“No. There’s the plumbing angle, too.”
Roarke poured himself more water. “If I wanted to cover my tracks, remain as much off the grid as possible, and needed such things as new security and plumbing, what have you—and had the resources of someone who’d worked with the police for near to four decades—I wouldn’t go through proper channels. If I couldn’t manage the work myself, I’d hire those who wouldn’t quibble about permits and such.”
Jenkinson gestured with a fried clam before he popped it in his mouth. “That’s a point.”
“Crap. It’s a good point.”
So good, she had to stand up and pace.
“Yeah, yeah, he knows how not to leave a trail—or to cover it up, make it hard to spot the tracks. And yeah, he’s worked with cops, observed cops, knows the process. But he’s not a cop. And he’s pretty damn new at being a murderer. He slipped up with the fake nails, then he had to regroup and try sending us in the wrong direction.”
She grabbed her cup, walked over to refill it from the station.
“He slipped up once,” Jenkinson said. “He slipped up somewhere else. We just haven’t hit it yet.”
“Damn right. He’s a creature of habit, a perfectionist, obsessive. He plans and plans—carefully—but the plans have to fit the obsession. He saw these women because of his habits and routines. He likes to walk. He could have seen Covino countless times given where she lives in connection to his apartment, his workplace. The other two, still Lower West, but a longer walk east. Possibly he didn’t spot them until he moved.”
“Putting his new hold farther away from the lab,” Feeney put in.
“He likes to walk, and he’d have more reason to after September, after the break. Now he’s hunting.”
She started to ask Roarke to put the wall screen on so she could bring up a map and look again. And the food came in.
Let it sit, she ordered herself, just let it work around in there until something else breaks through.
For a few minutes while the waitstaff served, the snug turned as noisy as the main pub. And she had to admit, the smell of food—those prime eats—rang all the happy bells in her empty stomach.
She sat again, loaded her food with salt before taking a bite of her burger. She pointed at Feeney, who was digging into his fish and chips. “You know him—work know him. First word that springs to describe him.”
Feeney swirled a forkful of fish in tartar sauce. “Nebbishy—that’s the word.”
“It is?”
“Like, you know, timid on the geek side. You asked.”
“I did. Same, Jenkinson.”
“Reliable. Always came through with the goods. I get the nebbish, but it’s a Yiddish deal that can mean indecisive or awkward. Awkward fits well enough, but not the indecisive part. Timid, awkward yeah, and reliable.”
“Okay.” She ate a fry, decided it was a potato miracle, so ate another. “How about you, Reineke?”
“First two are taken, so I’m saying exacting. Couldn’t rush the guy, but when he finished, you had it all spelled out.”
“And Reo said he’s a stellar witness in court. Peabody?”
Peabody paused over her own fish and chips. “I only met him those couple of times, but I’m saying soft.”
“Soft?”
“Soft eyes, soft smile, soft voice, kind of a soft manner. And no accent. He’s from the South, but not a trace of it.”
“You don’t blend as well with an accent.”
“I guess you don’t. Have you got a word?”
“Alone. The way he got flustered when Harvo went into his space in her Harvo way. He’s used to being alone. So … a soft, nebbishy, precise, reliable loner.”
“He has to keep them in a separate space.” Jamie had nearly polished off a burger the size of Kansas and seriously depleted his mountain of fries. “You put all those words together like you did? He can’t have them in his space—he needs his own. He probably has a routine worked out with them. Feeding times and all that. He’d need to spend time with them, or what’s the point? But they’re not in his space, his area.
“Basement’s still the best bet.”
Feeney smiled a proud smile over his chips.
“Agreed. It’s a damn house with a damn basement and damn good security.”
Roarke picked up the PPC he’d set on the table, studied it. “I believe it is, yes. And we’ve a solid hit.”