Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row

rent a car?" she asked as she caught up to him.
    "Sort of. I have a very smart editor whose hunch paid off. In case Brigitte hit, he made arrangements two days ago to have a twenty-six-foot motorhome standing by for his reporter. It's totally self-sufficient. Has a generator in case there's no power available and a fully stocked kitchen. And at least one bed," he added with a wink.
    "Mr. Wells!"
    "Uh-uh. Caught you jumping to earthy conclusions, Miss Kaufman. I only meant that you could stretch out while I drive you to your hotel. You look like you haven't slept in a while."
    His perception was accurate and disconcerting, and she hated the fact that he could make her blush so easily, but his offer was too good to pass up. Besides, there was that theory of hers about becoming his friend. "Deal."
    "Deal?" He leaned toward her ear and half-whispered, "Lucky for me you didn't ask what your payment would be."
    * * *
    "Hello?" April greeted a bit too anxiously.
    "It's me." Rachel knew she'd recognize the voice.
    "I hope this call doesn't signify bad news."
    "I suppose that depends on your outlook on life. We need to talk. I'm calling from the number I gave you while you were here. How long before you can call me back the way I explained?" Rachel imagined April taking a slow, calming breath to prepare herself not to overreact while she figured out how long it would take to find one of the throw-away cells she'd been given.
    "Fifteen minutes."
    Rachel hung up without saying goodbye and, as soon as April called back, she launched directly into her report.
    "The fingerprint tracing is finally finished from the Ziegler case. The lab techs and their assistants really had to work on this one. You can imagine how many different fingerprints might be found in a hotel room—even with the maid service, they don't wipe off every surface. There were prints from former guests, people who had visited the victim during his stay and hotel employees, and every print had to be tracked down."
    "On top of all that though, the doorknobs had been wiped clean of all prints, including the victim's, which implies that it might have been done at the last minute, and that presents a very interesting problem."
    "Why do you say that?"
    "Ice tongs were left by the body that were definitely used during the castration. They weren't wiped clean, yet there were no prints on them. That means the cutter wore gloves, probably surgical latex, so there'd be no reason to wipe door handles. Are you following me?"
    "I'm afraid so, but I'd better hear it all."
    "One deduction might be that somebody else—possibly a witness to the murder—wiped the door handles on the way out, after Ziegler was killed. But since that was all that was wiped, either that person was sure he or she hadn't touched anything else or was in one hell of a hurry."
    "I see," April said slowly. "The prints that were picked up, were they all identified?"
    "All except one set." Rachel purposely paused for several seconds. "But those aren't on file anywhere. We do know one thing, though. Because of the surfaces they were found on, it's fairly certain that whoever the prints belong to was in the bathroom sometime after the maid had cleaned at four that afternoon. Also, there was one more piece of evidence that points to the theory that there was a woman in Ziegler's room sometime before he died." This time Rachel could actually hear April inhaling. "Oh?"
    "A piece of toilet tissue was clinging to the inside of the toilet rim. It had blood on it. Period blood. Unless the maid was negligent or lying, a woman was there after the maid left and before he was killed. It also means they have the woman's DNA as evidence— if she's ever found."
    "Couldn't you do something about that?"
    Rachel laughed. "You mean like flush the toilet? Couldn't. I wasn't the one who spotted it. Of course, there's always the possibility of a report getting misfiled."
    "What about Cheryl?"
    "All taken care of. I filled out the report showing I questioned her and have witnesses to the fact that she checked out of her hotel that afternoon, immediately drove out of the city and was at her home in Connecticut at the time of the murder. All nice and tidy. Did you speak to her husband?"
    "Yes," April replied. "Just like we discussed. He should be sunning himself on the Riviera about now."
    "Good. As to the rest of us, we should be in good shape. Except for Holly Kaufman. Erica said she talked to her and wasn't sure if she had a