“The memento in past cases has always connected the initial investigation with another cold case.Whether the brooch was Wagner’s or not, we need to learn how it fits into her murder, and this is our best starting point until the OCME has caught up.”
Doyle said, “You could have come home, Evie.You could have slept.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to sleep.”
“Why?”
“Can we please focus on the task at hand.”
Doyle’s critical look was a promise that Larkin hadn’t heard the end of this, that the divulging of his truth—love came at the cost of rest, ofsleep—was nigh.He silently motioned toward the bedroom on his left, just past the television.
“Thank you.”Larkin took a few steps in that direction before stopping.He backtracked and stared down at the VHS cassettes on top of the VCR.
“What is it?”Doyle asked.
“There’s no doubt that Matilde was the manipulator and abuser in their Machiavellian relationship,” Larkin said as he crouched before the entertainment stand.“But Earl had something of his own to hide.”
“Bad taste in movies?”Doyle asked as Larkin picked through the VHS tapes still in their worn and tattered cardboard sleeves:Free Willy,Rocky V,Batman & Robin….
“I kinda liked the originalNinja Turtles.”
Larkin looked over his shoulder.
“Cowabunga.”
“I meant, blackmail material,” Larkin corrected.He slid the cassette free, and the center label that should have advertised the movie in hand asBarb Wirewas absent.He set it aside and did the same with the rest of the tapes, showing Doyle that all of them were blank, like those sold for home use.
Doyle’s eyes lit up.“There’re still twenty-two alleged and unknown victims of the Wagners.You think they’re on these tapes?”
“I don’t think the tape we have in evidence of Esther Haycox was a one-off,” Larkin replied.He stacked the VHS tapes in an orderly pile on the floor before opening the bottom drawer and retrieving even more.
“Why didn’t O’Halloran take these into evidence?”
“Because Ray isn’t a genius.”Larkin stood, said, “We’ll have CSU come by to collect these,” then started again for the next room.
“Earl could have told Niederman about those tapes while they were in prison together,” Doyle said thoughtfully, following close behind.“It’d explain how the sender came to learn about them—use them to force Earl to murder Stolle….”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Larkin confirmed.He tapped the wall switch in the bedroom.
More of the same low-watt tungsten light lit up the room.It had the same blackout curtains pulled taut across the window on the far right wall.The space was big enough for an unmade queen bed, which might have been due to the Wagners’ housekeeping, but Larkin suspected it was more likely from CSU’s investigation last month.There was a laminated particleboard nightstand on the left side that had a hideous yellow lamp with a white pleated shade atop, a vintage wicker dresser across from the foot of the bed that was painted in an off-white and covered in fingerprint powder, and a water radiator beside that.Someone had installed a decorative hood over the painted pipes and turned it into a makeshift shelf now cluttered with an assortment of personal knickknacks that meant little to outsiders but everything to the collector.
Larkin moved away from the concentration of furniture to stand before an open closet on the left side of the room.
Doyle, however, made a beeline for the radiator shelf, asking, “Is this too obvious?”
Larkin looked to see Doyle had a gloved hand resting on what was clearly a jewelry box.“Matilde Wagner was cunning but not arrogant,” he answered, reaching to feel along the overhead shelf in the closet.“An organized killer like her is going to intentionally place an object.”
“What do you mean?”Doyle asked.He opened the case and could be heard sifting through the contents.
“It’s when an individual makes a deliberate attempt to hide an item.Valuables—jewelry, cash—documents—passport, legal—or contraband—drugs, pornography—by choosing a location that isn’t logical for the item.Humans have a persistent belief that the more distinct the site, the more it affords us memorability.”Larkin made atsksound, grabbed the shelf with both hands, and hoisted himself up to get a look.Finding nothing, he dropped back to the floor.
“You could have asked me to check that.”But when Larkin turned, Doyle held his hands up in mock-surrender and parroted, “Five nine is perfectly average.”
“The problem is prewar tenements with their nine- or ten-foot ceilings that make storage space like this inaccessible.”
Doyle shut the lid on the jewelry box.“Nothing in here but for some tarnished junk.”
“Like I said, she’s going to hide it, not flaunt it.”
