They’d alreadydusted and scanned for fingerprints all along the counters, the fridge, thebody. And still, nothing had shown up. Nothing besides the victim’s ownfingerprints.
The secondvictim had been found with her back against the cabinets, facing the fridge.This meant whoever had attacked her had done so quickly. There had been a bitof blood spatter, but not much. There’d been no signs of defensive wounds onthe body. No struggle whatsoever.
“Do you thinkshe knew the killer?” Adele asked, quietly.
Agent Paigesaid, “Maybe.”
Adele steppeddaintily over the faded pool of blood. She walked to the fridge, and, using herpocket to sheathe her hand, she grabbed the handle and pulled it open. Therewere still groceries in the fridge. Old sandwiches rested in the crisper, and alarge jug of milk sat nestled next to a dozen eggs. Otherwise, the fridge wasmostly bare. Adele regarded the cabinets where the woman had been found,sitting on the floor in a pool of her own blood.
She examined thewooden block of steak knives next to the sink. All the knives were accountedfor. They’d been scanned for blood and cleared. The killer had taken his weaponwith him. They still didn’t even know what he had used to kill the woman.
Adele reachedup, opening the freezer. There were two trays of ice, a tub of ice cream, andsome frozen pizzas. The ice cream container was stained with melted, thenrefrozen, streaks on the side, and one of the trays of ice was completelyempty. Adele pursed her lips; it was a personal pet peeve, but she hated whenpeople put empty ice trays back in the freezer. She glanced at the ice creamcontainer, and then her eyes flitted to the frozen pizzas. Cauliflower. Shewrinkled her nose, but felt a sudden flush of embarrassment as she studied thefood.
What had shebeen expecting to find?
She eased thefreezer door shut and turned back to survey the room. There was no indeed physicalevidence. She regarded the sink and noted a slow drip. She moved over andtwisted one of the handles. The drip continued, one droplet at a time. Tap,tap. Droplets struck the metal basin.
“Is the witnesscoming?” Adele said, glancing over at Paige.
The older womanwas still watching the skyline through the window. She grunted, “On her way.”
Adele clearedher throat. “What was her name again?”
“MelissaRobinson. Also American—she found the body.”
Adele set herlips. “How do you think we should approach questioning?”
Agent Paigeshrugged again. “You’re the Interpol operative. I’m just here following yourlead. Do what you want.”
Adele hesitated,staring across the crime scene. She nodded once, then, in as diplomatic a toneas she could summon, she said, “I think we need to have a chat.”
Paige finallylooked away from the window and raised a silver eyebrow.
Adele approachedcarefully, coming to stand in front of the older woman, though part of herwanted to hide in the corner of the room. The scent of soap was even strongerthan before as she met her partner’s gaze. “This doesn’t have to be painful,but I have a feeling you’re not putting in as much effort as you could.”
Paige betrayedno expression for a moment. At last, she shrugged and said, “I’m not in chargeof your feelings. Maybe you should do a better job controlling them.”
Adele stared atthe older woman. “I don’t believe this is helpful.”
“The number ofthings you’re unable to believe isn’t my business,” Paige said coolly. Shecarried the attitude of someone delighting in the frustration of another. Adele’smounting temper seemed only to further fuel Paige’s enjoyment.
“I didn’t knowit was you,” Adele blurted out at last.
Agent Paige’sexpression became fixed.
Adele glancedback toward the door, and was glad to see the frame empty, suggesting thelandlord was further down the hall. She lowered her voice all the same andsaid, “I didn’t know. I just saw someone had moved one of the accountingdocuments out of evidence. I thought it was a clerical error. When I reportedit to Foucault, I had no clue—”
“Stop,” Paigesnapped, gritting her teeth.
The quiet,quizzical expression of complacency had faded now, like ice melting over apool, revealing the boiling anger beneath.
“I’m serious,”Adele said, “if I had known—”
“You did whatyou did.” Paige was scowling now. Her hands, at her sides, trembled against hergray suit. “They demoted me. I’m lucky I still have my job. Matthew wasarrested. They questioned him for nearly a week!”
Adele winced. “I’msorry. All I saw was missing evidence. I didn’t know—”
“God damn whatyou don’t know,” Agent Paige snapped. She slammed her finger into Adele’schest, pushing sharply against the younger woman. “You should have come to me.I was your supervisor! You went behind my back, like a little rat.”
Adele steppedback, reaching up and rubbing at her chest, wondering if she’d find a bruisecome morning. She shook her head and said, “You moved evidence to protect yourboyfriend. I didn’t know what had happened. I didn’t even know you were datinga suspect—”
“He wasn’t asuspect when we started,” Paige snapped, but then trailed off, biting the wordswith a snarl. “It’s none of your fucking business who I date, understand? Andthey cleared him. He didn’t do it.”
Adele nodded,trying to keep her posture nonthreatening. “Good. I’m glad. I didn’t know thatat the time. All I knew was that someone had moved evidence. If I had known itwas you, I would have talked to you. I definitely would have. You didn’t tellme, though. I just saw it missing—”
Sophie snortedand waved a hand at Adele. “Not everything has to be catered toward preciouslittle Adele,” Paige snapped. “Not everything is about you.”
Adele ground herteeth, and she wanted to protest further, but the words wouldn’t come. Thesituation had been a bad one. Agent Paige had been lucky to keep her job. Herrelationship with Matthew, an accountant with the DGSI, hadn’t been publicknowledge at the time. Adele hadn’t known her supervisor was dating a suspectin the death of a prostitute. In the end, Matthew had been cleared. But Paigehad blamed Adele for reporting the missing evidence. It had turned out Paigewas trying to cover for her boyfriend; in the end, though, it had come to lightthat Matthew had been sleeping with the prostitute. Adele suspected Paige hadn’tknown this when she’d hidden receipts and