“Hey, Lieutenant Sugar, a guy might think you didn’t care.”
“I don’t have time to play, Charles.”
“Hey, don’t cut me off. I got something for you.”
“Or for lame innuendos—”
“No, really. Boy, flirt with a woman once or twice and she never takes you seriously.” His perfect face registered hurt. “You asked me to call if I remembered anything, right?”
“Right.” Patience, she warned herself. “So, did you?”
“It was the diaries that got me thinking. You know how I said she was always recording everything. Since you’re looking for them, I figure they weren’t over at her place.”
“You should be a detective.”
“I like my line of work. Anyhow, I started wondering where she might put them for safekeeping. And I remembered the safe-deposit box.”
“We’ve already checked it. Thanks, anyway.”
“Oh. Well, how’d you get into it without me? She’s dead.” Eve paused on the point of cutting him off. “Without you?”
“Yeah. A couple, three years ago, she asked me to sign for one for her. Said she didn’t want her name on the record.”
Eve’s heart began to thump. “Then what good would it do her?”
Charles’s smile was sheepish and charming. “Well, technically, I signed her on as my sister. I’ve got one in Kansas City. So we listed Sharon as Annie Monroe. She paid the rent, and I just forgot about it. I can’t even say for sure if she kept it, but I thought you might want to know.”
“Where’s the bank?”
“Firs
t Manhattan, on Madison.”
“Listen to me, Charles. You’re home, right?”
“That’s right.”
“You stay there. Right there. I’ll be over in fifteen minutes. We’re going to go banking, you and me.”
“If that’s the best I can do. Hey, did I give you a hot lead, Lieutenant Sugar?”
“Just stay put.”
She was up and shrugging into her jacket when her ’link buzzed again. “Dallas.”
“Dispatch, Dallas. We have a transmission on hold for you. Video blocked. Refuses to identify.”
“Tracing?”
“Tracing now.”
“Then put it through.” She swung up her bag as the audio clicked. “This is Dallas.”
“Are you alone?” It was a female voice, tremulous.
“Yes. Do you want me to help you?”
“It wasn’t my fault. You have to know it wasn’t my fault.”