Vendetta in Death (In Death 49)

“Well, I wouldn’t mind a no-fat latte.”

Eve ignored them, studied Lace. “Did McEnroy ever hit on you?”

“Not really, no. A little flirt, sure, but nothing real. It’s like Tee said. He liked white girls—redheads, built redheads.”

“He always went to Lip at the bar when we were on together, even if she had a line going. Sorry, interrupting,” Gregor said.

“It’s all right. So you interacted with him more than Mr. Gregor.”

“I’d have to say. And if he went to one of the other bars, he’d go to the female. We talked about it, you know, just joking like. I didn’t see him with anybody last night. I really didn’t see him at all after he came up to the bar for his two drink orders—the martini, then the water. But … I guess you could say that’s his usual routine. Come, and like Tee said, too, sort of troll, walk around, get a drink. Then I’d see him order through the auto later—two drinks, sometimes three, then he’d cash out. I honestly don’t remember serving a Frenchwoman last night.”

“How about you?” Eve said to Gregor.

“Nope. I chatted up these two blondes from Sweden, and a couple from Tokyo, but no single French ladies, not last night.”

“He’d occasionally buy a woman a drink, at the bar?”

“Sure. Now and then. He tips good, so you remember, even though he doesn’t come in like every week. Sometimes weeks and weeks go by, then he shows. But you remember.”

“And when he’d buy a woman a drink at the bar, did you ever notice a change in her behavior?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Did she appear intoxicated after he bought her a drink, or more inclined to go with him?”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” DeCarlo slapped a hand on the table. “You’re trying to say he slipped something into the drink?”

“I’m not trying to say it, I am saying it.”

“No. Jesus!” Lace grabbed Gregor’s hand. “No, I never saw him do that. Ever. Win, Jesus!”

“You don’t look so shocked, Mr. Gregor.”

Shaking his head at Eve, he blew out a breath. “I never saw it, but … You know, the guy looked good, dressed good, but he wasn’t like a vid star, right? I used to wonder how the hell he scored every single time he came in. He’d pick one out, move in, and later Tee or one of the servers, somebody, would mention maybe how he walked out with another one. I never thought … but now.”

“You can’t just say something like that about somebody,” DeCarlo objected. “That’s what cops do, they say shit about people.”

“We have statements from multiple women McEnroy drugged and raped. This was one of his hunting areas.”

DeCarlo’s angry scowl crumpled. “We’re supposed to watch out for anything like that. We’re supposed to make sure nobody tries to pull any shit with anybody.”

“He was good at it,” Eve told her. “Kept the dose light here, or whatever club or venue he picked. Just enough.”

“I didn’t see it,” DeCarlo murmured. “I never figured him for … He had that accent, that way. All charm, you know? I figured him for a player, sure, but not for this. Snow!” She pushed away from the table when the manager came back with Peabody. “She’s saying that son of a bitch roofied women right under my goddamn nose.”

“What?” He put a long, thin hand on DeCarlo’s shoulder as he shot those laser eyes at Eve. “Do you have evidence of this?”

“We do, yes, but we’re not saying Ms. DeCarlo or any of your staff was or is complicit. At this time we believe Mr. McEnroy perpetrated these acts alone.”

“Win, be a friend and get Tee a soother from my office. Sit now.” He eased DeCarlo back into the chair. “This isn’t your fault.”

“I didn’t see it. I got eyes, goddamn it. I know what to look for. I didn’t see it.”

“He used the privacy booth,” Eve explained. “He was good at it, and he was careful. He frequented a number of clubs, restaurants, following the same pattern. As far as we know, no one saw it. What they saw, if they noticed, was a woman, maybe a little drunk, leaving of her own volition with a man.”

“I can look back now, look back knowing, and see it,” DeCarlo muttered. “The son of a fucking bitch.”

“Me, too.” Mi lifted his shoulders. “When you know, you can see it. And when you know, you can see … last night, it was the other way around.”