Free In Death 14 - Reunion in Death by authors_sort Page B

would take some luck added to the cop work, Eve thought. Julianna made few mistakes. "Our problem is she blends. She's very skilled at it. People who notice her see an attractive woman, going about her business. If she makes friends, they're only temporary tools. No one gets close to her."
    "If she's gone pro, you can bet your ass she'll be good at it." Feeney puffed out his cheeks. "She could be any-fucking-where by now, Dallas."
    "So we start looking. Every-fucking-where. You remember the primary in Chicago?"
    "Yeah. Yeah, ah... Spindler."
    "Right. And Block in East Washington. Can you contact them? See how far they'll reach out."
    "Yeah. I've got some personal notes on her, too. I'll dig them out, add them to the mix."
    "Profiler who did the work and the testing on Julianna's retired. I'm going to pass this onto Mira, ask her to consult with the profiler on record. McNab, right now you're a drone. I want you to take all data from all cases, index, cross-reference any and all similarities. Make me files. Family connections, known associates, financials. I want you to tag the prisoner liaison at Dockport and get the names of the inmates she worked with, the ones on her block. I want to know the people inside she spent any time with. I'm going to see what I can shake out of the first Mrs. Pettibone.
    "Peabody, you're with me."
    ...
    Eve got behind the wheel, and as Shelly Pettibone lived in Westchester, hit the in-dash map for the best route and directions. It was a pleasant surprise when the route actually popped onto the screen.
    "Look at that! It worked."
    "Technology is our friend, Lieutenant."
    "Sure, when it's not screwing with us for its own sick enjoyment. This is only a couple miles from Commander Whitney's place. With my luck Mrs. Pettibone's the commander's wife's best pal."
    Brooding over the possibility, she headed down the drive.
    "Dad said he and Mom were going to head downtown today. Take in the Village and SoHo and stuff."
    "Hmm? Oh yeah. Good."
    "I'm going to take them out for dinner tonight, so they won't be in your hair."
    "Uh-huh."
    "Then I'm taking them to a sex joint, and me and McNab are going to perform various exotic sexual acts for them."
    "Sounds good."
    "I thought if you and Roarke wanted to come along, we could make it a nice little orgy. You know, a quartet."
    "You think I don't hear you, but you're wrong." Eve squeezed into traffic.
    "Oh. Oops."
    Eve nipped through a light on yellow, snarled at the maxibus that lumbered into her lane. With a wrench of the wheel, she punched through a narrow break, slapped the accelerator, wrenched back, and cut the bus off as neatly as it had her.
    The irritable blast of its horn brought her a nice little glow.
    "So I guess between your parents and the fresh case, you haven't had much time to work on Stibbs."
    "I did some. Maureen Stibbs, formerly Brighton, not only lived in the same building as the deceased, but on the same floor. As he does now, Boyd Stibbs often worked from home, while his first wife traveled to her place of employment during the work week. The former Ms. Brighton, while employed as a home design consultant, also worked out of her home office when not traveling to and from clients. This gives the currently married couple time and opportunity for hanky-panky."
    "Hanky-panky. Is that a legal term?"
    "Boyd Stibbs married Maureen Brighton two and a half years after Marsha Stibbs's tragic death. I figure that's a pretty long time if they were canoodling-"
    "Another legal term. Peabody, I'm so impressed."
    "-while Marsha was alive," Peabody continued. "But it would also be pretty smart. Still, if they were doing the horizontal rumba, that's a medical term, and wanted to make it a permanent deal, divorce was the easiest option. It's not like Marsha had a bunch of money Boyd would lose out on if he ditched her. I can't figure any motive for premeditation."
    "And you're looking for premeditation because?"
    "The letters. If we say that all the