“She seemed so normal,” Trueheart commented. “Nice, too.”
“Bet she thinks she is. But that’s for Mira,” who was someone else Eve wanted to bring in.
She called Mira’s office, plowed her way through the admin. “I need you in Observation, Interview Room A.”
“Now?”
“In twenty. I’m bringing Zana Lombard in. I believe she’s actually Marnie Ralston, who assumed a new identity in order to get inside the Lombard household. I’m sending you my report now. I’ve got the PA’s office moving with me. I need you on this.”
“I’ll do what I can to shuffle things around.”
That would have to do, Eve decided. She made a few more contacts, then sat back, cleared her mind.
“Dallas?” Peabody stepped to the office door. “They’re bringing her up.”
“Okay. It’s showtime.”
* * *
She went out, met Zana and her escorts in the busy corridor outside her division.
Dressed for it, Eve thought. If she wasn’t mistaken—and she was getting good at bull’s-eyeing wardrobe—Zana was wearing a light blue cashmere crew neck, with floral embroidery on the cuffs. And that matched the description of one of Trudy’s purchases.
Ballsy, Eve decided. Smug.
“I really appreciate you coming down. Things are wonky with the holidays.”
“After everything you’ve done for me and Bobby, it’s the least I can do. I talked to him right before I left, told him you were going to try to help me bring him back to the hotel from the hospital.”
“We’ll try to make that happen. Listen, I’m going to use one of the rooms to finish this up. It’ll be more comfortable than my office. You want something? Really bad coffee, vending drink?”
Zana looked around the busy corridors like a tourist at a street fair. “Oh, I wouldn’t mind a fizzy, any flavor but lemon.”
“Peabody? Would you take care of that? I’m going to take Zana into A.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Eve shifted the file folder as she walked. “Paperwork’s a killer,” she said casually. “And mostly a pain in the ass, but we want to have all the t’s crossed on this, so you and Bobby can get back home.”
“We are getting anxious. Work’s really piled up, and Bobby wants to get back to it. Plus, I guess we’re just not big-city types.”
She walked into the room after Eve opened the door, then hesitated. “Oh, is this an interview room, like you see on the cop shows onscreen ? ”
“Yeah. Most efficient way to go through the statements. You okay with that?”
“Oh, I guess. Actually, it’s kind of exciting. I’ve never been in a police station before.”
“We’ll sign off on Bobby’s statements at the hotel, seeing as he’s injured. But we can get yours out of the way, start moving you back toward Texas. Have a seat.”
“Have you brought many criminals in here?”
“My share.”
“I don’t know how you do it. Did you always want to?”
“As long as I can remember.” Eve sat across the table from her, slouched back. “I guess Trudy’s part of that.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That lack of control I felt when I was with her. Being defenseless. It was a pretty rough time for me.”
Zana lowered her eyes. “Bobby told me she wasn’t very nice to you. And now, here you are, working so hard to find out who killed her. It’s…”
“Ironic? That’s crossed my mind.” She glanced over as Peabody stepped in.
“Got you a cherry,” she told Zana. “Tube of Pepsi for you, Dallas.”
“I love cherry, thanks.” Zana accepted the tube, and a straw. “What do we do now?”
“To keep everything official—and part of the formality, Zana, is my former relationship with Trudy—I’m going to read out the Revised Miranda.”
“Oh. Oh, well, gee.”
“It’s for your protection, and mine,” Eve explained. “If this case ends up in the cold file—”
“Cold file?”
“Unsolved.” Eve shook her head. “It’s tough to realize that may be what happens. But if it does, it’s better all around if we have everything very official.”
“Well, okay.”
“I’m going to set the record.” Eve read off the time, the date, the names of those in the room, the case file, then recited the Revised Miranda. “Do you understand your rights and obligations in this matter?”
“Yes. Boy, I’m a little nervous.”
“Relax, it won’t take long. You are married to Bobby Lombard, the son of the victim, Trudy Lombard. Correct?”
“Yes. We’ve been married nearly seven months.”
“You were well acquainted with the victim.”
“Oh, yes. I worked for Bobby and his partner before Bobby and I got married. I got to know Mama Tru. That’s what I called her. Um, well, after Bobby and I got married, that’s what I called her.”
“And your relationship with her was friendly.”
“Yes, it was. Am I doing this right?” she added in a whisper.
“You’re doing fine. The victim was, according to your previous statements and statements on record from others, a difficult woman.”
“Well… she could be, I guess you could call it demanding, but I didn’t mind so much. I lost my own mother, so Mama Tru and Bobby are my only family.” She stared at the wall, blinked her eyes. “It’s just me and Bobby now.”
“You’ve stated you moved to Copper Cove, Texas, looking for employment, sometime after the death of your mother.”
“And after I finished business school. I wanted a fresh start.” Her lips curved. “And I found my Bobby.”
“You had never met the victim or her son before that time.”
“No. I guess it was fate. You know how you see somebody, and you just know?”
Eve thought of Roarke, of the way their eyes had met at a funeral. “Yeah, I do.”
“It was like that for me and Bobby. D.K., um, Densil K. Easton, Bobby’s partner, used to say every time we talked to each other, little hearts flew out of our mouths.”
“Sweet. Whose idea was it to come to New York at this time?”
“Um, well, Mama Tru’s. She wanted to talk to you. She’d seen you on media reports, about that cloning business, and recognized you.”
“Who selected the hotel where you were staying at the time of her death?”
“She did. I guess that’s just awful when you think about it. She picked the place where she died.”
“We could call that ironic, too. At the time of the murder, you and Bobby were in the room across the hall and three doors down from the victim’s.”
“Um, gee. I know we were across the hall. I don’t remember how many doors down, but that sounds right.”
“And at the time of the murder, you and Bobby were in your room.”
“Yes. We’d gone out to dinner, Mama Tru said she wasn’t up for it. And we got a bottle of wine. After we got back, we…” She blushed prettily. “Well, we stayed in the room all night. I went down in the morning, to her room, because she wasn’t answering the ‘link. I thought maybe she was sick, or a little irritated with us for going out on the town. Then you came, and—and you found her.”
She lowered her eyes again, worked up a few tears, Eve noted. “It was awful, just so awful. She was lying there, and the blood… You went in. I don’t know how you can do that. It must be so hard, being a policewoman.”
“Has its moments.” Eve opened her file, pushed through some hard copies as if checking facts. “I’ve got my time line here. I’m just going to read through it, on record, and see if you concur.”
While she did, Zana got busy biting her lip. “That sounds right.”
“Good, good, now let’s see what else we need to go over. Nice sweater, by the way.”
Zana preened, looked down. “Thanks. I just liked the color so much.”
“Goes with your eyes, doesn’t it? Trudy’s were green. Wouldn’t have looked nearly as good on her.”
Zana blinked. “I guess not.”
There was a knock on the door. Feeney stepped in. Right on schedule, Eve thought. He held a pocket ‘link, bagged for evidence, keeping his hand over it so that it couldn’t be clearly seen. “Dallas? Need a minute.”