The In Death Collection Books 21-25 - J. D. Robb [276]
“Busy, busy girl. That’s what I saw in you, I think, the first minute, outside Trudy’s room. The busy, busy girl inside the housewife.”
“You didn’t see anything,” Marnie said under her breath.
“Didn’t I? Well, in any case, you shouldn’t have kept the perfume, Marnie, shouldn’t have taken that pretty sweater, or that really nice purse.”
“She gave me those. Mama Tru—”
“That’s crap, and see now you’re lying stupid. Smarter, smarter if you worked up those tears again and told me you took them, just couldn’t help yourself. You’re so ashamed. You and I both know Trudy never gave anybody a damn thing.”
“She loved me.” Marnie covered her face with her hands and wept. “She loved me.”
“More crap,” Eve said easily. “More lying stupid. The problem is you ran into a cop who knew her, who remembers her. You didn’t count on me showing up that morning before you finished setting things up, cleaning things up. You didn’t count on me heading the investigation.”
She gave Marnie a pat on the shoulder, then eased a hip on the table. “What were the odds of that?” Eve glanced over at Peabody. “I mean, really.”
“Nobody could’ve figured that one,” Peabody agreed. “And it’s a really great purse. Shame to let it go to waste. You know what I think, Lieutenant? I think she overplayed it with that faked abduction. She’d’ve been smarter to stay in the background. But she just couldn’t resist grabbing a little spotlight.”
“I think you’re right. You like being in the shine, don’t you, Marnie? All those years you had to play the game. Cops, Child Protection, Trudy. Busted out awhile, got your own back. Never enough. But you’re smart. Opportunity plants a boot in your ass, you know how to turn around and grab it.”
“You’re just making things up because you don’t know what happened.”
“But I do know. I admire you, Marnie, I have to say. All the planning, all the playacting. You really know how to pull it off. Of course, she walked right into it. Coming here, going after me. Then following her old pattern of messing herself up so she could blame somebody else. It might’ve taken you months more of being the good little wife, the sweet little daughter-in-law, before you could wrap it up. Come on, Marnie.” She leaned forward. “You know you want to tell me. Who’d understand better than somebody who’d been through it? She make you take those cold baths every night? Scrub up after her? How many times did she lock you in the dark, tell you that you were nothing?”
“What do you care what happened to her?” Marnie said softly.
“Who says I do?”
“I don’t think you have anything. Those things?” She gestured to the evidence bag. “Mama Tru gave them to me. She loved me.”
“She never loved a soul on or off planet but herself. But maybe you can swing that with a jury. You think, Peabody?”
Peabody pursed her lips as if considering. “She’s got a shot, especially if she turns on the waterworks. But when you put them with the rest, chances drop sharply. You know, Lieutenant, there’s the case for lying in wait—the big picture. Assuming a false identity—not a big hit, but added up.” Peabody lifted a shoulder. “Assuming it’s for the purposes of murder. Man, you give the jury that, the fact that she married the victim’s son just to get in position to kill her former foster mother. ’Cause that’s fricking cold. Then factor in the money, murder for gain. She’s looking at life, off-planet facility. Hard time.”
Peabody looked at Marnie. “Maybe you can convince us the actual murder was unpremeditated. Maybe you could make a case of self-defense for yourself. While you’ve got our sympathy.”
“Maybe I should call a lawyer.”
“Fine.” Eve pushed off the table. “No skin off mine, ’cause I’ve got you. You spring the lawyer, Marnie, that’s your right. Once you do, it cuts deep into my sympathy and admiration. You got a name?” Eve asked easily. “Or do you want court-appointed?”
“Wait. Just wait.” Marnie picked up her fizzy, sipped. When she sat it down again, the guilelessness was replaced by calculation. “What if I tell you she was going to rake you to the bone, you and your man?