In Death 19 - Visions in Death

you've got some psychotic out there who has a big hate on for women? Not Maplewood specifically." That's my working theory." "And the reason you suggested the interview. Us three girls.
    Clever of you." Tell me what you know about Breen Merriweather." "Breen?" Nadine's head snapped around. "Oh God, oh God, did you find her?" She gripped Eve's arm now. "Is she dead? Did this bastard kill her, too?" "No, she hasn't been found. I don't know if she's dead, but I suspect she is, and I believe it might be connected.
    What do you know about her?" "I know she was a nice, hard-working woman who adored her son . . . Jesus, is he targeting single mothers?" "I don't think so, no."
    "Let me take a second." She walked a few feet away, hugged her arms. "We weren't best pals or anything like that. More a working friendship. I liked her, and appreciated her efficiency.
    I saw her, evening shift, the night she disappeared. "I left the station about seven. I know she was on till midnight, handling the eleven o'clock. Everything I've heard is secondhand, but it's reliable." She turned back. "She clocked out, left the station just after her shift ended. She would have taken the subway home, that's what she always did. It's just three blocks east. One of the guys saw her heading out, yelled good night. She waved to him. As far as I know he's the last one in the station who saw her. He said she was walking east, toward the subway." "Did she do crafts?" "Crafts?" "You know what crafts are, Nadine." Interest, keen, replaced the sorrow. "As a matter of fact, she did. She did a lot of handwork, always had a bag of supplies with her, and some project going. She used to work on it during breaks or wait time. Is that the connection?" "It's looking that way. You know any big, bodybuilder-type guys? Anybody like that at 75?" "We're desk jockeys and faces." She shook her head. "We on-air types work out, body-sculpt, whatever it takes to keep trim, but the public doesn't want their news and entertainment from big bruisers. We got some burly techs, and some overweight drones, but none of them would qualify as bodybuilders.
    Is that your line on him?" "Another working theory." "I need a full interview when this is wrapped, Dallas. If Breen was part of this thing, I need to do a full interview with you and Peabody for the station. She was one of ours." "You'd want one anyway."
    "I would." Nadine smiled a little. "But if this hits home, I need it. Fuck objectivity. It's personal." "I hear that."
    To save time, Eve requested Breen Merriweather's childcare provider meet them at Breen's apartment. Eve used her master to gain access, and stepped into a small, cheerful set of rooms with air stale from disuse.
    "Her family's paying the rent." Annalou Harbor, the sixtyish provider, looked around the apartment with sad eyes. "I still come in once a week, water her plants. Aired it out a couple times, but... I live upstairs." "Yes, ma'am." "Her husband took Jesse, her little boy. I miss that baby.
    Such a sweetie." She gestured to a framed photo that showed a grinning little boy in a sideways ball cap. "Breen would never have left him. Not while there was breath in her body.
    So I know there isn't. I know she's dead. That's why you're here. You're Homicide. I recognize you. I've seen you onscreen." "We don't know, Mrs Harbor. But we're pursuing--" "Don't pad it for me, Lieutenant Dallas." The tone was firm, and just a little prim. "I'm not a gossip, and I'm not looking for some sort of twisted excitement. I loved that girl like she was my own, and I can help you more if you don't try to dance around it." "We believe it's highly possible that she's dead, Mrs Harbor, and that her death may be connected with another case we're investigating." "The murder in Central Park, the rape-murder. I keep up." She pressed her lips together until they turned white, but she didn't crumble. "What can I do to help you?" "Where does Ms Merriweather keep her craft supplies?" "In here." She led the way into a tiny room equipped with two counters, several hand-painted cabinets, and the machines Eve was now accustomed to seeing in such places.
    "See, she set it up as an activity room, for her and Jesse.
    His toys and games over there, her supplies here. That way they could be together when they had leisure time. Breen liked making things. She knit me a beautiful throw last Christmas." Eve opened cupboards while Peabody tackled communications and data. There were several samples of the