Paige picked ather fingernails, flicking whatever she found onto the sidewalk. “You’re notgoing to discover anything new.”
“Maybe not, ormaybe so.”
Adele couldsmell Agent Paige’s perfume, though to call it perfume would have been astretch. Her partner smelled of soap; not scented soap, but rather a sort ofplain cleansing odor that hearkened of hygiene and simplicity. Agent Paige woreno earrings, nor jewelry of any kind. She had a strong profile with a romannose and sharp cheekbones. Adele remembered her first year at the DGSI, workingunder a taskforce with Agent Paige—she’d been intimidated by the older womanthen, and, judging by the twisting swirling in her gut, the sensation hadn’tfaded.
Adele had nevervisited Sophie’s family, but she knew from discussions with other agents thatPaige had five children of her own, all of them adopted. And yet, in Adele’sexperience, she’d never seen the woman miss a day of work. It had taken somedigging, when she’d been at the DGSI, but by the sound of things, Agent Paige’shusband stayed at home, taking care of the kids while his wife worked longhours for the government.
Paige returnedAdele’s look of annoyance, and in answer, Adele reached out and slammed herthumb on the buzzer for the landlord. It took a moment, then the doors buzzed.Sophie pushed open the front door, moved in, and allowed it to swing shutbehind her.
Adele had tohurry forward to jam her foot in the gap, catching it before it closed fully.
Adele stared infrustration at the back of the older agent’s head. Again, not a single hair wasout of place. Paige’s clothing was neatly pressed, her suit jacket a charcoalgray, matching her pants.
Adele had neverparticularly enjoyed her old supervisor’s company. The last time she’dinteracted with the woman, on the previous case in France, Paige had causedtrouble.
“Excuse me,”said Adele, keeping her voice low, “do we need to talk?”
Paige acted likeshe hadn’t heard, though, and continued toward the stairs.
Adele took a fewhurried steps to catch up with the older woman, and she reached out, gentlyplacing a hand on the other agent’s forearm. As if she’d been scalded, Paigewhirled around, a snarl on her lips. “Don’t touch me!” she snapped.
Adele’s eyesflicked to the woman’s holster beneath her parted jacket. She lifted her hand,raising it in a placating gesture. “Apologies.”
“What do youwant?” Paige said, scowling. “We’re doing it your way, aren’t we? We’re herewasting time instead of talking to witnesses.”
“What witnesses?”Adele said, biting back further retort.
“The American.The one who found the body.”
Adele shook herhead. “She found the victim, but she didn’t see anything.”
Paige pursed herlips. “It would be a better use of our time than going over an empty crimescene. You read the report, didn’t you? No physical evidence. There’s nothingfor us here.”
Adele huffed,shaking her head. She reached out as if to steady herself, gripping the woodenbanister of the railing that led up the apartment steps.
She could hearthe jingle of keys and the sound of footsteps approaching as the landlord madehis way across the hall. She glanced past her partner, over the banister andthrough the wooden rails, to spot an old, bald man with a bit of a paunch and astained sweater moving toward them.
Adele loweredher voice, trying to keep calm as she said, “You can contact the officers withthe American. They’re on standby. Tell them to bring her here, if you want. We’llinterview her after; better here than the station, anyway.”
“Fine,” saidPaige. “Maybe I will.” She reached for her phone and fiddled with it for amoment.
Adele waited asthe landlord approached, hoping this was the last heated exchange for themoment. It wouldn’t do to look unprofessional in the face of publicspeculation.
The landlordglanced between the two women, seemingly ignorant of the bad blood. He adopteda simpering, oily smile and said, “I can show you to the room.” He paused for amoment, his smile still stretching his lips like taffy. “Just out of curiosity…”He paused, as if waiting a rehearsed number of seconds. Then he said, “Whenwill I be able to rent out the apartment? There are bills to pay—”
“I’m AgentSharp,” Adele interrupted. She studied the man. “This is Agent Paige.” Shereached into her pocket and flashed her badge, as well as the Interpolcredentials Robert had given her.
The landlordwaved them away without glancing toward either ID. Paige was still glancing ather phone, ignoring the man.
“I can show you,”he repeated.
Adele gesturedwith a hand up the stairs and allowed the landlord to take the lead, followinghim at a slow pace as he breathed heavily, moving up the stairs one at a time.When they reached the third-floor landing, he clicked the keys into the lockand twisted, pushing the door open. Adele examined the keys, then glanced atthe back of the landlord. “You didn’t enter the apartment a couple of days ago,did you?”
The landlordregarded her, and then after a moment, his face adopted a horrified expression.He immediately began shaking his head wildly, causing his jowls to jiggle. “No,”he insisted. “Certainly not. I never enter the apartments. The keys are justfor emergencies.”
Adele raised herhands. “Does anyone else have access to a set of keys?”
The landlordshook his head firmly. “Only the apartment tenant. And myself. And I don’t usethem,” he repeated.
Adele nodded toshow she’d heard, watching as the man pushed open the apartment door and steppedaside, gesturing for the two agents to enter.
The agentsducked under the crime scene tape crisscrossing the door. Adele moved onwardand glanced at the tile floor.
Already, mostthe blood had been cleaned up. Photographic evidence had been taken of thescene, and previous investigators had come through to catalog everything. Adeleglanced around the kitchen; she noted a few stains of blood against the cabinetnext to the fridge, as well as along the tile floor. She moved over the stainsand glanced at the fridge. It was closed now.
Besides theclosed fridge door and the missing stain, the crime scene looked exactly thesame as the photos. The body had long since been taken to the coroner, and thefinal report would be forthcoming soon enough.
She hated toadmit it, but there wasn’t much to be seen. No
