In Death 14 - Reunion in Death

help, so she did her best to clamp down on them.
    "This is her work," Eve stated. "How the hell does she just walk in, through building security, and get this guy to drink poisoned coffee? Blending. She blends. Who do I need to be, and that's who I'll be. She had to know he'd be here, alone. This wasn't a lucky shot. And I'm off chasing fucking sheep."
    "Lieutenant. Mouton is sheep in French." Peabody held out her PPC. "I looked it up."
    "Great, fine. Loopy comes through. A lot of good it did him." Annoyed with herself, she straightened up. "Have him tagged and bagged and turned over to the ME. I need building security discs, the witness who found him, ah... office manager. Data on next-of-kin."
    "Yes, sir. Dallas?" Peabody hesitated, then spoke her mind. "You couldn't have stopped this."
    "Sure I could have. Turn the right key in the right lock. But I didn't, so we go from here."
    When Peabody moved out, Eve took out her notebook and began to plug in data.
    "Excuse me. Lieutenant Dallas?"
    She glanced back, saw the smartly dressed woman with jet-black hair in perfectly styled waves. "I have to ask you to keep clear of this room."
    "Yes, I understand. They told me you were in charge. I'm Olivia Fitch, one of Henry's partners. And his second wife." When her gaze wandered to the body, her lips trembled. But she pressed them together, and her voice stayed steady. "I was hoping you could tell me... something. Anything."
    "Is there somewhere we can talk, Ms. Fitch?"
    "Yes, of course. My office? I want to be able to tell the staff something," she began as she led the way. "And I need, for myself, to be able to think about this in some rational way."
    She opened the door to another corner office. It was similar in size to Mouton's, faced east instead of north, and had a bit more flair and less spartan regimentation.
    "This is a difficult time for you."
    "Yes, very." Rather than move to the desk or the sitting area, Olivia walked to the wall of windows. "Henry and I were divorced four, no five years ago. He's remarried and this will be a devastating blow for Ashley. His death would have been difficult enough, but murder. I've never known anyone who's been murdered." She turned back. "It shakes me down to the bone."
    "Do you know anyone who'd wish Mr. Mouton harm?"
    "We're lawyers," Olivia returned with a shrug. "Who doesn't wish us harm? But no, I honestly can't think of anyone who'd do this to Henry. He's an irritating man, impossible to live with in my viewpoint. He's-he was so linear, so absolutely fixated on maintaining his routines, so absolutely set in his ways. You might want to kick him in the ass occasionally, but you wouldn't want to kill him for it."
    "Not many people who'd been married would remain business partners."
    "Another one of Henry's annoying traits." Tears shimmered, but she held them back. "He was a logical bastard. Why should we have an upheaval in the firm because the marriage was over? Worked together fine before, didn't we? In this case, we were in agreement. The fact is we made better business partners than lovers. I don't know if we were friends. I should probably be asking for my own lawyer by now." She sighed. "I can't work up the energy for it."
    "Why would he have been here before office hours?"
    "Henry sat down at his desk every blessed morning at seven a.m. Rain, shine, flood, or famine. Whatever else could be said about him, his work ethic was golden. He cared about this firm, about his work, about the law."
    Now her voice caught and she pressed a hand to her mouth. "Damn it. Damn it, damn it."
    "Do you want something? A glass of water?"
    "No. I'm not a crier." She bore down, visibly. "And I also care about the law. I want whoever did this caught and punished. So ask your questions. I can promise you you'll have full cooperation from everyone in this firm or I'll skin them."
    "Appreciated." Eve paused, turned when Peabody stepped in.
    "Can I speak to you a minute, Lieutenant?"
    "If you'll hold here, Ms. Fitch." She shifted to just outside the office door. "What have you got?"
    "Julianna Dunne's fingerprints in the break room. She was here, and she didn't bother to seal up. I've got the discs from security. They're labeled."
    "Good. Find me the office manager and send her in here when I'm done with Fitch."
    She stepped back inside. "Ms. Fitch, do you know a woman named Julianna Dunne?"
    "Dunne? That name sounds familiar." Her brow furrowed, then arched in surprise. "The Walter Pettibone