“Yeah, and to give his bony ass a pat.”
“Unfortunately, he was sitting on said bony ass at the time of my visit, so I was unable to complete that part of my mission.”
“Because, despite all my efforts, the image of that bony ass is starting to form in my fevered mind, tell me about the rest of the mission. How’s it going in there?”
Peabody wanted to ask why Eve hadn’t been in to see for herself, but from the snags of tension around her and Roarke, she thought she knew.
“Well, there’s a lot of techno-talk, some pretty creative cursing. I like how Roarke says ‘bugger.’ Tokimoto stays iced, and Reva’s like a woman on a religious quest. McNab’s in heaven, hacking away. But what tipped me was Feeney. There’s this gleam in his eyes. I think they’re getting close.”
“While they’re making the world safe for democracy, let’s see if we can solve a few murders.”
“Excuse me, Lieutenant,” she said when her communicator signaled. “I’ll get on that little task as soon as I take this. Detective Peabody,” she announced. “Hey, Lamar, you got something for us?”
“You got my backstage pass?”
“My word’s my bond.”
“Then I got your face. How do you want me to send it?”
“Laser fax,” Eve ordered from her desk. “And a file to my unit here. I want a hard copy, and I want one on my computer.”
Peabody relayed, then walked over to retrieve the fax herself. “Lamar’s good. Could probably make a better living doing portraits than detailing bad guys. Not the prettiest petal on the flower,” she added, passing the printout to Eve. “But not as ugly as Sibresky said. The scar just messes up the face.”
“Yeah, it draws the eye, too, doesn’t it? You’re going to think scar when you see this face. Big, nasty scar, so maybe you don’t look too close, because, gee, that’s rude.”
“Sibresky doesn’t seem to have had that problem.”
“I get the feeling Sibresky’s not too big on sensitivity and etiquette. Let’s play a game, Peabody.”
“Really? Okay.”
“We’ll start by you going in the kitchen, getting a pot of coffee and . . . something. There’s gotta be something to eat.”
“You want food?”
“No, my stomach’s still shaky. You get food.”
“Hey, so far I like this game.”
“Don’t come back in until I tell you.”
“No problem.?
??
Eve turned to her computer, rubbed her hands together. “Okay, let’s play.”
It didn’t take long because the process and the possibility had been brewing in her brain for some time. She used the imaging program, shooting the visuals on the wall screens as she worked the details.
“Okay, Peabody, you’re up, and bring me coffee.”
“You should have some of this apple-cranberry cobbler.” She came in with a bowl of it, and a mug for Eve. “It’s really mag.”
“What do you see?”
Peabody eased a hip onto the edge of the desk, spooned up cobbler. “The artist’s rendering of the suspect known only as Angelo.”
“Okay. Computer split screen, keep current image and display image CB-1.”