In Death 22 - Memory in Death

egg.”
    “A million or so makes a comfortable life in some circles,” he reminded her.
    “Now you sound like Peabody. I’m not jaded about money,” she muttered. “But marrying somebody to get your hands on it, when you’re going to have to off him, and his mother. It’s a big stretch. And I don’t see how she could have known, beforehand, that Trudy had dough stashed here and there.”
    “A connection to one of the women who’d been blackmailed?” he suggested.
    She had to give him credit. He thought like a cop, something he’d wince over if she mentioned it. “Yeah, that was a thought. I did some digging, trying to see if I could find something there. Nothing, so far anyway. I read the witness reports, and two say she grabbed for him, tried to grab his arm as he went
    into the street. Just like she said.”
    “But you still wonder.”
    “Yeah, you gotta wonder. She’s the one, on the spot, for both incidents. She’s the one connected to both victims. And at this point, she’s the one who stands to gain the most if money is the motive.”
    “So you have guards on her, as much to keep track of her as for her protection.”
    “Can’t do much more until the twenty-sixth. Lab won’t push, half my men are out or their minds are. There’s no immediate danger to the populace, so I can’t get the lab to push. Even the sweepers didn’t
    get back to me on the results from the room next to my scene. Christmas is bogging me down.”
    “Bah, humbug.”
    “I get that,” she said and pointed a finger at him. “I turned down a candy cane today.”
    She told him about drunken Santa while their entrees were served.
    “You meet the most interesting group of people in your line of work.”
    “Yeah, it’s what you’d call eclectic.” Put it away, she told herself. Put the day away and remember you have a life. “So, you got things squared away in your world.”
    “More or less.” He poured them both more wine. “A bit of business tomorrow, but I’m closing the office at noon. There are a few little details I want to see to at home.”
    “Details.” She eyed him as she wound pasta around her fork. “What else could there be? You importing reindeer?”
    “Ah, if only I’d thought of it sooner. No, just a bit of this and that.” He brushed a hand over hers. “Our Christmas Eve was interrupted last year, if you recall.”
    “I recall.” She’d never forget the manic drive to get to Peabody, and the terror of wondering if they’d
    be too late. “She’ll be in Scotland this time. Have to take care of herself.”
    “She contacted me today, she and McNab, to thank me. She was surprised, and touchedboth of
    them werewhen I told them it had been your idea.”
    “You didn’t have to do that.”
    “Itwasyour idea.”
    “It’s your shuttle.” She squirmed a little.
    “It’s interesting that you have as difficult a time giving gifts as you do receiving them.”
    “That’s because you always go overboard.” Frowning at him, she stabbed a meatball. “You went overboard, didn’t you?”
    “Are you fishing for a hint?”
    “No. Maybe. No,” she decided. “You just love stringing me along, seeing as you’re such a smart ass.”
    “What a thing to say. You might end up with a lump of coal in your stocking.”
    “Few thousand years, I’ll have a diamond, so … What was she going to do with the money?”
    He sat back, smiled. The cop was back.
    “Tuck it away? For what? She had funds tucked. Didn’t live high because she didn’t want anyone to know. But she had her pretty baubles, locked up so she could look at them. Had jewelry insured,” she
    told him. “I got the paperwork on that. Over a quarter mil in sparkles. And she had her tune-ups. But that’s all piddly. Because the money was coming in in what you could call dribbles. But this was her
    big score. Big, fat lump sum, she’s figuring on. Must’ve had a plan for some of it.”
    “Property, perhaps. Or a trip. Art, jewelry.”
    “Got jewelry, and can’t wear it too much outside her own house. People would get ideas. But if she planned to relocate … I’ve got to check, see if she had a valid passport. When she got it, or renewed it. She’s got Bobby, but he’s grown up now, married now. Not so much at her beck and call. That’s a pisser.”
    “A new home, a new location. Somewhere she can live in the manner she deserves to live. A staff of some kind.”
    “Need someone to boss around, sure. This isn’t the