Echoes in Death (In Death 44)

“Will do.” She stepped to him, kissed him. Then left him to get to it.

8

As she fought her way downtown, Eve checked in with the duty nurse, learned Daphne had had a restless night, required a mild sedative. And that Dr. Nobel was already on his way in. The patient’s physical condition had been upgraded to satisfactory.

The cuts and bruises would heal, Eve thought. The damage to the psyche took longer.

Put the past behind you—that’s what people always said. But those people didn’t get that the past was always behind you. Like a hound on the scent.

She pulled into Central, started toward the elevator, and spotted Jenkinson. You couldn’t miss the tie, not even from space.

With his coat open, it glowed toad green with—perhaps not coincidentally—bug-eyed frogs of yellow and blue hopping over it.

“You could light a cave with that thing around your neck.”

“Never know when you might end up in one. How was the time off, LT?”

“Quiet. Warm. Sunny. Everything winter is not.”

“Nice.” They stepped onto the elevator. “Cleared a couple while you were dancing on the beach.”

“Junkie knifed by second junkie, woman bludgeoned by ex-boyfriend.”

Jenkinson eyed her as the elevator stopped and more cops shuffled on. “Checking up on us from sun and sand?”

“I was in yesterday. Caught one yesterday morning, about two in the A.M.”

“Well, welcome home.” Then he frowned. “Strazza business?”

“That’s the one.”

“Getting play in the media. Bigwig surgeon, young fancy wife. She messed up bad?”

“Pretty bad.”

“Still…”

“Yeah, always look at the spouse first. But this woman didn’t rape herself, bust up her own face. Got two like crimes in the past year, just without the murder.”

Though the elevator stopped again, added more people, she decided to ride it out.

“He dresses up.”

Jenkinson, who’d been balefully eyeing the levels as they lit up, turned back to Eve. “What, like in a tuxedo?”

“Like monsters. Horned devil on this one.”

Jenkinson shook his head. “People are fucked-up.”

A couple more cops came on. One of them studied Jenkinson. “That’s some tie you got there, Jenks.”

“Yeah, that’s what your sister said when I put it on this morning.”

That got a few snorts and made the crowded ride a little more entertaining.

When they shoved their way off, Jenkinson kept pace with Eve toward the bullpen. “Reineke and I are clear right now if you need more hands with this case.”

“We’ll see how it goes.”