Four Walls

Neither she nor Lindsay nor Angell had ever mentioned the exact cause of Maria Campagna's death out loud outside of the lab. Angell had spoken to some press but said nothing about how Maria was killed, either.

While it was possible that either Jeanie or Dina could have mentioned it-they found the body, and enough people watched cop shows on TV to possibly recognize a case of strangulation when they saw it-that didn't strike Stella as likely. Certainly not Jeanie, who'd been going out of her way to avoid talking about Maria's death in any but the most perfunctory of details.

Marty had a large enough build to have been the one to strangle Maria, and the bruise he sported on his cheek was approximately the right size to have been made by Maria's fist.

Stella got up and went to the counter. 'Can I have another iced coffee?' she asked the young woman who wasn't Jeanie. Then Stella turned to Marty. 'That's some bruise you got there.'

Lowering his head and smiling sheepishly, Marty said, 'Yeah, I got into it with a Great Dane. I'm a tech at Feldstein's across the street.' He jerked a thumb behind him, indicating the door-and the veterinarian beyond it.

Stella glanced back, though she already knew where he worked. Deciding to go for broke, she pulled her shield out of her back pocket. 'I'm Detective Bonasera, with the New York Crime Lab. Mind if I ask you a few questions?'

'Yeah, I do mind. I just came in here for some cookies and coffee, okay?'

'It's just that I'm looking into Maria Campagna's death, and I was wondering-'

'That has nothing to do with me, okay?' He took the bag with the cookies and the small coffee cup from Jeanie, then threw a five down on the counter. 'Keep it.' To Stella, he all but snarled, 'See you later, Detective.'

Jeanie was giving Stella an odd look. 'You don't think he had anything to do with Maria, do you?' she asked in another low whisper.

Leaning over the counter to minimize eavesdropping, Stella asked, 'What do you know about him?'

'Who, Marty? He works across the street. He and Maria went to the same high school, so they talked about that a lot. But that was it, really.'

When the other woman came by, Stella said, 'I'll take that to go.'

Once she paid for the coffee, she left the cafй and went across the street to Feldstein's.

It might well be a dead end-but so was Jack Morgenstern at this point, and Marty's bruise and knowledge of the COD were enough to make him worth pursuing. Probably wasn't enough for a warrant just yet, but it was enough for her to question the other people at Feldstein's.

She pulled open the glass door to find a large reception desk in front of a big waiting area that included several long wooden benches along the walls and an open center floor, which provided plenty of room for dogs to gad about. At present, only two people were in the waiting area, both with cat carriers. One cat was lying quietly in its carrier, but the other was yowling in protest.

There were two women behind the desk, one of whom was on the phone. The other, a short, round woman with spiky white hair, asked, 'Can I help you?'

Again, Stella flashed her shield. 'I'm Detective Bonasera, with the New York Crime Lab. I'm investigating the death of Maria Campagna, and I was wondering if you could answer a few questions.'

Even as she spoke, she couldn't help but notice that behind the desk was an HP laser-jet printer-the exact same model that was used to print the anonymous love letters to Maria.

The woman behind the desk formed an O with her mouth. 'Oh, you mean the girl across the street? Yeah, I heard about that-it's awful.'

'Did you know her?'

'Yeah, I saw her when I went for tea and pastries a couple of times.' She leaned forward and said in an almost conspiratorial tone, 'They have the best cannoli.'

Stella smiled. 'I know, believe me.' Then she grew serious and took out a notepad and pen. 'What's your name?'

'Oh, I'm Jaya-Jaya Nissen.'

'Who else from here goes to Belluso's regularly?'

'God, everybody. I don't think Dr. Feldstein does, but he usually just brings food from home. He keeps kosher-I know that they say their food is all kosher, too, but I don't think Dr. Feldstein trusts that. But most of the rest of us do, yeah.'

'How late were you open the night before last?'

'Until ten. That was our late night, to accommodate people who work late, you know?'

'I understand.' Stella wrote that all down, then asked, 'Does anybody stay later than that?'

Jaya nodded. 'We board a lot of animals here, and someone always stays until about eleven or so to make sure they've got enough food and water and, for the cats, enough litter. Plus, some of the animals have medical needs, and the dogs have to be walked.'

'Who was it who stayed late two nights ago?'

Blinking, Jaya said, 'I don't remember.' Her companion, who had long red hair that was tied back in a ponytail, was just getting off the phone, and Nissen turned to her. 'Moira, do you remember who had the late shift two nights ago?'

'Sure. It was Marty,' the woman said.

Stella managed to hide a smile. 'What's Marty's full name?'

'Marty Johannsen,' Moira said. 'I remember because he came in yesterday with this big-ass bruise. He said Rex did it.'

'And Rex is?' Stella asked.

'A Great Dane we got boarded-again.' She rolled her eyes. 'I swear, those people are on vacation more than they're home. Don't know why they even keep the dog, he spends more time here than there. And they got a yard, too. Don't know why they can't just leave him home and have someone come in to walk and feed him-I even told Mr. Franklin that, but he doesn't listen.'

Trying to get the conversation back on track, Stella asked, 'So Marty was here alone until eleven?'

'Yeah,' Moira said. 'Oh, wait-Chris was here for a while, too. Not sure if he stayed the whole time, though.'

'Chris is?'

Jaya took this one. 'Chris Schanke. He's our head tech-he orders all the food and meds and stuff.'

Stella noted his name, grateful that she now had two people to ask about. Her money was still on Marty, but it eased the blow if you asked to talk about two people to the police. Ask about one person and he's a suspect-ask about two, and you're just collecting data. 'Can either of you recall what both Chris and Marty were wearing? We want to be able to eliminate them as suspects.' That second sentence was only half true.

'Chris was wearing scrubs all day,' Moira said. 'He always does. I don't think I've ever seen him in civvies, except at the Christmas party.'

'Marty was wearing a black sweatshirt that said SAN DIEGO on it,' Jaya said. 'I remember 'cause Dr. Feldstein wanted to know if he'd ever been there. Dr. Feldstein's son was in the Navy and was stationed there.'

Not that she cared, but Stella asked anyhow: 'Had he?'

Jaya shook her head. 'Nah, it was a present from his parents when they went on vacation there. Kind of a 'My parents went to San Diego and all I got was this lousy sweatshirt' thing.'

Stella continued taking notes, but now she was sure she had enough for a warrant.

* * *

'You don't have enough for a warrant.'

Stella sat with Angell in the chambers of Judge Lou Montagnino. This judge was always a risk. On the one hand, he had a thing about murdered girls. Before being elevated to the bench in 1972, Montagnino had been in the district attorney's office in Queens and prosecuted a man who'd killed four teenage girls. He was usually willing to give a certain amount of leeway for such cases.

The flip side, though, was that Montagnino was also a chauvinist pig who had very little time for detectives of the female persuasion. 'Secretaries with guns,' he called them once in Stella's hearing, and it had taken all of her