essentials, cuffs included. Even a mediocre thief could have gotten them from me without much effort.
'But why me?'
I used Herb's phone to call Fuller back into the office. He'd been particularly helpful on the Gingerbread Man case, and I needed an extra man.
'Officer, I'd like you to cross-reference my previous case files with the names from County's sign-in book. You know how to build a database?'
Fuller snorted.
'You think because I can bench three-fifty I can't work a spreadsheet?'
'You can bench three-fifty?' Herb asked. 'I almost weigh three-fifty.'
'It's not that hard. Just a combination of diet, exercise, and supplementing.'
'Maybe that's why I'm not getting results. I'm not supplementing.'
I thought of a hundred things to say, but managed to keep a lid on them.
Fuller walked next to Herb and leaned against his desk. The desk creaked. 'I stack to boost my metabolism. Plus I use chromium, L-carnitine, CLA, and I protein-load before working out. If you want, I could take you through my NFL routine sometime.'
Herb beamed in a way that he usually reserved for chili dogs. 'That'd be great! Can I get a list of those supplements you're taking?'
'Sure. See, an ECA stack is a combination of--'
'Officer Fuller,' I interrupted, 'we could really use that database.'
'Gotcha, Lieut. I'll get right on it.'
Fuller left. Herb gave me a frown.
'What's wrong, Jack?'
'I wanted to stop the conversation before the two of you started flexing.'
'Too much guy talk, huh? Sorry, didn't mean to exclude you.'
Herb said it without sarcasm, but the comment chafed. Being a woman in the CPD meant constant, unrelenting exclusion. It didn't matter that I was the number-one marksman in the district. It didn't matter that I had a black belt in tae kwon do. Herb wouldn't ever think to ask me about my workout routine. Unconscious sexism.
Or perhaps I was just being overly touchy because of the situation with my mom.
Pulitzer returned, looking a little better.
'I thought of something, but I don't know if it will help or not.'
We waited.
'If Davi was doing anything illegal, it wouldn't matter now, right? Because she's gone? It's silly, but I still feel protective of her.'
'Drugs?' I asked.
Pulitzer's shoulders slumped.
'Cocaine. Recreational, as far as I knew. It didn't affect her work.'
'Do you know where she got her drugs?'
'No idea.'
Again, we waited.
'I really have no idea. I want to help, but I'm not into that scene. I could put you in touch with some of my other models who might know, but I wouldn't want them getting into trouble.'
Pulitzer reached up to rub the back of his neck, exposing a bandage beneath the cuff on his right wrist.
'How did you get that?' Herb asked, pointing it out.
'Hmm? Oh. Mr. Friskers.'
'Mr. Friskers?'
'Davi's cat. I hate that damn thing. Mean as hell. I went over to Davi's apartment before I called the police. She gave me a set of keys. I figured, I don't know, maybe she had a heart attack, or fell and broke her leg so she couldn't get to the phone.'
I felt Herb's eyes on me. I kept focus on Pulitzer.
'We'll need to check the apartment. The keys would save us some time.'
Pulitzer dug into his pants and handed me a key ring.
'Be careful. That thing is like a little T. rex.'
After assuring Pulitzer we wouldn't pursue any narcotics possession charges with his models, he gave us the names of three who used coke.
'Is there anything else? I wasn't able to reschedule my afternoon meeting. Big client. I want to help Davi, but I really can't miss this.'
