“Yeah, we’ll get that. And we’re going to pile it on from there.”
“My ass is now available for grabs,” McNab announced, and was ignored by both women.
“I guess Juanita forgot to toss the ’link,” Peabody commented.
“No. She didn’t forget. She needed it, needed to play it back before she did him, after she’d done him. She needed to hear what Penny fed her, to help ease her conscience. We’ll get Soto on this count, and we’ve got some weight toward the bombings. But we haven’t got a lock there.”
Need to turn the key a little more, Eve thought. Just a little more.
“Then there’s the accessory after the fact on Flores and Ortega, the fraud,” she continued. “The fraud’s going to help lock down the accessory. If we do this right, she’s never going to see the light of day again. So we’re damn well going to do it right.”
Her ’link beeped. A glance at the incoming display told her Roarke was tagging her back. “Get me a conference room. I want Baxter and Trueheart.”
“They’re on Penny.”
“Relieve them, bring them in. Briefing in thirty. Now,” she added, “and take your ass with you.” She answered the ’link. “Dallas.”
“What can I do for you, Lieutenant?”
“Have you got a property—commercial or residential—preferably on the Upper East Side that’s not tenanted?”
“I imagine I do. Why?”
“I need it for a few hours.”
“Are we having a party?”
“Sort of. In El Barrio or close would be the icing.”
“How about a nice four-story duplex on East 95th, currently being rehabbed?”
“Did you just pull that out of your ass?”
“No. I looked it up.” He sent her a quick, cocky smile. “Is that what you had in mind?”
“Pretty much nailed it. I need the exact address, a legal description, current market value, all that kind of crap. If I could get it, and the pass codes for the locks, by . . .” She checked the time. “. . . by sixteen hundred, it would hammer that nail.”
“I thought we were icing a cake. In any case, I’ll get back to you.”
Eve studied the map again. It could work. It would work. She contacted Feinburg again. “You’re going to need to come down to Central.”
“Lieutenant, as I tried to explain before, I have clients scheduled all day.”
“You’re going to have to reschedule anything you’ve got cooking for the rest of today. I need you here, Homicide Division, within the hour. You don’t want it getting out, to those clients, that you’ve been strung along on a major fraud scam, which included multiple murders, for the last six years. Right?”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Damn right you will,” Eve mumbled after she’d cut transmission.
She gathered what she needed, checked to see which conference room Peabody had booked, then contacted the commander to update him while she was on the move.
“The voiceprints along with Turner’s statement are enough to bring her in on the St. Cristóbal’s case.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We want that closed down, Lieutenant. There’s going to be a lot of sympathy for Turner, a lot of media attention. Having Soto locked to it will defuse some of that.”
“I intend to lock her to it, and to a lot more. This op will do it. She’ll bite. It’s greed that had her set Juanita up to kill Lino. It’s greed that’ll have her walking right into this. She won’t be able to help herself. And once she does, she’s locked for the fraud, and the fraud locks her to Flores and Ortega, possibly Chávez. Three additional murders.”