Doppelgangster - Laura Resnick [100]
Lucky froze. We all froze. Nelli even stopped growling.
Lopez said more calmly, “You’re sure you’re okay?”
I tried to sound calm, too. “Yes.”
“What happened?”
I shook my head. “It’s hard to explain, but . . .” I searched for something that would get him to let go of Max, so Nelli would calm down. “They were protecting me.”
It worked. He released Max. Then he said, “Is there anyone else here?”
“Well, not anymore,” Lucky said.
Max staggered toward me, wheezing for air. I caught him by the arm and patted his back.
As Lopez holstered his gun, he looked around at the unsanitary mess covering this portion of the shop. “What the hell is going on here?”
Realizing that Nelli was calmer now, Lucky released her collar. She looked uncertainly at Lopez for a moment, then crept forward and delicately sniffed his legs while Lucky said, “Oh, this mook came into the store a little while ago and got out of hand, that’s all.”
“Who?”
Lucky looked at me. I looked at Max.
Max said faintly, “We have not yet ascertained the name of the individual responsible for the mayhem here tonight.”
Good answer.
Looking again at the mess surrounding us, Lopez asked, “What is all this crap?”
“It’s ephemeral matter,” Lucky said. “Makes a helluva mess, don’t it?”
“What’s it doing here?”
“It came with the mook,” Lucky said.
Lopez stared at him. “Did the mook say why he had a load of feathers, dirt, and pebbles with him?”
“He didn’t happen to say why,” Lucky said. “Fortunately, it’s over now and everyone is fine. It’s good thing me and Nelli came back from our walk when we did.”
“Nelli?” Lopez looked down at the dog. She paused in her olfactory examination of him to meet his gaze. After a moment, she wagged her tail hesitantly. “Max’s new roommate, I take it?”
“Yeah.”
“And why are there two swords and an ax on the table?”
“They’re antiques,” Lucky said. “Max was showin’ us his collection.”
Lopez studied the objects. I had a feeling he was looking for blood. My gaze went involuntarily to the blade which had beheaded his perfect double tonight. Fortunately, the weapons were so old, they really did look like collector’s items. It occurred to me they were probably valuable.
“All right,” Lopez said, “I’ll need a statement from each of you—except Nelli—and a description of the guy who came in here.”
“We didn’t get a good look at him,” Lucky said.
Lopez looked at Lucky, who looked at Max, who looked at me.
I said, “Um . . .”
There was a long, extremely uncomfortable moment of silence.
Lopez sighed and said, “Everyone who isn’t Esther, take a walk.”
Lucky bristled. “You got a warrant?”
“I don’t need a warrant to talk to her.” Lopez glanced at him. “And I’m sure I can come up with a reason for probable cause if I decide to search you right now for an unlicensed gun.”
“Max, let’s take a walk.” Lucky clipped Nelli’s leash back onto her collar.
“Er . . .” Max looked doubtful.
“It’s all right.” I squeezed Max’s arm reassuringly. We knew from Nelli’s reaction that this was the real Detective Lopez. “Take Nelli for a walk.”
Already halfway to the door with Nelli, Lucky added, “And bring some plastic bags, for the love of God. What do you feed this dog, anyhow?”
“Don’t say ‘dog.’ ” Max stumbled after them.
As soon as the doorbells chimed to hail their departure, I said to Lopez, “Have you seen your own perfect double?”
That caught him flat-footed. “Huh?”
“Have you seen anyone who looks just like you?”
He frowned. “You mean . . . ever?”
“No, I mean quite recently. Today. Maybe yesterday?”
“No,” he said. “Now what the he—”
“Think hard,” I said. “It might be someone who you think just looks a little like you.”
“What are you talking about?” he said impatiently.
“We tend to think we look like the image we see in the mirror. But that’s a reflection, so what we’re seeing is actually in reverse. Actors have to know what others see when they look at us, but many people are surprised by their own appearance in photos and don’t really know what they look like.”
“Fascinating,” he said. “Now let’s talk