The In Death Collection Books 16-20 - J. D. Robb [509]
She drew one long, shaky breath. “You’re right. I’ve got work.”
“Murder. Much better. Let me help. I beg you.”
She had to laugh. “Sure. It’s the least I can do. Step into my office.”
She took his hand, filling him in as they went inside and up.
“How much do you intend to use this Celina Sanchez?”
“I’d like to keep it minimal.” She sat at her desk, kicked back to prop her feet on the edge. “She’s got the Dimatto seal of approval, and she’s even likable enough. I’d even call her steady. But it’s not a good fit for me. Still, she’s cued in to this, so I can’t ignore what she can give me.”
“I knew a man who kept a sensitive on staff and wouldn’t make a decision without her. Worked well enough for him, as it happened.”
“You got any?”
“I do. Precogs, clairvoyants, sensitives. I don’t dismiss what they’ve been given, or what they can offer. But I prefer making my own decisions in the final run. You’ll do the same.”
“So far, her—let’s call it intel—isn’t adding much to my basic, nonsensitive cop work. But it matches it.”
She frowned, mentally picking her way through the data and speculation. “Impressions we could pick up at the kill site, and the ones we got leading to the dump site, indicate a size fifteen shoe. We may be able to make the tread, or at least a partial, if Dickhead in the lab works some magic. Ground and grass were dry, but when he added her weight, he left some impressions.”
“Well, that’s a large foot you’ve got there, but not all men with big feet are big men.”
“Big enough to leave impressions on dry grass, strong enough to lift and carry a hundred and thirty pounds of deadweight. You’ve got to speculate, do the probabilities. And when you do, you come up with a man between two hundred and seventy and eighty pounds. My guess would be a height of between six four and six eight.”
He nodded, imagined he was building a picture in his mind similar to the one in hers. “And if you take it further, you assume that kind of strength and body type comes from discipline and dedication.”
“Body sculpting procedures can give you the build, but they can’t give you the strength.”
“Hence, your foray into the world of musclemen.”
“Reminded me I like my guys more on the lanky side.”
“Lucky for me.”
“I can’t find any connection between the two missing and presumed and my vic, other than their predilection for fussy stuff and frequenting at least some of the same outlets for supplies.”
“I could spare you time and look deeper there.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“You can’t buy a fifteen shoe just anywhere,” Roarke continued. “You’d have to special order, or use a specialty outlet. For that matter, if your man is as described, he wouldn’t be able to buy anything off the rack.”
“Right. He’d need Enormous Guys ‘R’ Us, or the like.”
“Catchy,” Roarke mused. “I’ll keep it in mind if I ever open a specialty retail outlet of that nature.”
“I’m going to do a search and locate on specialty retail outlets of that nature,” she said, mimicking his accent and making him grin. “Tonight.”
“Well then, we should both be busy enough to keep our minds off things best not thought about. Before we go to our respective corners, tell me this: Why does he do it?”
“Control. Abuse is always about control. Rape is about control, and at its core, so is murder. Even if the motive for murder is greed, jealousy, self-preservation, rage, or entertainment, it still comes down to control.”
“All crime comes down to it at its base, don’t you think? I’ll take this from you, be it your wallet or your life, because I can.”
“Why did you steal when you did?”
A hint of a smile played around his mouth. “All manner of selfish and entertaining reasons, Lieutenant. Certainly to possess something I hadn’t had, before I took it for myself. And the pleasure of doing so successfully.”
“To punish the person who possessed it first?”
He inclined his head, acknowledging the point. “No. They were, in most cases, purely incidental to the goal.”
“There’s the difference.