Page 90 of Passions in Death
“‘I don’t love you. I don’t want you. I love Erin, and we’ve both betrayed Becca.’ He agrees, at least on the surface, accepts. But he believes if Erin’s out of the picture, he can have her again. Maybe all the way, maybe on the side.”
“If she did it once”—Peabody waved her fork—“she’ll do it again.”
“You can play it with Lopez, too. She comes to the studio, Erin slips, and the same basic scenario, without the best friend added on.”
“It doesn’t sound like what we know of either one of them, but people slip, people cheat. And if it happened early in their relationship, it’s easy to buy. Like for Shauna, is Erin really just a phase? With Erin, is Shauna really what I want?”
Sitting back, Eve thought it through.
“Mira thinks it’s possible the Maui trip was the trigger. The resentment, jealousy, even the thought of eliminating Erin was there, but the trip pushed the last button.”
“Why?”
“Honeymoon. Not just the big dream, but honeymoon. Sex again.”
Peabody pointed. “Not just sex, but dream sex. Sex in Hawaii. Romance, blue water, moonlit walks on the beach.”
Eve pointed back. “Dream sex. That’s good. The killer knows they’ll bang like hammers on their wedding night, but now? They’ll do it in Maui. Dream sex, all romantic, passionate. Worse, Erin asks them to help make it happen, and in a big way. Asks close to the last minute because her first choice is stuck in Baltimore.”
“She thinks she can take me for granted?” Peabody put on her mean face. “That bitch.”
“It could play. Now, who has a garrote lying around, or the ability to put one together fast?”
“I’d go with the first. Already has it.”
“Because they hope to find a way to use it, kill Erin, and not get caught for it.”
“And she gives them the way.”
Eve tolerated a small bit of broccoli with her pasta. “I come right back to the top two on the list, and it bugs the shit out of me they both work.”
“What if they both work because they worked together?”
“I’m playing with that. She gets the case there, and gives him the swipe. That way, she’s in the club at TOD, visible. And he waits inside the room.”
“Hitch.”
“Yeah, I know the hitches, but lay them out.”
“Why would they trust each other? They’re in separate circles, interlinking but separate. If you’re going to conspire to kill, you need more than motivation. You have to trust each other not to screw it up, or roll.”
“True, but why do we so often catch people who conspire to murder?”
“Because they screw up or roll. But Becca’s hooked with Barney, and doesn’t have much to do with Lopez. They’d have to know each other enough to know they want the same thing. Different reasons maybe, but the same thing.”
“Another hitch, unless we find he’s spent some time in her club.”
“And she could’ve vamped him. Hey.” Inspired, Peabody waved her fork. “She could’ve vamped him because, first, good-looking guy, and because she knows his history with Shauna. Maybe they hatch it all together, or she says if you don’t do this—and you know you want to—I’ll tell Becca you’re having an affair with me.”
“That’s not bad. But the hatching had to happen fast, and be well timed and executed. That’s where it stops me.”
“Erin already had backup—that’s what she told Donna. So that means more time.”
“And that’s where it opens for me, a little. Together or separately, they top the list. Rierdon’s the only other one who comes close, and not close enough. No reason for Erin to have trusted him, or asked him to help her out. No reason for him to hook up with Barney on it, or Lopez if Erin tapped either of them.”
“Plus, he’s not as connected, and hasn’t been since Shauna broke things off. Erin’s not the reason she did. And he just didn’t strike me, Dallas.”
“They don’t always,” Eve muttered. “But he’s not striking me, either. It’s too personal for someone she dated for a few months a few years ago. He’d have pushed on her before, and she said he didn’t.”
