In Death 17 - Imitation in Death

she had one more blush in her. "Leo," she said shyly.
     
     
She hurried out and straight to where Eve stood with her 'link "I can't break character yet," Peabody reported: "He might ask one of his bimbos what went on out here,_ so you should look annoyed and doubtful, and like' you could ream my ass at any moment."
     
     
"Fine. Then I don't have to break character either as that's the one I walk around in on a daily basis." -
     
     
"He's a total sleaze, and he doesn't have a solid for either murder. Hard for me to see somebody that slimy being our guy, but he's not covered." She looked down at her shoes, studying the, shine, and hoping the body language looked subservient.' "He also cheats on Pepper, regularly by my take. He hit on me, and it seemed like a natural rhythm Guy's got more tired lines than an afternoon soap and less talent at selling them."
     
     
"You hit back?
     
     
"Enough to keep the rhythm up, not enough to get me a reprimand should there be an official inquiry.-Maybe-you. could stomp off to the elevator now. It's getting hard to keep looking naive and subservient." -
     
     
Eve obliged and timed it so Peabody barely had time to nip in with her before the doors shut. "I thought that was a good touch."
     
     
"Good thing my butt isn't any bigger than it already is. He's shifting his story for the night of the Wooton murder. Says he and Pepper are just business partners now, and keepingg up the pretext of otherwise so there isn't any negative -publicity through the run of the play. Still says he was at home all night, , though, and home all Sunday morning. Alone: The original Lonely Guy."
     
     
"What kind of moronic female falls for that crap? Eve wondered.
     
     
"Lots, I guess, depending on the delivery." She moved her shoulders. "His wasn't bad, actually. But it was too quick, and too obvious. Anyhow, he- claims he went to the Gold Key on Madison about one on Sunday. I say he's twinkling at -least one of those bimbos on the side. He's not the type for an LC. Isn't going to pay for it when he can bullshit and brag his way into it. And I'd say it'd be news to Pepper that they're just business partners now. I'd also say he doesn't think much of women as a species."
     
     
Go, Peabody, Eve thought, and leaned back against the elevator wall as her aide ran it through.
     
     
"Thinks about them, because he probably imagines fucking any woman who's remotely, attractive. But he doesn't like them. He kept calling you - that woman. Never referred to you by name or rank. And there was a lot of passion in the way he said it."
     
     
"Good job"
     
     
"I don't know that I found out anything really useful. Except now that I think about it, I can see him doing the murders."
     
     
"You found out he's lying to his lover, and if he isn't actively cheating-which he likely is-he's open to cheating. You found out that he had the opportunity to commit both murders: So he's a liar and a cheat. Doesn't make him. a murderer, but he's a liar and a cheat with opportunity, with access to t e stationery found at both crime scenes, and that he has an-attitude toward women. That's not bad for the day."
     
     
Carmichael Smith was in the studio-in New L.A.-so she gave him a pass for the day. She found Niles Renquist so heavily wrapped in red tape that she dec. to do attend run around him and aim for his wife.
     
     
The Renquists' New York home wasn't Breen's upwardly mobile family neighborhood, or Carmichael's trendy loft. It was all dignity and restrained grace in faded brick and tall windows. - The entrance hall, where they were admitted with considerable reluctance and disapproval by a uniformed housekeeper who -could have given Summerset a run for his money, was done in creams and.burgundies and the subtle sheen of religiously polished antiques.
     
     
Lilies, white and burgundy in a crystal vase, sat on a long narrow table along the staircase and scented the air. Along with it was an echoing hush. she associated with empty houses or churches. - "It's like a museum," Peabody said out of the corner of.her mouth. "You and Roarke have all this cool, rich people stuff, but it's different. People live there."
     
     
Before Eve could respond there was the female sound of heels on wood. People lived here,.too,. Eve thought, but she had a feeling they were a different type altogether.
     
     
The woman who walked toward them was as beautiful, as dignified, and as quietly elegant as the home she'd made. Her