The In Death Collection Books 6-10 - J. D. Robb [674]
“The investigation is ongoing. The department is following a number of leads.”
“Mr. Draco was killed onstage, in front of a packed house. You yourself were a witness.”
“That’s correct. The nature of the crime, its location, and execution have resulted in literally thousands of interviews and witness statements.”
And because it was always best to pay your debts, Eve tagged on an addendum. “Detective Baxter of this division has reviewed the bulk of those statements and taken on the arduous task of elimination and corroboration.”
“It’s true, isn’t it, that people often see the same event, but see it differently?”
“It’s often true of civilians. Police officers are trained to see.”
“Does that make you your own best witness?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Is it true that Kenneth Stiles, a colleague and acquaintance of Draco’s who was in the cast of the play, is your lead suspect?”
“That individual has been questioned, as have all members of the cast. As I stated, we are following a number of leads, and as the focus of the investigation has narrowed, we expect to make an arrest within twenty-four hours.”
“An arrest.” It threw Nadine off stride, but only for one beat. “Can you give us the name of your primary suspect?”
“I’m not free to give that information at this time. I can tell you that the person who killed Richard Draco, who killed Linus Quim, will be in custody within twenty-four hours.”
“Who—”
“That’s all you get, Nadine. Shut it down.”
Nadine might have argued, but Eve was already getting to her feet. “Shut it down, Lucy. That was a hell of a bombshell, Dallas. If you’d given me a head’s up, we could’ve gone live.”
“Tonight’s soon enough. You got your story, Nadine. You’ll hit with it first.”
“Can’t argue with that. Can you give me any more, just some filler for the follow-up? Procedural details, some of the hard data. The exact number of interviews, number of man-hours, that kind of thing.”
“You can get that from media relations.” Eve glanced at the camera operator, pointed a finger, then jerked a thumb at the door.
With a look at Nadine for confirmation, Lucy hauled the equipment out.
“Off the record, Dallas—”
“You’ll know everything you need to know tomorrow. I have a question for you. You didn’t mention Roarke in your report, his connection to the theater, to the play, to me. Why?”
“It’s been done. Overdone. I want the meat.”
“Doesn’t fly, Nadine. Roarke’s name boosts ratings.”
“Okay, consider it payback.” She shrugged and hauled up her purse. “For the girl night.”
“Okay.” Eve reached into her back pocket, drew out a sealed disc. “Here.”
“What’s this?” But the minute it was in her hand, Nadine understood. Her fingers closed tightly around it. “It’s the recording Richard did. Of me.”
“It’s been removed from the evidence log. It’s the only copy. I figure it should close that circle.”
As her throat filled with conflicting emotions, Nadine stared down at the disc. “Yes. Yes, it does. Better, it breaks it.” Using both hands she snapped the disc in two.
Eve nodded with approval. “Some women wouldn’t have been able to resist watching it. I figured you were smarter than that.”
“I am now. Thanks, Dallas. I don’t know how to—”
Eve took a deliberate step back. “Don’t even think about kissing me.”
With a shaky laugh, Nadine stuffed the broken disc in her bag. It would go into the first recyler she came across. “Okay, no sloppy stuff. But I owe you, Dallas.”
“Damn right you do. So next time, save me a donut.”
chapter twenty-one
She slept for ten hours, pretty much where she had fallen after giving Roarke the briefest of updates. She woke, recharged, clearheaded, and alone.
Since he wasn’t around to nag her, she had an ice-cream bar for breakfast, washed it down with coffee while she watched the morning news reports on-screen. She caught a replay of her one-on-one with Nadine and, satisfied with it, considered herself set for the day.
She dressed, dragging on dung brown trousers and a white shirt that had narrow