“I’ll try. Okay, I’ll try.”
“He’d have been other places where you’d go. A club, the library, a cyber café, an eatery. Your eyes would pass right over him. He’s just one of the crowd. Think back to any time you were with Deena between January and April. Let it simmer in your head, and let me know if you think of anything. Doesn’t matter how small or vague.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s get to it,” Eve ordered.
As the room cleared, Whitney walked to Eve. “Unless you have objections I’d like to sit in when you talk to MacMasters.”
“No, sir, no objections.”
“I’ll meet you back here then. Meanwhile, give me an assignment.”
“Sir?”
“I’m still a cop. I still know how to do a run.” He snapped it out, then s
eemed to catch himself. He gestured the words away and spoke more calmly. “I can do legwork, knock on doors, run probabilities, chase down a lead. You’re primary, Lieutenant. Give me an assignment.”
“Ah . . .” The juxtaposition threw her off balance. Whitney gave the orders. But it was clear enough he needed to do more than that. He needed to participate. “I have a short list of possibles, gleaned from MacMasters’s threat file. To be honest, sir, I don’t think we’ll hit there.”
“But it needs to be followed up on. I’ll take it.”
“Most if not all can be done riding the desk. If any of them pop, then—”
“I do remember how it’s done. I’ll find somewhere nearby to work it.”
She hesitated, only an instant. “You’re welcome to use my office, and my desk here, Commander.”
The faintest glint of amusement lighted in his eyes. “I also know the sanctity of an office and desk. Maybe there’s another place in this house of yours I can set up.”
“Absolutely. I’ll see that Summerset takes care of that for you.” She took disc files from her desk. “This should be all you need. Peabody and I will be back before nine.”
“Good hunting,” he said, then turned back to study her murder board.
“We’ll split up,” Eve told Peabody. “Take it in zones, show the vic’s picture to every jogger, dog walker, nanny, flasher, kid, octogenarian, and sidewalk sleeper.”
“Somebody’s going to remember her because she was a regular. He’s another matter,” Peabody commented.
“Somebody saw him, and saw them together at the initial meet. He waited two months from then to the murder. People’s memories fade. We’ll push them back into focus.”
She stopped at the base of the stairs where Summerset, bony in black, skull face impassive, waited with the pudgy cat at his feet.
“Commander Whitney needs an office. He’ll be working out of here this morning.”
“I’ll see to it.”
That’s it? she thought. No smart remark, no sneer? She started to snark at his lack of snark, then realized he’d know what they were working on. The rape, torture, and murder of a young girl, as his young girl had been raped, tortured, and murdered.
There would be no sneers between them for the time being.
“Captain MacMasters is due at nine hundred,” she continued in the same even tone. “If I’m not back, you can take him up to my office, and inform the commander.”
“Understood. Your vehicle is ready.”
She nodded, walked out into the beautiful, balmy morning. If Deena had never met the boy she’d known as David, would she be heading off to the park on this soft, summer morning? Would she already be jogging along the path, feet slapping to the beat of the music playing in her ears?
Breathing in, breathing out, Eve thought, at the start of another ordinary day.