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“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Eve used her master, then charged up the stairs.
“Loose pants,” she heard Peabody pant. “Loose pants.”
“Get your mind off your ass.”
On MacKensie’s floor, Eve slowed to a walk. She pressed the buzzer, waited, then used a fist on the door.
“That’s what I was worried about.” She turned, pressed the buzzer on the door across the hall.
“I said I’d meet you down in the—” The woman who opened the door stopped short. “Who are you?”
“NYPSD.” Eve held up her badge. “Where’s Carlee MacKensie? Across the hall.”
“How would I know?” The woman’s forehead wrinkled under the big fuzzy black hat she wore. “Look, I’m running late. I was just heading out.” To prove it she finished buttoning her coat. “Anyway, I think she’s away for a while.”
“Away where?”
“How should I know? I was heading out this morning at the same time she was. We rode down in the elevator together. She had a suitcase, so I asked—you know, neighborly—if she was taking a trip. And how it would be nice to get out of the city and the freaking cold. She said yeah. That’s about it. I’ve got to go. I was supposed to work the rest of the day at home, but we got called back in. I have to go.”
“One minute.” Eve just shifted to block the woman’s path. “What kind of suitcase?”
“Jeez, how should I know? A regular rolly. Taking a winter vacay—fixed up for traveling.”
“Fixed up how?”
“Did her face and hair—and she hardly ever does, that I’ve seen. Had on nice boots. And perfume. I even said how I liked her perfume. You think she’s done something, you’re barking down the wrong alley. She hardly leaves her apartment, never has anyone over, that I’ve seen. Keeps to herself. Quiet, maybe stuck-up, maybe shy. I don’t poke my nose in anyway.”
“What time this morning?”
“Oh, jeez!” The woman looked pointedly at her wrist unit. “About eight-thirty, ’cause I was leaving for work.”
“You went down together, so you went out together. Did she get in a cab?”
“Shit, like I’m supposed to keep tabs? No, now that I think about it. A car pulled up and she got in.”
“A car?”
“Well, a van. The side door opened, and she got in with her rolly. I noticed because it was cold, and I thought how I wished I had a ride instead of having to go down to the subway just to make the damn morning meeting.”
“Describe the van.”
“Well, for—” Her ’link signal, a blast of horns, had her digging into her handbag. “Don’t give me a buncha crap, Georgie. I’m at the door, but so are the cops about Miss Mumbles across the hall. I don’t know what the hell. Just wait for me.”
She stuck the ’link away. “Now both me and Georgie are going to be late.”
“The van,” Eve pressed.
“How should I know? It was maybe white. Maybe. Not black anyway. Looked new. I had to get to the damn subway. I wasn’t taking notes.”
“Did you see the driver, another passenger?”
Now the woman heaved a sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe the windows were tinted, but maybe I caught a glimpse when the door opened of a woman driving. Petite, I thought she was so little to be driving that big van. Dark hair—in a pony—sunglasses. That’s all I’ve got. Look, arrest me or let me go.”
“Don’t tempt me. Pictures, Peabody. Have you seen any of these women? And the more you bitch, the longer this is going to take.”
“How come you can’t find a cop when you need one, and when you don’t they’re in your face?” But she took the photos. “No, no, no, no... wait.” She shuffled the photo of Charity Downing back to the top again. “Maybe. Yeah. Maybe. I saw her, maybe, a couple weeks ago. I was coming out of the building and she was going in. Wasn’t watching where she was going, and shoulder-bumped me pretty hard. I started to give her a little what for, but she stopped and apologized. Looked like she’d been crying and was about to start up again. It was maybe about ten—I was meeting some friends, and running late. Ten at night,” she qualified. “Boyfriend trouble’s what I thought, since I’ve had some of my own. Anyway, pretty sure it was this one here. Only time I saw her around I can remember. I got a busy life, unlike Miss Mumbles.”
“Why do you call her that?”
