Leverage in Death (In Death 47)

“Where would I find Mikhail Kinski?”

The woman, black-clad, muscular, aimed a suspicious eye at the badge before pulling out a scanner. She seemed a little disappointed when it read green.

“Mr. Kinski is in Security Hub A. You’ll need to be escorted to that level.”

“All right.” Eve stepped back, keeping one eye on the restroom and hoping she didn’t have to go in there and yank Peabody away from primping in the mirror while she sang a happy tune.

Fortunately for her partner’s life expectancy, Peabody came trotting out. She had a big grin plastered on her face, but maybe, just maybe, her eyes were a little less manic.

“The bathroom is swank.”

“Great. Lose the smile.”

Peabody shifted to an exaggerated glower. It might’ve been effective, Eve thought, without the pink lip dye. Still, better than the smile.

Eve watched the man stride of

f a single, secured elevator. She recognized Kinski from his ID shot. A well-built man with close-cropped silver-blond hair, icy blue eyes, and the edgy cheekbones of a Nordic god, he walked with that purposeful stride straight to Eve.

“Badges, please.”

Eve offered hers, elbowed Peabody until she remembered hers. He drew out a mini scanner, verified.

“What can I do for you, Lieutenant, Detective?”

“We can talk about that here in the lobby of your workplace, or we can go somewhere more private.”

“Give me a broad stroke.”

“The murder of Jordan Banks.”

He nodded, one decisive movement, then turned to lead them to the secured elevator.

“We can speak in my office. This will have to be brief. We have a full system test in twenty minutes.”

He used a card swipe and a thumbprint to engage the elevator. The ride down was short and smooth.

They emerged into a short hallway with double doors, fully secured and monitored by cams, at the end. Kinski turned to the left, used the swipe and his print again to open a door into a small, spartan office dominated by double wall screens.

He walked to sit behind a simple desk, gestured at the two metal chairs. “Have a seat. This should be brief as I didn’t know Jordan Banks.”

“You live in the same building, two floors down.”

“So I learned when I read of his murder. There are over eighteen hundred people living in that building, Lieutenant. Do you assume I know all of them?”

“I’m only concerned about Banks.”

“I didn’t know him. I never met him. I may or may not have seen him at some point over the twenty-eight months I’ve lived at that address.”

“That would be shortly after your divorce.”

Kinski’s eyes went to blue stone. “Yes.”

“Can you verify your whereabouts from twenty-one hundred Monday night through oh-four hundred Tuesday morning?”

“I was at home from approximately twenty-one hundred Monday night until oh-six-thirty Tuesday morning.”

“Alone?”