In Death 23 - Born in Death

you managed a rousing three hours of sleep. Back on the clock, are we?”
    She didn’t argue about eating a decent breakfast first. Instead she programmed a couple of whoppers herself while he dressed.
    “And here’s my lovely wife, serving me breakfast on a Sunday morning.”
    “You earned it.” She gave the cat a baleful stare as he meandered over from the spot of sunlight where he’d been curled. “You haven’t.” But Galahad sent her such a mournful look, she rolled her eyes, went back to the AutoChef and ordered him up some breakfast kibble and a small side of tuna.
    “Played you,” Roarke said as he dug into his eggs.
    “Maybe, but it’ll keep him from begging and sneaking while we eat. I’m thinking,” she began.
    “As ever.”
    “The Italian case, too close to mine for comfort. If they connect, it most likely puts this Applebee in the clear. And it points to someone who targets women in this situation.”
    “Pregnant, no family to speak of, new city—toward the end of their term.”
    “Right. And while I don’t pop out others that match just so, who’s to say there haven’t been others—women who weren’t reported missing. Or others that came through IRCCA that didn’t play out exactly the same way as these two. And if so, it could lean several ways.”
    Considering, he cut into the short stack of pancakes he’d drizzled with syrup. “A long way from Rome to New York if you’re talking about someone who stalks women in this situation, abducts them. And Sophia Belego has never been found, leading to the assumption that the abductor then disposes of them.”
    “Or disposes of the woman. Babies are a commodity.”
    “Black market sales, slavery, illegal adoptions. Yes, a commodity they are.”
    She forked up some pancakes, and though they were already swimming in syrup, dunked them in more. Across from her, Roarke actually winced.
    “It should make your teeth hurt,” he commented.
    “What? Oh, no it’s good.” She popped them into her mouth. “I like the sugar rush. Anyway, could be a psycho, who likes to travel, likes variety. Could be with enough digging I’ll find some strange connection between Tandy and Belego. Could be a business. Both had to be planned out. Women snatched off the street—in Belego’s case, in broad daylight. But there’s another connection. Both women started their terms in Europe.”
    He watched, somewhat fascinated as she swished a slice of bacon through the pool of syrup. His steely-minded cop had the appetite of a five-year-old. “You think the root of it may be there rather than here.”
    “It’s a thought. I’m going to let it circle around some while I write it up for Smith in MPU. Maybe she’ll have some thoughts on it. It’s more her area than mine.”
    “Let me know when you’re done, and I’ll bring you up to date on my little project.”
    “Run it by me now.”
    “There’s one of the files that appears to add up, but doesn’t. Not when you peel it apart, shake it out. An outlay and an income that double back on each other, and a separate expense that pulls out of that same income again and gets funneled through yet another account—a nontaxable one, where it shouldn’t be. Not as far as I can tell, blindfolded as I am.”
    “Your call.”
    “So it was. There are repetitions of that, and subtle variations on it. Could be someone trying to tuck away a bit of the ready, someone hoping to avoid a bit of tax, or a little laundry.”
    “How little?”
    “I’m not sure yet. Thanks,” he added when she topped off his coffee, then her own. “It’s cleverly done, and I’ll need to peek under a few more covers. But it’s considerable.”
    “Ballpark?”
    “So far, mid–seven figures, for the time frame I’m working with.”
    “Millions then?”
    “So it seems.” He brushed a hand over her hair. “Motive enough, I’d think, for two murders.”
    “A handful of credits dropped in the gutter’s enough motive for some. But yeah, for this type of thing, motive enough. Why don’t you let me have a look so I can match it with the client?”
    “Why don’t you let me finish first?”
    “You’re working blind, so I work blind, too?”
    “Now, would I be that small and petty?” He considered a moment. “I might be, but in this case, I’d just rather put it all together first. Not as if you’ve nothing to do in the meanwhile.”
    True enough, she thought. “I’m calling some more hands and eyes.”
    “We work on