“Yes, sir. Shit.”
“It ain’t roses,” McGreedy agreed.
“Hold him back, would you?” Eve requested, and hopped off the elevator.
Never a dull moment, she thought as she took a cautious sniff of herself just in case.
She bypassed her office for the conference room where she re-created her case boards, loaded data into a computer.
By the time she was finished, she expected Peabody to clock in. Deciding she wanted another hit of decent coffee before things got rolling, she secured the conference room and started to her office.
She spotted Marlo—despite the long, sun-streaked brunette wig and oversized sunshades—coming off the glides.
“Dallas.”
“Not working today?”
“I’m not due in hair and makeup until nine, so I thought I’d take a chance you’d be in, and have a few minutes.”
“I’m in, and a few minutes is all I’ve got.” Eve nodded as Peabody and McNab came up the next glide. “Hang on a minute,” she told Marlo.
“Is that Marlo?” Peabody asked.
“Yeah, I’m going to talk to her. The two of you can head right into the conference room. I’ve got boards set up. Study, ponder, prepare to discuss. What’s in the box?”
“Doughnuts.” McNab grinned at her. “We figured, hey, cops, breakfast time, briefing. It’s the necessary ingredient.”
“It couldn’t hurt. I won’t be long.”
Eve considered the fact her murder board stood in her office, and deciding it might be an advantage, led Marlo in.
“Thanks for …” Marlo trailed off, her gaze on the board. “God, that’s stark. And really, really disconcerting to see my own face up there, those of people I know and care about. Can I sit down?”
“Sure.” As she did, Eve rested a hip on the corner of her desk. Her mind went, unfortunately, to the idea of how many asses had sat on her candy in the last couple of days.
“You know, I thought I’d gotten so tough, prepping for this part. I’ve always kept in shape, but Christ, I trained for this. Physically, I mean. And, I thought, mentally. But I learned, fast, I’m not half as tough as I thought. I can work. I can put myself there, but as soon as I step out of you and into me? I’m just Marlo Durn, and I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“There’s no way around the fact one of us …” Her gaze went to the board again. “One of us killed K.T. There’s no way around it. And I know you believe whoever did that killed the man she hired to spy on Matthew and me. So I’m scared because I’m working with someone who could do that.”
“Did Asner approach you, Marlo, or Matthew about compensation in exchange for the recording?”
“No.” She stared at his photo on the board. “I’ve never seen him before. He was in the loft, in our bedroom. And now he’s dead.”
“Has anyone approached you?”
“No. I’d tell you. It’s way beyond the invasion of privacy, the embarrassment. Even the anger over it. I wanted to come here, see you, ask you if you’re any closer to finding out who. And I know you probably can’t tell me, but I hate being this way. Hate being scared, hate wondering about these people I care about. Hate locking my trailer door, even when I’m inside.”
“Are you afraid of anyone in particular?”
Marlo shook her head. “Matthew’s handling it better, and so’s Andi. Julian’s worse than I am. He’s a wreck. Connie was supposed to fly to Paris to shoot some ads. Their daughter was going to meet her so they’d have a few days over there together. She rescheduled because she doesn’t want to leave Roundtree. I know that’s not really important in the bigger sense, but—”
“It’s hard to reorder your life, even in the short-term. It’s hard to wonder if someone you know isn’t someone you know at all.”
“Yes.” Marlo closed her eyes. “God, yes. Can you tell me anything? Anything at all.”
“We’re having a major briefing on the investigation and some new angles this morning.”
“That’s good then.” Marlo let out a breath. “That’s good.”
And that would get around, Eve thought. She wondered what Stein-burger would think when he heard.
“There’s a minor detail I meant to check out,” Eve continued. “You’d probably know, save me some steps.”
“Anything.”
“Does anyone besides Harris smoke? Herbals, or otherwise?”
“Oh.” Marlo slumped a little. “I do. A little. Occasionally. Not herbals. Tobacco, and I know, I know, I know. Bad for me, painfully expensive. And you have to hide like a thief. I’ve cut them out almost completely because of that, and more—might as well be honest—because Matthew dislikes it so much. He insists I can get the same effect with yoga breathing, which only proves he’s never smoked anything.”
“So he objects?”
“Disapproves. Worries. I tried to switch to herbals as he’s not as rabid about those, but hell. It’s not the same.”
“Anyone else? Smoke or object to it?”
“Andi will bum a drag now and then, either from me or off an herbal. A lot of the crew sneak off for an herbal during breaks. Roundtree designated an area for them, though the studio wouldn’t approve. And Joel pitched a fit.”
Inside, Eve smiled. “Did he?”
“He’s the smoking gestapo.” She straightened again, rolled her eyes dramatically. “I swear, he can tell if you’ve had a single puff an hour before from a half mile away.” She made sniffing sounds, lowered her brows, roughened her voice, and did a dead-on mimic of Steinburger. “Who’s been smoking! I won’t be exposed to it. Preston! Valerie! Get this place aired out, right now!” She made hacking noises, covered her mouth with her forearm. “Somebody get me a lozenge and some spring water!”
Then she laughed, sat back. “I swear, his eyes start watering if somebody so much as thinks about smoking. He and K.T. were at it on that all the time. They’d … Oh, I didn’t mean. It’s not like he’d kill somebody over it. He just can’t stand it, and his eyes do get red.”
“Understood.” Eve smiled. “We know Harris smoked herbals on the roof, inside the dome. DNA. From what you’ve said it doesn’t seem likely she got them from someone else at the party.”
“She wouldn’t ask, believe me. Or share.”
“Then that covers that. Just a minor detail, as I said. I’ve got to get to the briefing, Marlo.”
“Okay. Thanks. Really.” She rose, took Eve’s hand. “It’s probably stupid, but I feel better just talking to you.”
“Glad I could help. I’ll walk you out.”
“You probably think it’s silly,” Marlo said and tugged on her wig. “Wigs and shades and oversized coats.”
“I think I’d hate it if I couldn’t walk down the street, buy a soy dog, take a stroll, grab a slice without having people staring at me, pushing at me, taking pictures of me.”
“It’s part of the package.”
“Everybody’s got a package. You don’t have to like all of it.”
“Matthew and I are talking about going public. What the studio wants, it just doesn’t seem important now. Two people are dead. That’s what’s important, so … And you know what else?” She pulled off the wig, shaking out her short hair as she stuffed it in her bag. “God! That feels better. Screw it. I’m Marlo Durn.”
She shot Eve the megastar smile and strolled toward the glide.
Armed with the additional data, Eve strode to the conference room. Inside, McNab stuffed the last of a doughnut into his mouth.
Peabody turned from the board, goggled. “Holy shit, Dallas.”
“Convinced?”
