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A dozen more of those. The oversized hands came loose and clawed air.
“Oh my God. Impossible. Oh my God.”
She covered her face, had hunched forward just as a young woman appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. Tiny, Asian, wearing a black-and-white uniform.
Seeing her employer’s posture made her mouth drop open. “Everything okay, Mrs. B?”
A muffled “Yes.” Renata sat back up. At full volume: “No,Lynn, it’s not okay. Finish up with the dishes.”
Milo said, “Please bring Mrs. B some water.”
“I don’tlikeflat water,” said Renata Blanding. “Don’t care where it comes from, it always tastesoff.I need aeration. Bring me a La Croix, Lynn. The yellow can. Pamplemousse. Remember what I told you? That means grapefruit. Not lime.”
“Yes, Mrs.—”
“Go!”
Lynn ran off.
Renata Blanding said, “She’s from Laos. She’s usually very good. But things can throw her, sometimes I think I’m raising another daught…” Her face contorted in horror. “Another. There’s noanotheranymore.”
CHAPTER
13
The maid brought aerated water in a squat crystal glass. Inside was a massive round ice cube.
“The big one,” said Renata. “You remembered. Good, Lynn. Thank you. Sorry for snapping.”
“It’s okay, Mrs. B.”
“Nothing today is okay, Lynn.” Dismissive finger wave. “Finish the dishes then…just do what you want, Lynn. I need to talk to these men.”
When the three of us were alone, Milo gave her the card he’d held to the peephole.
Renata said, “Homicide. You’re telling me she was murdered.”
Milo said, “Yes, ma’am.”
“For the record,” she said, “her name is Carol, not Cordelia…” Glance at the card. “…Lieutenant Sturgis. She grew up as Carrie. I birthed her and that’s the nickname I chose to give her and I still think it’s an awesome one and there was no reason to change it. She never did it legally, anyway. She’s Carrie.”
“Thanks for telling us, ma’am.”
Renata Blanding’s hands re-formed into avian claws. Attack mode but nothing to attack. She rested them in her lap, curling her fingers oddly. “Now you’re telling me she was murdered.”
“Unfortunately, ma’am.”
“Where did it happen?”
“In her home.”
“Where’s that?”
Milo blinked. “A house she rented in Westwood.”
“A house,” she said. “Well, that’s an upgrade. What part of Westwood?”
“Just east of campus.”
