“What do the cops want with who today?” she asked.
Genie showed the manager Nicole’s driver’s license photo. “Nicole Bellows, four-B.”
“Don’t live here.”
She started to close the door.
“But she used to,” Genie said.
The woman stepped heavily into the hall and shut the door behind her, though Lucy could still hear the laugh track of a mindless sitcom. “Let’s see her.”
Genie showed the manager the photo. The woman put on her glasses and stared. “She’s one of the hookers. Moved out back before Thanksgiving. Found herself a sugar daddy, I suppose.”
“Do you know who?”
“Don’t ask, don’t tell, right?” She laughed at her own joke. “All I know is she caught up on her back rent and gave me two weeks. That covered her room through Halloween, I think. I haven’t seen her since.”
“How long did she live here?”
She shrugged. “Maybe a year. Little longer.” She glared at them. “She wasn’t a bad girl, you know. Never brought trouble here. No drugs. I catch one of my tenants with drugs, they don’t get no second chance. Drugs are killing my people, I don’t tolerate that garbage.”
“Nicole wasn’t a problem, then,” Genie said.
“Nope. Didn’t think she’d stay as long as she did.”
“Did she have any friends in the building?”
“Dunno. But I remember one friend, came by a couple times. I told her once, don’t come here at night, it wasn’t safe for a rich white girl like her.”
Lucy’s interest was piqued. “Do you remember her name?”
“Never introduced. She didn’t belong here. I think she was in Nicole’s line of work, if you know what I mean.”
“Are any of Nicole’s friends still in the building?”
“Four-C. Cora Fox. Been here for years. Nosy bitch, too.”
“Is she here now, or are we wasting our time walking up four flights?”
“She’s here, but you won’t find her upstairs. Coolest place in the building is the basement. I put in some fans, bring in some blocks of ice.”
Lucy’s surprise must have showed on her face.
The manager said, “You wouldn’t understand,
Genie grinned. “Nice meeting you-?”
“Meggie. Meggie Prince.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Lucy said, not understanding what Genie found humorous. She was still stunned at being called
Lucy and Genie took the stairs down to the basement. Support beams six feet apart seemed to hold up the building, and the ceiling was so low Lucy could reach up and touch it without stretching. But it was definitely twenty degrees cooler down here. In each corner of the long, narrow space was a big metal tub with a block of melting ice. A fan blew on the ice, cooling the air.
There were about two dozen people lounging about talking or watching one of three televisions, all of which had the same sitcom that the manager had been watching. Half got up and left when Genie and Lucy walked in. Genie stopped each woman and asked if she was Cora.
Finally, from the far corner, a skinny middle-aged woman who’d been watching them from the minute they entered said, “I’m Cora.” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t like cops.”
Genie said, “And I don’t like attitude, but here we are.”
“I don’t rat on friends.”
“I’m not asking you to. I’m here about Nicole Bellows.”
“Well, seeing that Nicole ain’t my friend, whaddya want to know?”
“She’s your neighbor?” Lucy asked.
“
“Yes. She also said you knew her.”
Cora shrugged. “As much as anyone could. She thought she was better than us, like her shit don’t stink.”
“It doesn’t anymore,” Genie said. “She’s dead.”
Cora put her hands up and leaned back. “Hey, I didn’t know.”
“We’re trying to retrace her steps. This is the last address we have on her.”
“There’s been a lot of steps between then and now.”
“So send us in the right direction. Do you know where she moved? Did she give you an address?”
“Nope. All I knew was what she told me, that she was moving to a house with a yard. Thought she was all that, you know? I said to her, found a sucker? A pimp? You know, trying to get the truth ’cuz I knew she was still hooking. And she says, no, she was making more money working less hours. I told her she was full of shit.” She shrugged.
“You didn’t believe her?” Lucy asked.
“I did,” Cora admitted. “But I thought she was into something. She aspired to be a high-paid call girl. I said to her, no one’s going to be paying top dollar for a two-bit whore. But she cleaned up, quit snorting-all her profits used to go up her nose.”
Maybe Meggie Prince didn’t know everything that went on in her building, or she lied a good game.
“I remember when she was in withdrawal,” Cora continued. “Her white bitch friend stayed here to keep Nicole straight. Never thought I’d see that goody-two-shoes stay overnight in this slum, but I guess people surprise you sometimes.”
Lucy asked, “Her friend? Does her friend have a name?”
“No idea. She was brave, I tell you, ’cause white girls don’t do well this side of town, know what I mean? But she stuck with Nicole for three days.”
“You remember what she looked like?”
“Blonde. Shorter than Nicole. Skinny. Dressed like a rich bitch slumming-new jeans, worn T-shirt, but it was designer shit all the way, and clean. She was sparkly clean.” She rolled her eyes and stuck gum in her mouth, cracking it loudly.
“And after this slumber party?” Genie pressed.
“They left. Both of them. Nicole gave her notice, but I don’t think she came back. Put all her stuff in a couple of boxes and disappeared.”
“And you have no idea where they went.”
“I said, a house with a yard. That’s all I know.”
“And you haven’t seen her since?”
There was something in Cora’s eyes that made Lucy think she had seen her. “Maybe not here,” she added, “but in the area.” When Cora didn’t immediately answer, she pushed. “She was murdered a few blocks from here.”
“Cora, this is important,” Genie said. “Have you seen Nicole Bellows anytime in the nine months since she moved out?”
Cora rubbed the sweat off her nose. “Yeah, I did. I saw her at the Big Boy two blocks over. Last night, ten or so. I work there part-time. I thought she was walking the streets again, but she wasn’t dressed for it. She was wearing a hoodie and it was a hundred fucking degrees. I cook in the back, wouldn’t have even looked twice except for the way she was dressed. Went up to her and said, Nic, long time, and she said, just passing through. That’s it. No how’s you been, nothing. She looked scared when I said her name, that was my first thought. Maybe some guy was hassling her or something.”
“Was she alone?”
Cora shrugged. “Far as I know.”
