“How far will this set back the project?”
“Half a day. That was Tokimoto. Reva’s already briefed him, though she plans to be back at it herself as soon as she’s done with Truth Testing. If two people are dead for the purposes of scrapping this project, it was severely misdirected.”
“You’d think anybody smart enough to pull this off would be smart enough to know that. Desperation move?” she speculated. “Trouble in the rank and file? Carter Bissel. I really want to talk to Carter Bissel.”
“Are we going to Jamaica?”
“Don’t grab your beach towel yet. I’ll start by chatting up the local authorities. I’ve got to write my report, shoot a copy to Whitney. And I’ve got to follow through with the standard investigative routine. Check with the ME, the lab, the sweepers, EDD. Media’s going to start jumping by morning. You’re probably going to want to formulate an official statement as her employer.”
“I’m already working on that.”
“I want her under wraps, Roarke. No statements from her, so if she goes back to work, I need her tucked up tight.”
“I can promise you, she knows how to stonewall the media.”
“Just make sure of it. If you don’t have something else going, you could start digging deeper on Bissel and Kade.”
“I’ve cleared the table for this.” He picked up his wineglass again. “I’ll get my shovel.”
“You’re okay, you know.” She stepped to him, gave him a light bite on the bottom lip. “For a slick-talking, sticky-fingered civilian.”
“You’re okay yourself. For a mean-tempered, single-minded cop.”
“Aren’t we the pair? Give a yell if you find something interesting.”
She sat at her desk to sort through her notes, the statements, preliminary findings. Then began to write up a report for her files, and her commander’s.
Halfway through, she pulled out the crime scene stills and studied them yet again. Had they been conscious when the stabbing started?
Unlikely, she thought, given the time frame. Whoever killed them had wanted them dead and hadn’t cared about causing pain. That left out rage, in her opinion. It had been too cold-blooded, too premeditated for rage.
It was meant to look lik
e rage.
Front door was open. She frowned as she rechecked her notes. Caro’s statement asserted the front door was open when she arrived. Yet in Reva’s, she stated she’d reset the locks and the security. And Eve was inclined to believe she had. It would be habit, routine, training, the sort of thing she’d do automatically even when in a temper.
Whoever had killed them, and incapacitated Reva, had gone back out the front door, leaving the locks open. Why not? What would it matter?
In fact . . .
She got up, went to the doorway. “Fancy security system like Kade’s. . . ,” she began, “ . . . if it’s shut down, and an egress is left open, how long before the company’d do a routine check of the premises?”
“That would depend on the client’s request. It’s individualized.” He glanced up from his own work. “You’re wanting me to check.”
“You could get the answer faster, seeing as you own the world.”
“I only own specific parts of the world. Open Securecomp,” he ordered his computer. “Authorization Roarke.”
Working . . . Securecomp open on Authorization Roarke.
“Access client file for Kade, Felicity, residential account, NYC.”
Working . . . Kade, Felicity, accessed. Do you want the data on screen or on audio?
“On screen. Detail client’s profile for house security.”
Profile displayed.