Remember When

swollen, her face splotchy from tears. She simply stared at Eve, saying nothing.
    "We appreciate your coming back from your parents to let us go through your sister's things,"
    Eve began. "We're very sorry for your loss and regret having to intrude at this time."
    "I'm going to go back and stay with them tonight. I needed to come and get some of my things anyway. I don't want to stay here tonight. I don't know if I'll ever stay here again. I should've called the police right away. As soon as she didn't come home, I should've called."
    "It wouldn't have mattered."
    "The other cops, the ones who came to tell me? They said I shouldn't go down to see her."
    "They're right."
    "Why don't you sit down, Essie." Peabody moved in, took her arm and led her to a chair. "You know why we need to go through her things?"
    "In case you find something that tells you who did this to her. I don't care what you have to do, as long as you find who did this to her. She never hurt anybody in her whole life. Sometimes she used to piss me off, but your sister's supposed to, right?"
    Peabody left her hand on Essie's shoulder another moment. "Mine sure does."
    "She never hurt anybody."
    "Do you want to stay here while we do this? Or maybe you have a friend in the building. You could go there until we're done."
    "I don't want to talk to anybody. Just do what you have to do. I'll be right here."
    Eve took the closet, Peabody the dresser. In various pockets, Eve found a tiny bottle of breath freshener, a sample-size tube of lipdye and a mini pocket organizer that turned out to belong to Essie.
    "I got something."
    "What?"
    "They give these little buttons out at the Met." Peabody held up a little red tab. "It's a tradition.
    You put it on your collar or lapel, and they know you paid for the exhibit. He probably took her there. It's the kind of thing you keep if it's a date."
    "The odds of anybody remembering her at the Metropolitan Museum are slim to none, but it's a start."
    "She's got a little memento box here. Bus token, candle stub."
    "Bag the candle stub. We'll run for prints. Maybe it's from his place."
    "Here's a pocket guide for the Guggenheim, and a theater directory. Looks like she printed it out from online. She's circled the Chelsea Playhouse in a little heart. It's from last month," she said as she turned to Eve. "A limited run of Chips Are Down. He took her there, Dallas. This is her 'I love Bobby' box."
    "Take it in. Take it all in." She moved over to the dented metal stand by the bed, yanked on the single drawer. Inside she found a stash of gummy candy, a small emergency flashlight, sample tubes and packs of hand cream, lotion, perfume, all tucked into a box. And sealed in a protective bag was a carefully folded napkin. On the cheap recycled material, written in sentimental red, was:
    Bobby
    First Date
    July 26, 2059
    Ciprioni's
    Peabody joined Eve and read over her shoulder. "She must've taken it out to look at every night,"
    she murmured. "Sealed it up so it didn't get dirty or torn."
    "Do a run on Ciprioni's."
    "I don't have to. It's a restaurant. Italian place down in Little Italy. Inexpensive, good food. Noisy, usually crowded, slow service, terrific pasta."
    "He didn't know she was keeping tabs, little tabs like this. He didn't understand her. He didn't get her. He thought he was safe. None of the places we're finding are anywhere near here. Get her away from where she lives, where people she knows might see them. See him. Take her to places where there are lots of people. Who's going to notice them? But she's picking up souvenirs to mark their dates. She left us a nice trail, Peabody."

22
    After dropping Eve at home, Peabody drove off in the sauna on wheels. And Eve let herself into the blessed cool. The cat thumped down the steps, greeting her with a series of irritated feline growls.
    "What, are you standing in for Summerset? Bitch, bitch, bitch." But she squatted down to scrub a hand over his fur. "What the hell do the two of you do around here all day anyway? Never mind.
    I don't think I want to know."
    She checked with the in-house and was told Roarke was not on the premises.
    "Jeez." She looked back down at the cat, who was doing his best to claw up her leg. "Kinda weird. Nobody home but you and me. Well... I got stuff. You should come." She scooped him up and carted him up the stairs.
    It wasn't that she minded being home alone. She just wasn't used to it. And it was pretty damn quiet, if you bothered to listen.
    But