Page 123 of Oddly Fine

“In the absence of a more worthwhile suggestion, I suppose so, yes,” Matthew said with a shrug.

“Guess you might get to wear a fake mustache after all,” Hayes observed. “Too many cameras for us to go walking around questioning tenants without a disguise.”

“If you give me half an hour, I could dye my hair pink,” Beckett replied unhelpfully.

“Actually, I think I’d like to stretch my legs with a little field work,” Adeline remarked as she got up from her desk chair. She put Nickel down on the desk and offered him a Cheeto—where she had gotten it from was anybody’s guess.

Beck and Hayes exchanged a surprised look, just as Nickel bit down on the Cheeto and yipped excitedly. Hayes seemed to be waiting for Beckett’s approval of Adeline’s suggestion.

He shrugged. “Think Gill’s insurance covers hip replacements? In case she slips and falls?” Beckett asked.

Adeline laughed boisterously.

Since it was too late in the evening to go knocking on doors, everyone agreed they should wait to tackle the project until the next day. By then, even after Adeline had claimed she wanted to go undercover for them, Beckett tried to make a case to revisit the Paris subterfuge, complete with mop bucket and coveralls. That idea was unceremoniously shot down by Hayes who graciously reminded Beckett that the Paris operation had ended in a shootout, and he was not at all keen to repeat that experience. In the end, they’d decided that a woman—an older one—would look less suspicious. Adeline had been ecstatic. As part of the deal, she’d made them promise to take her out for some poutine in payment for her leg work.

“Been a while since I’ve done field work,” she’d told Hayes excitedly as he worked on getting her set up with their communications system.

“For the CIA?” Hayes asked curiously.

“I had the legs for it,” she assured him with a wink, extending her right leg suggestively. “Made more than a few members of the KGB looked twice when I was wearing a short dress.”

He hadn’t been sure whether to believe her or call her bluff, so he’d settled for laughing instead. If it worked with Beckett, it would surely work just as well on her.

Her cover story was simple. As a new renter in the building, she was visiting everyone bright and early in the morning, offering cupcakes as her excuse to learn as much as she could about them.

“Remember, you’re looking for young, most likely beautiful women who are immigrants. Accents ought to be a dead giveaway. There could be several living in the same apartment,” Matthew told her.

Sitting in the car, they watched the live feed on Adeline’s laptop. They’d outfitted her with a small camera attached to an antique Guilloché lapel pin that Matthew provided. Beckett and Hayes were in the front and Matthew was in the back. Nickel sat perched on the car’s dash.

“Shush,” Adeline ordered, impatient and displeased with Matthew’s coaching efforts. Especially since he’d already briefed her.

“Let the lady work,” Beckett snorted, eyes riveted on the screen as they watched her approach the first door.

There were four apartments listed under Mario’s name in the building. They’d have to investigate each one.

Adeline knocked on the door. Three surprisingly sharp knocks.

After a full minute of waiting for someone to answer the door, Beckett figured there was no one home, but then, as she turned to leave, the door swung open.

The tenant opened the door all the way, clearly not suspicious of Adeline at all.

“Yes?” A woman in her late 30s greeted Adeline. She was quite obviously Latina, with dark brown eyes, straight black hair, and a lyrical accent. While those were all things they were looking for, she held an infant, and looked about six months short on sleep.

“Well hello there!” Adeline cooed at the baby, playing up the grandmother persona perfectly. “Well aren’t you the sweetest thing!”

Beckett could see her fingers waggling at the baby.

“Thank you,” the woman said, though she was clearly exhausted and not at all happy to have to answer the door.

“I’m sorry, where are my manners?” Adeline said, quickly. “I moved in today, and I’m just—going around and meeting folks!” she said, sounding as chipper as a canary’s song.

“Really?” The woman asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes,” Adeline said, though there was a hint of worry to her tone, as she picked up on the woman’s obvious disbelief.

“That’s weird—I’m the head housecleaner for the building. When someone new moves in, I usually get hired to clean before they move in—” she explained, and was it the camera angle, or Beckett’s imagination, or was she holding her baby a tad closer than before.

“Oh—” Adeline said, laughing like it was all a big misunderstanding. “I moved in today, but my son’s been in the building for quite some time already. His wife left a few months back, so I’m moving in to help,” she explained, and Beckett was mildly impressed with the speed at which she managed to spin her lie. “Housekeeper you said?”