“Bet your ass.”
“Good.” Someone, Eve thought, wasn’t going to get a good night’s sleep. And this time, it wouldn’t be her.
• • •
Nadine fussed with the camera angles, looked in the monitor, and ordered a light adjustment.
“It’s not a damn beauty contest, Nadine.”
“Shows what you know about on-air reporting. There, that looks good. Can you cut out some of that air traffic, Lucy? It’s like sitting in a transpo center.”
“I’m filtering out most of it.” The operator fiddled another moment, then nodded. “Ready when you are.”
“We’ll do the bumper back at the shop. Start record. This is Nadine Furst for Channel 75,” she began, her eyes on the pinpoint lens. “Reporting from Cop Central and the office of Lieutenant Eve Dallas, the primary investigator in the murder of actor Richard Draco. Lieutenant.” Nadine shifted, faced Eve. “Can you give us an update on your investigation?”
“The investigation is ongoing. The department is following a number of leads.”
“Mr. Draco was killed onstage, in front of a packed house. You yourself were a witness.”
“That’s correct. The nature of the crime, its location, and execution have resulted in literally thousands of interviews and witness statements.”
And because it was always best to pay your debts, Eve tagged on an addendum. “Detective Baxter of this division has reviewed the bulk of those statements and taken on the arduous task of elimination and corroboration.”
“It’s true, isn’t it, that people often see the same event, but see it differently?”
“It’s often true of civilians. Police officers are trained to see.”
“Does that make you your own best witness?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Is it true that Kenneth Stiles, a colleague and acquaintance of Draco’s who was in the cast of the play, is your lead suspect?”
“That individual has been questioned, as have all members of the cast. As I stated, we are following a number of leads, and as the focus of the investigation has narrowed, we expect to make an arrest within twenty-four hours.”
“An arrest.” It threw Nadine off stride, but only for one beat. “Can you give us the name of your primary suspect?”
“I’m not free to give that information at this time. I can tell you that the person who killed Richard Draco, who killed Linus Quim, will be in custody within twenty-four hours.”
“Who—”
&
nbsp; “That’s all you get, Nadine. Shut it down.”
Nadine might have argued, but Eve was already getting to her feet. “Shut it down, Lucy. That was a hell of a bombshell, Dallas. If you’d given me a head’s up, we could’ve gone live.”
“Tonight’s soon enough. You got your story, Nadine. You’ll hit with it first.”
“Can’t argue with that. Can you give me any more, just some filler for the follow-up? Procedural details, some of the hard data. The exact number of interviews, number of man-hours, that kind of thing.”
“You can get that from media relations.” Eve glanced at the camera operator, pointed a finger, then jerked a thumb at the door.
With a look at Nadine for confirmation, Lucy hauled the equipment out.
“Off the record, Dallas—”
“You’ll know everything you need to know tomorrow. I have a question for you. You didn’t mention Roarke in your report, his connection to the theater, to the play, to me. Why?”