This time, it’s Dalton who dictates for me, with “Detective Butler notes that the suspect’s clothing is neatly folded, as she might expect from the condition of his apartment. This confirms the overall impression of a tidy housekeeper, which is at odds with the clothing discarded in the living room. It would appear, then, that whatever intoxication he suffered caused the shedding of his clothing, rather than followed it.”
“See,” I say. “You don’t need a detective.”
“Nah, I’m just a quick study. You already figured he stripped because he was out of his mind. This is just adding evidence to that conclusion.”
“True.”
I riffle through Roy’s drawers. When I open the bottom one, it gives a clunk, as if something heavy is inside, yet I see only clothing. I dig down and find …
“Porn.” I lift
out magazines. “God, I haven’t seen these since I was a kid.”
“You read those when you were a kid?”
“I saw them at friends’ houses. As for whether I read them, I plead the fifth, though I’ll point out that I was young and curious, and the letters and articles were very … illuminating. These days, though, people get their porn online, which isn’t an option here.” I tuck the magazines back. “So residents can bring skin mags with them?”
“They can. We also have a collection.”
I look over at him. “What? Wait. I have gone through the entire library and never seen—”
“It’s not at the library. Isabel has them. It was her idea. Magazines and erotic novels. She curates the collection to keep out stuff that’s ‘degrading or problematic,’ as she puts it. Pretty sure I don’t want to know what that is.”
“Good call.” I lean back on my heels. “Good call on the collection, too. It provides another outlet for sexual urges. Looks like Roy has been taking full advantage of…”
I trail off as my gaze snags on something else in the drawer. I pull out a black rectangle. It looks like a fancy necklace box. I open it to find a Swiss watch.
“A watch in a box?” Dalton says.
“A very expensive watch in a box. This baby would cost more than my first car. Hell, it probably cost more than my last car. Looks like someone missed the memo about leaving your valuables behind.” I take the watch out.
“Nice enough but…”
“Not Roy’s style?”
“Can you imagine him wearing it?” I ask.
“It’s a woman’s, isn’t it?”
It’s not. It’s just a more delicate style than most men’s, a sleek gold watch …
“I’ve seen this before,” I say.
“Up here?”
Yes. On someone who had just arrived. I’d noticed the watch and laughed to myself, thinking he definitely hadn’t fully understood where he was going. Not surprisingly, the next time I saw him, the watch was gone. He’d returned this watch to the bottom of his luggage, where it would remain until he could escape to a more civilized world.
“Can you guard the scene?” I say. “I need to speak to someone.”
FORTY
I find my target in his house. When I rap on the door, he cracks it open and narrows his eyes.
“If you are coming to return me to that jail cell, I’d strongly suggest you speak to the council first,” Phil says. “In fact, they are quite eager to discuss my initial incarceration.”
Anders had let Phil out of the jail cell after we left, and we’ve been avoiding him ever since. Now, though, I need to talk to him.
“May I come in?” I ask.