Page 100 of Passions in Death
“It’s all that,” Peabody agreed. “A really good sale.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Eve said.
“Hard not to. I didn’t expect you guys.”
“I decided to go by, talk to the neighbor. I’m parked there.” Eve pointed. “Walk and talk.”
Though Peabody gave the store a wistful glance, she fell in line. Roarke strolled behind them with McNab prancing by his side. Eve heard them launch into some e-geek thing about the Great House Project, and tuned them out.
“I talked to Ms. Burger—she recognized several photos.”
“Friends drop by, come around, pop in.”
“These did. Including Lopez—Burger deemed her snooty.”
“She’s not wrong.”
“She states that Barney sometimes came in with Shauna, like after work. Sometimes came with Becca, but sometimes alone. And he came out of the apartment while I was there, carrying a box. Pretty good-sized box.”
“Of what?”
“Since I didn’t have a warrant, I can’t verify. He said, at Becca’s suggestion, he came over to clear out the friggie and the AC.”
“Oh, well, that makes sense.”
“It does. He literally jolted when he saw me in the hallway. He was nervous.”
Beside Eve, Peabody weaved through pedestrians. “I gotta say, cops can do that to people. You really can do that to people.”
“Proudly. He asked about the case, also not out of line, but pushed, a couple times, that it had to be some lowlife—his word—on the staff, or in the club outside the group.
“Not like Decker,” Eve continued. “Not that tone. Hers was rooted in hope and grief. His was like he wanted to nudge me there or find out if that’s where we focused.”
“You’re leaning toward him.”
“Lopez is still in the running. Going into her rival’s workplace, taking that time, wasting Shauna’s time, and trying to humiliate her. And risking Shauna would complain about it to Erin.”
When they reached the car, Eve stopped. “Lopez didn’t just get replaced in bed, she got outdone. Her type can’t stand for that. She had to know she risked getting cut out completely with that stunt, but she did it anyway.”
“Lack of control.”
“Yeah, and that need to humiliate, to take the power. And Barney’s the hoverer. He made noises about how they should never have had the party in a place like the D&D. He didn’t come out and say Erin was asking for it, but it was implied.”
“I’m starting not to like him, either.”
“And he had something in that box. Something he took out of there that wasn’t from the AC or friggie. The way he looked, the way he held it.”
Eve looked back toward the apartment building. Can’t verify, she thought. But know it.
“I need to sort through this. Pile in. We’ll give you a lift.”
“We’re actually going to the house. You can just drop us off,” Peabody said when she read Eve’s face. “I mean, Mavis’s gang is there, and they’d be sad to miss you, but you could just drop us off.”
“Ten minutes.” She shot Roarke a look. “Ten.”
“Your call, darling. Why don’t I drive? Ian, we’ll just take a very quick look at the comm system while we’re there.”
“Mag. Clicking in the house-to-house would be handy.” He piled in. “She-Body, you sure you don’t want them to drop us at the apartment? Grab a couple of the boxes?”
