“Substantial. Altering.”
Nadine’s sharp green eyes narrowed. “As in she changed her face?”
“DeWinter is working on a possible reconstruction. If she can pull it off, we’ll know, and may be able to identify, who she was before she was Larinda Mars.”
“That’s interesting. Still, she wouldn’t be the first to want to change faces. And yet…”
“And yet. She’s got a cache of about a million in cash in her home safe.”
“A million?” Nadine’s shoulders shot straight. “Cash?”
“And jewelry worth easily as much. Art Roarke says is up there, too. Two underground accounts—so far. Several million each.”
“How the hell did she—” Breaking off, Nadine held up a hand. “She didn’t just try to extort for information, for contacts, for career enhancement. Straight blackmail?”
Handy, Eve thought, when you didn’t have to spell it all out. “She’s going to have tallied up a long enemies list, and some on that list are going to be right here, at Seventy-Five. So, when I say give shovels to people you trust, I mean trust implicitly. We believe her killer to be a male, but that doesn’t mean he’s not connected to a female she blackmailed. And I trust you, Nadine, to tell me if you dig up something on somebody here at Seventy-Five.”
“Squeezing me,” she replied.
“Killing, killing like this particularly—planned, cool enough to kill in a public place—takes a certain mind-set. Once you have that mind-set, it’s easier to have it again. If you dig up anything, you tell me, or you risk putting not just yourself but whoever has the shovel in danger.”
“Damn it.” Nadine pushed to her feet, walked over to a friggie, yanked out a water bottle. “Damn it. I know you’re right, but it’s not a snap, Dallas. I didn’t give two hot fucks about Larinda, but when I said ‘our family’? That’s absolute truth. A lot of people here are family to me.”
“And if one of them’s a killer, he needs to pay for it. He made a choice.” Eve rose. “If you feel you can’t do the digging or ask anyone here to do it with you, that’s your choice. I won’t hold it against you.”
“You went after cops—and that’s your family—when they crossed the line.”
“That was my choice.”
Nodding, Nadine took a long, slow sip of water. She paced a moment, sipping again, weighing it all.
“I’m in,” she said firmly. “I’m in because I can’t not be. It may give me some bad moments, but I’m all in. And yes, if I find something that points to someone here, as much as it grates, I’ll tell you.”
Lowering the bottle, she heaved out a breath. “I can’t say I hated her guts. I didn’t care enough to hate her guts, and maybe that’s harsher in a way. But I care plenty about doing my job, and what’s right about my job, to do this.”
“Figured. Watch your six.”
Now Nadine smiled. “I wonder what happened to the delicious young Bruno. Anyway, I’ll watch my six.”
“Good. I’ve got work.”
“That makes two of us.”
10
Eve intended to deal with Mars’s office first. As she rounded the corner, she saw Peabody standing in the corridor admiring her newly painted face in a little hand mirror.
“Put that damn thing away.”
Peabody batted newly lushed and darkened lashes. “But I look so pretty.”
“We’ll see how pretty you look after I pop you in one of your Trina’d eyes.”
Unabashed, Peabody batted them again. “We went subtle with Baby Fawn on the lids, and a touch of Mocha in the crease. But I really love the Forest Shadows liner.” Peabody risked one more peek before the mirror disappeared into a pocket. “Besides, I used my time wisely, and after Trina told me about Annie Knight, I had her tap her associate who’s in makeup at Knight at Night for Knight’s schedule. She’s slated to be in her studio and offices all day.”
“Add her to our list.” Eve turned to the sealed door. “And let’s track down Wylee Stamford.”
“Is he one of Mars’s marks? Entertainment again?”