesn’t mean I won’t hound you,Dallas.”

“Goes without saying.”

The battle light shone in her eyes again, and matched the sharp little smile. “Or bribe your men.”

“I like brownies, especially the ones with those chunks of chocolate in them.”

Nadineset the coffee down, got up. “Listen, if you need to leak something, give Quinton Post a try. He’s young yet, but he’s good, and the work matters to him as much, maybe even a little more, than the ratings. That won’t last,” she added cheerfully. “But you might as well get him while he’s fresh.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

– -«»--«»--«»--

Alone,Eve refined her official statement, then ran it through channels. Carting the bakery box back into the bullpen, she dropped it on the communal AutoChef.

All movement stopped. Silence fell.

“ Peabody,” she said into the breathless hush, “with me.”

She’d barely hit the doorway when the riot of rushing feet and clamor of voices erupted behind her.

Cops and doughnuts, she thought. A well-honored tradition that almost brought a sentimental tear to the eye.

“I bet there were jelly-filled. I bet there were,” Peabody muttered as they muscled onto an elevator.

“Some of them had those little colored sprinkle things on top. Like edible confetti.”

Peabody ’s square and sturdy jaw wobbled with emotion. “All I had time for this morning was reconstituted banana slices on a stale bagel.”

“You’re breaking my heart.” At garage level,Eve strolled off the elevator. “ Carmichael ’s first stop. We’re catching him between his morning aqua therapy and daily skin treatment.”

“You could’ve saved me one. One little doughnut.”

“I could have,”Eve agreed as they climbed in her vehicle. “I could have done that. In fact…” She rummaged around in her pocket, pulled out an evidence bag. Inside was a jelly doughnut. “I believe I did.”

“For me?” Overjoyed, Peabody snatched it, sniffed through the bag. “You saved me a doughnut. You’re so good to me. I take back everything I was thinking-you know, how you’re a cold, selfish, doughnut-hogging bitch and all that. Thanks, Dallas.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I really shouldn’t eat it though.” Peabody caught her bottom lip between her teeth, stroking the bag asEve backed out of the slot. “I really shouldn’t. I’m on a diet. I’ve just got to lose some of the square footage of my ass, so I-”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake. Give it back then.”

But whenEve reached out, Peabody cringed back, doughnut bag clutched at her breasts, face screwed into dangerous lines. “Mine.”

“ Peabody, you continue to be a fascination to me.”

“Thanks.” Slowly, savoring the moment, Peabody unsealed the bag. “Anyway, I deserve it. I’m using up lots of calories studying for the detectives’ exam, and stressing about it. Stress sucks up calories like a vacuum. That’s why you’re so thin.”

“I’m not thin, I’m not stressed.”

“If you’ve got an excess ounce of body fat, I’ll eat it. Respectfully, sir,” Peabody added with a mouthful of jelly doughnut. “But I’ve really been hitting the discs and the simulators. McNab’s helping me out. He’s hardly even being an asshole right now.”

“Wonder of wonders.”

“It’s coming up really soon. I was wondering if you could tell me where you think my weak areas are so I could work on them.”

“You question yourself. Even when your gut tells you you’re right, you don’t trust it enough. You’ve got good instincts, but you tend to be afraid to go with them without confirmation from a superior. You often question your own competence, and when you question yours, you’re questioning mine.”

She glanced over, unsurprised to seePeabody keying her comments into her notebook between bites of doughnut. “You’re writing this down.”

“It helps to see it, you know. Then to do these affirmations in the mirror. I’m a confident, competent officer of the law, and like that.” She flushed a little. “It’s just a method.”

“Whatever.”

Evenosed into a narrow space at the curb. “Let’s confidently and competently see whereCarmichaelSmith was night before last.”

“Yes, sir, but I also have to stress and obsess about having eaten that jelly doughnut. That’ll work off the calories and even it out. It’ll be like I never ate it at all.”

“Then you might want to wipe the jelly off your lip.”

Evestepped out of the car, studied the building. It had been, she supposed, a small three-level apartment building at one time. Now it was a single residence on a tony street. Private security again, two entrances in the front. At least one in the back, she assumed.

Not so far from an alley inChinatown geographically, but worlds away in every other form. No LCs on the stroll here, no glide-carts on the corners. High-maintenance and low crime.

She circled around the walk and up to the main entrance on the second level.

Security panel, palm plate, and a retinal scan. A very careful man. She engaged the panel and frowned at the music that soared out. A lot of strings and keyboard around a creamy male voice.

“‘Love Lights the World,’” Peabody identified. “It’s sort of his signature song.”

“It’s got more calories than your doughnut.”

WELCOME, the computer said in polite, female tones. WE HOPE YOU’RE HAVING A WONDERFUL DAY. PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME AND YOUR BUSINESS.

“Dallas,LieutenantEve.” She lifted her badge for a scan. “Police business. I’ve got an appointment withMr.Smith this morning.”

ONE MOMENT, PLEASE… THANK YOU, LIEUTENANT.MR.SMITH IS EXPECTING YOU. YOU’RE CLEARED.

Almost immediately the door was opened by a dark-skinned woman in snowy white. There was more music here, quietly dripping its sweetness in the air.

“Good morning. Thank you for being prompt. Please come in, make yourself at home in the living area.Carmichael will be right with you.”

