In Death 16 - Portrait in Death

thought. And the killer might not have registered the equipment. Might not have worried about the whole warranty deal.
     
     
Still, she cross-referenced, looking for a link to the names on her victim and suspect list.
     
     
But her mind wouldn't stick to the point.
     
     
She hissed out a breath, kicked out with her foot, and slapped her door closed. She shut down the temptation to contact Roarke. She'd left him a memo, hadn't she? She didn't have all the rules of the marriage game aligned, but she was damned sure it was his turn to make the call.
     
     
Instead, she called someone she felt had a good handle on the rules of the road.
     
     
"Mavis."
     
     
Her friend's pixie face was slack, and naked as a child's. The hair was still streaked and decorated with bells. They jingled softly as Mavis snuggled into the pillow.
     
     
"Huh? Timezit?"
     
     
"Uh... I don't know. Morning."
     
     
"Ugh. Morning. Whassamatter?"
     
     
"Nothing. Sorry. Go back to sleep."
     
     
"'Sokay." Mavis opened one eye, blue as a berry. "Summerset?"
     
     
"No, no, he's coming along." At least she figured he was. She hadn't checked. Was it her turn to check? How was she supposed to keep up, for God's sake? "Maybe you're going by there today?"
     
     
"Gonna. Poor thing. Trina and I are going by, maybe give him a face and hair treatment. Whatcha think?"
     
     
The grin spread. Maybe it was a little evil, but the image of Summerset caught in Trina's enhancement web was so beautiful. It almost brought a tear to Eve's eye. "Great. Great idea. Just what he needs."
     
     
"You okay? Something's up. I can tell."
     
     
"It's nothing."
     
     
"I'm awake." On a huge yawn, Mavis shifted, and the 'link screen showed the mountain that was Leonardo snoring softly beside her. "Tell me."
     
     
"I don't know. It's probably stupid. I'm probably stupid. Something wrong with Roarke. He won't talk about it. He shut me out, Mavis. Blasted at me out of the clear blue, then shut me out. Big-time. He didn't come to bed, and when he talked to me, he... Shit."
     
     
Hurt and confused all over again, she dragged a hand through her hair. "Maybe, when people are together awhile they're not all jazzed up when they see each other. That's okay, I guess. But..."
     
     
Screw the buts, she thought as her anger spiked again. "Damn it, usually he can't keep his hands off me, usually there's this look in his eye when I come home. It wasn't there, not even close, and he couldn't wait to get rid of me."
     
     
"You were fighting about something? You didn't do anything to piss him off?"
     
     
Aggrieved, she kicked at her desk. "How come it has to be me?"
     
     
"Doesn't." Naked, and easy with it, Mavis sat up. "I'm just eliminating possibilities. You know, marriage is a kind of mystery, just like cop stuff. So you gotta eliminate possibilities and look for clues."
     
     
"Then it oughta come with a goddamn field kit," Eve muttered.
     
     
"He's worried about Summerset."
     
     
"Yeah, but it wasn't that. I know it wasn't."
     
     
"Okay, you'd know." Mavis ticked her head back and forth, little hair bells ringing as she considered. "Maybe it's a work thing squeezing him."
     
     
"It could be, but he usually feeds on that crap. He put up this wall. It was personal."
     
     
"Okay." Mavis nodded decisively. "Then you tear it down. You don't take no for an answer. You nag and you pick and you stick until it pops out of him. Whatever it is. Girls are good at this, Dallas."
     
     
"I'm not good at being a girl."
     
     
"Sure you are. You're your own kind of girl. Think of it as kicking his ass until he cracks. At drilling him in Interview until he confesses. Dig it out of him, then, depending on what it is, you either make him suffer or comfort him. Or fuck his brains out. You'll know which."
     
     
"That doesn't sound that hard."
     
     
"It's not. Trust me. Let me know how it turns out. Since I'm awake, I think I'm going to get Leonardo revving." She blew Eve a kiss, and signed off.
     
     
"Okay, things to do: file report, interview suspect, harass ME and lab. Arrest homicidal maniac. Close case. Kick Roarke's ass. Piece of cake."
     
     
Chapter 11
     
     
Hastings hunched at the rickety table in Interview Room C, doing a pretty good job of looking bored. The dribbles of sweat along his temples were the only sign he was feeling the heat.
     
     
Eve dropped into the chair across from him, flashed a big, friendly smile. "Hey. Thanks for dropping