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“You’re Dee’s boss—partner,” Leah corrected with an attempt to smile. “Is she with you?”
“No, she’s on another assignment. You know Detective Peabody?”
“Yes, and her family. My life partner and I lived near the Peabodys until we moved here.” She reached out to lay her hand over the hand of the man who sat beside her.
“We opened our center and restaurant about eight months ago. Peabody and her young man came for dinner once or twice. Can you tell us what happened? We know everyone in this area. We’ve made a point of it. I know there are some rough characters, but I can’t believe anyone who comes here could have done this.”
“You don’t have security on your alley exits.”
“No.” It was the man who spoke now. “We believe in trust. And in giving back.”
“And in community relations,” Leah added. “We give food out in the alley after closing every night. We spread the word that we would provide this service as long as the alley was kept clean, that no one used it to do illegals, to harm anyone else, or littered. The first few weeks it was touch and go, mostly go, but eventually the food, given freely, turned the tide. And now . . .”
“Why did you go out in the alley?”
“I thought I heard something. Like a thud. I was in the storeroom getting some supplies. Sometimes people come, knock on the door early. I opened the door, thinking if they didn’t seem in dire need, I’d tell them to come back at closing. She was right there, right by the door. She was naked, and facedown. I thought, By the goddess, someone’s raped this poor woman. I bent down, I spoke to her. . . . I touched her, her shoulder, I think, I’m not sure. I touched her, and she was so cold. I didn’t think dead, not immediately. I just thought, oh, poor, poor thing, she’s so cold, and I turned her over, calling for Genoa.”
“She
called.” The life partner took up the story. “I could tell something was wrong, by the tone, and I stopped what I was doing in here. She started screaming before I got to the storeroom. Several of us rushed out then. I thought she was injured—the woman—and tried to pick her up. Then I saw she was dead. We called for the police. I stayed with her, with the woman, until they came. I thought someone should.”
“Did you see anyone else in the alley? See any vehicle or person leaving the alley?” she asked Leah.
“I saw, just for a second, taillights. They were gone so fast, I just saw the blocks of them.”
“Blocks?”
“Like building blocks. Three red squares, one on top of the other on either side. It was only a glimpse, I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have seen even that if I’d looked down instead of over first.”
“Did you hear them drive in, drive out?”
“I might have. I’m not sure. We have music playing back here while we work. I’d only been in the storeroom a minute or so, and I was humming. You can hear the street traffic from there, but you tune it out. You understand? You hear it, but you don’t. I think—I wish I could be sure—but I think I might’ve heard an engine in the alley before I heard the thump, and then the sound of driving away. I’m almost sure, now that I put myself back there, almost sure.”
“Have you ever seen this man?” Eve offered the composite of Kirkendall.
“No, I’m sorry. Did he—”
“Pass this around,” Eve interrupted. “See if anyone else recognizes him. Or her.” She handed Leah a copy of Isenberry’s ID photo.
When she exited, Eve gestured to Trueheart. “Any tingles?”
“No, sir. So far the canvass hasn’t turned up anybody who saw a vehicle entering or leaving the alley.”
“Witness heard the body hit—and caught a glimpse of the taillights at the mouth of the alley. Three vertical squares on each side. Little bits and pieces. If the witness hadn’t been all but on top of the exit door when she hit, nobody would have seen even that much.”
“Bad luck for them,” Trueheart said.
“Yeah, bad luck for them. We’ll let the CSU and sweepers do their thing, for what it’s worth, and write this up from my home office. We’ve got another face to pin to our board, Trueheart.”
She looked at the black bag being loaded into the morgue wagon. “Bad luck for her.”
“I didn’t mean any disrespect before, Lieutenant, regarding the bad luck comment.”
“I didn’t hear any disrespect.” As she walked back toward her vehicle, she scanned as she had before. Street, sidewalks, windows, roofs, faces. “Meredith Newman was dead the minute they laid hands on her. There was nothing we could do for her. So we do for her now.”
“I shouldn’t have missed the points on-scene. The fact that the body had been sanitized.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. You won’t next time.” She drove south, taking her time. “You learning anything working under Baxter?”