She glided,Eve thought, like a woman on rollers instead of feet, as she ushered them into a large room with blond walls. There was a mood screen taking up one of those walls, with an image of a white boat drifting on a blue sea as calm as a plate of glass. Thick gel cushions were spread over the floor in lieu of actual furniture, and all were in pastels. Tables were long and low, in that same blond tone.

A fuzzy white kitten curled on one of the tables, and blinked emerald eyes atEve.

“Please relax. I’ll letCarmichael know you’re here.”

Peabodywalked over and poked at one of the floor cushions. “I guess you sink right in and it molds to your butt.” Experimentally, she reached back and patted a hand over her ass. “That could be embarrassing.”

“That music is making my teeth ache.”Eve ran her tongue around them, then turned asCarmichaelSmith made his entrance.

He was tall, about six three with a well-toned body he was currently showing off in a fluid white vest that left his pecs and abs on display. His pants were black and snug, so he could display his other attributes. His hair was dramatically streaked black and white, and worn back in a queue to leave his face-wide, high-boned, and narrowed to a sharp, pointed chin-unframed.

His eyes were deep, melted-chocolate brown, his skin the color of coffee light.

“Ah,LieutenantDallas. Or do I call youMrs.Roarke?”

EveheardPeabody ’s smothered snort, ignored it. “You call meLieutenantDallas.”

“Of course, of course.” He strode in, vest streaming, and took the hand she’d yet to offer in both of his. “It’s just that I only made the connection this morning.” He gave her hand an intimate squeeze, then turned his charm onPeabody. “And who might you be?”

“My aide,OfficerPeabody. I have some questions,Mr.Smith.”

“More than happy to answer them.” He tookPeabody ’s hand as he hadEve ’s. “Please, please, sit. Li’s bringing us some tea. I have a special morning blend for energy. It’s simply fantastic. Call meCarmichael.”

He lowered smoothly to a peach-colored cushion and took the little cat into his lap. “There now, Snowdrop, did you think Daddy had forgotten you?”

She didn’t want to sit on one of the cushions, nor did she want to remain standing and towering over him. So she sat on the table.

“Can you tell me where you were, early yesterday morning, betweenmidnight and threeA.M.?”

Like the cat, he blinked. “Well, that sounds very official. Is there some problem?”

“Yes, the murder of a woman inChinatown.”

“I don’t understand. Such negative energy.” He breathed deep. “We try to keep a positive flow in this house.”

“Yeah, I’m sureJacieWooton found being sliced up a pretty negative experience. Can you verify your whereabouts,Mr.Smith?”

“Li,” he said as the black woman in flowing white streamed in. “Do I know anyone namedJacieWooton?”

“No.”

“Do we know where I was night before last, betweenmidnight and three?”

“Yes, of course.” She poured pale gold tea from a pale blue pot into pale blue cups. “You were attending the dinner party hosted by the Rislings until ten. You escortedMs.Hubble home, had a nightcap with her in her apartment, and returned here aboutmidnight. You spent twenty minutes in your isolation tank to eliminate any negativity before retiring. You were in bed by one-thirty, and had your usual wake-up call at eight the following morning.”

“Thank you.” He picked up the teacup she’d set on the table. “It’s difficult for me to keep all those details in my head. I’d be lost without Li.”

“I’d like the names and addresses of the people you were with, to verify this information.”

“I’m feeling very unsettled about this.”

“It’s routine,Mr.Smith. When I confirm your alibi, I can move on.”

“Li will provide you with anything you need.” He made a gesture with his hand. “It’s important to my well-being, to my work, to keep my senses stimulated by the positive, by love and by beauty.”

“Right. You have a standing order fromWhittier ’s inLondon for a certain type of stationery. Your last purchase of it was four months ago.”

“No. I never purchase anything. I can’t go into shops, you see. My fans are so enthusiastic. I have things brought in to me, or Li, or one of my staff goes into the shops. I do enjoy good stationery. I feel it’s important to send personal notes, on good paper, to friends or those who’ve made some contribution.”

“Cream-colored, heavy-eight bond. Unrecycled.”

“Unrecycled?” He ducked his head, smiling into his cup like a small boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I’m ashamed to say I have been using something like that. Not very green of me, but it’s gorgeous paper. Li, does my writing paper come fromLondon?”

“I can check.”

“She’ll check.”

“Fine. I’d like a sample of it, too, if you don’t mind, and the names of any staff members who were authorized to make purchases for you inLondon.”

“I’ll take care of that.” Li glided out again.

“I don’t quite understand how my writing paper could interest you.”

“There was a note, written on that style of paper, left with the body.”

“Please.” He lifted both hands, drawing them up his own body as he breathed in, pushing them outward as he exhaled. “I don’t want that sort of image corrupting my senses. That’s why I listen only to my own music. I never watch the media reports, except for specially selected features on entertainment or society. There’s too much darkness in the world. Too much despair.”

“Tell me about it.”

WhenEve left, she had a sample of his writing paper, and the names of his staffers inLondon.

“He’s weird,” Peabody commented. “But he’s built. And he just doesn’t seem like the type who’d go hunting LCs.”

“He likes to have multi-partner sex, occasionally with minors.”

“Oh.” Peabody wrinkled her nose as she glanced back toward the house. “So much for my instincts on this one.”

“Maybe he figures underage groupies have less negativity, sexually speaking, than any grown woman who could listen to that crap he plays and not run screaming after five minutes.”

She got into the car, slammed the door. “If that stinking ‘Love Lights the World’ sticks in my head, I’m coming back here and beating him with a club.”

“Now that’s positive,” Peabody decided.