Free A Clean Kill by Leslie Glass Page B

couldn't see what they were doing and took turns talking to her. Sometimes there were two of them, sometimes one. The Chinese woman who'd been nice to her earlier was gone. Several men in civilian clothes looked as if they didn't have anything to do. They stood around talking on their cell phones. Nobody asked her the right questions.
    "What were they doing in your knapsack?" The annoying detective forced her to pay attention to him.
    What were her own knives doing in her own knapsack? What a dumb question. Remy drew in her breath. "I had a class," she said.
    "Oh yeah, what kind of class?"
    "I told you I go to cooking school. We use our own knives there."
    "You carry them back and forth?"
    She nodded.
    "What class did you have?"
    She took another breath. "Butchering."
    He let out a nervous giggle as if it were some kind of sick joke. "No kidding. What kind?' '
    "All kinds. I could butcher a cow if I had to. A pig, a lamb. A chef has to know the cuts of meat." She knew her cuts.
    "You know what I think? I think you know a lot more about this murder than you're letting on, little girl."
    "I know a lot about food," she said miserably. She glanced at the wall clock, wondering who was going to pick up the children. "Can I go now?"
    He shook his head. She sighed and asked for another Diet Coke.

Twelve
    B y the time April emerged from the Wilson house, the number of Department vehicles had diminished and the number of eager reporters had grown. It took her a few seconds to locate Woody in the crowd. He was buried in a clot of bystanders across the street, talking with a pretty, dark-haired girl in charge of a heavily laden stroller. The stroller was stuffed with a wild-haired toddler eating raisins out of a plastic bag, a plastic tricycle, and a net sack filled with sand toys. April hurried toward them.
    Questions barraged her from all sides as she dodged through the crowd of reporters.
    "Do you have any leads on the killer?"
    "Is Mr. Wilson a suspect?"
    "Was the house broken into?"
    April didn't let anyone catch her eye. It wasn't her case, and she wanted to avoid attention.
    "I'm not the go-to person here. Try DCPI," was all she said.
    "They never say anything," someone grumbled.
    "April, what are you doing over here?" A female voice screamed over all the others.
    April grimaced and turned her head away. It was someone she knew. Lily Eng, a Chinese TV reporter who'd done a story on her last year, was elbowing through the crowd. "Out of the way, she's my sister," she cried. "April, April."
    Woody raised his head at the sound of her name and quickly ended his conversation with the young woman.
    April couldn't avoid her. She paused in the street just long enough for Lily to charge. Lily's hair was longer than April's, cut in a shag. But they were both about the same size with delicate oval faces, almond eyes, and bee-stung lips. They were also wearing the same purple pantsuit and did indeed look like sisters.
    "Hey, cutie, nice suit," April said, walking quickly to the car.
    Lily grabbed her arm to slow her down. "Can you give me some background on the case?"
    "No."
    "Nothing confidential," she wheedled. "Please. Just background. I won't quote you."
    April shook her head. "I don't know a thing about it, sis."
    "Fine, I get it. I'll call you later. Hi—Woody Baum, right?" Lily's voice turned to honey.
    "Hi, yourself," he said, dead meat for the second time that day. He was an easy mark.
    "Woody!" April barked.
    He jumped to open the passenger door, shut her safely in, then ran around to the driver's side.
    "Was that work or play?" April asked about the girl with the stroller.
    "Work. She's the next-door nanny, knows that Wilson babysitter well. There's a gang of them that hangs out at the Boar Park together to complain about their lives. I have some names and addresses." He fired up the engine and backed out.
    "Good going. She have anything useful to say?"
    "Six months ago the babysitter was hired to be a cook in a restaurant, but