AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I used to win a goldfish every summer at the county fair. Ringtoss,” Trueheart said. “It never made it through the fall.”
“See, unnatural.”
“You want unnatural? There’s a room full of dolls on the second floor.”
“Well, don’t they have a little girl?” Trueheart began.
“If a kid walked in that room, her screams would be heard from here to Queens, and she’d be traumatized for life. I’m saying hundreds of dolls. Staring dolls. Staring-at-the-door dolls. Waiting dolls.”
“Jesus, Dallas.” Muttering it, Baxter shuddered.
“They’re up there. We’re heading out,” she said as Peabody came down the stairs. “Detective Bennet cleared the path to the social worker.”
“Mike Bennet? Nice guy,” Baxter said.
“Sit on the house. Maybe feed those fish something. Nobody’s been here since yesterday. Maybe they’ll start eating each other.”
“Staring dolls, cannibal fish. What the hell kind of place is this?”
“Sit tight. Stay alert. We don’t want to add dead guy swinging over the cannibal fish.”
“Did she give Mike any names?” Peabody asked, winding her long, long scarf as they started to the car.
“No, and he doesn’t think she will. But she might give us a yes or no when we show her photos.”
“That’s a fine line.”
“What I get is she likes him—that nice-guy vibe. And she really respects his future mothers-in-law. We push on how these people used Anson to kill Wymann, and if we don’t stop them, will kill Betz, we’ve got a decent shot at getting a nod if we show her the right face.”
The minute she was in the car, Peabody ordered the seat warmer. “Reo says hey, and that she’ll have a warrant for us when we get the locations on the swipes. You never said what ideas you had about the old keys.”
“Old keys, old doors. These guys go back to old times. Group house. Maybe they’ve still got it. Or another. A place they get together, as brothers.”
“If so, and Betz went to all that trouble to hide the keys, it follows they go there, as brothers, to do stuff he doesn’t want his wife to know about.”
“If the senator had keys, he wouldn’t bother hiding them. We’ll get another warrant to go through his apartment, since it’s easy money his wife won’t cooperate. If Wymann had keys, we didn’t look in the right place, with the right eye. We’re going to need to have this Ethan MacNamee picked up, arrange a ’link or holo interview.”
“Senator Fordham?”
“Not one of them, but we’ll leave his security detail to watch him, in case he’s just a late entry. And let’s get the file on the suicide: William Stevenson.”
She answered the dash ’link when she noted Roarke’s display. “Hey.”
“I thought you’d want to know, security did the run-through at the hotel. Wymann has never registered, and doesn’t show up on any feed in the last year.”
“Okay. How about Frederick Betz?”
Roarke gave her a quiet stare. “Why don’t you contact Lloyd Kowalski, at the Palace, and ask him whatever you like. Your middleman on this is a bit busy today.”
“Sure, thanks. Just so you know, I didn’t tap you when we were after a hidey-hole, or when we had a locked box. Peabody found the hole, I picked the lock.”
“I’m so proud of both of you. Don’t skip lunch again, and if you need me I’ll be much more free after three.”
“Okay. Might need a copter and a pilot.”
“Now, that’s so much more fun than talking to Kowalski. Let me know. Later,” he added and clicked off.
“Copter? Pilot?”
