Dani’s eyes got big during the telling, but she held her questions until he relayed the whole thing.
“The sandwich shop butts right up next to Peterka’s,” she gasped. “And there are stairs that lead up to the second floor from outside. If it was dark and Mr. Fronek had walked around the south side of the café, he would run right into those stairs.”
“Yeah. I know. I thought of that too. Tell me about Peterka.”
“Dr. Edward Peterka. It’s his home—he grew up in that house—and it’s now his practice. He hasn’t lived there for a long time. It’s been years. Almost a decade, I would think.”
“So who lives there now?”
“I don’t think anyone does. But there have been quite a few renters, I believe. Mostly interns at St. Alexis. I could ask Dr. Peterka. He was the same age as my mother. They grew up together and were friends. He’s been good to my aunts and me, and I think he would tell me whatever we need to know.”
“No. I don’t want the doctor—any of the doctors—getting wind that you were asking questions.”
Dani seemed shocked by that, and her brows rose. Good. She needed to be aware that killers lurked behind friendly faces and innocuous fronts.
“I could get you inside. Just to have a look around,” she said. “There’s an interior staircase too. It’s laid out very similar to our home. They added the stairs and the upper outside entrance later, so someone renting the room wouldn’t have to enter the business.”
“I’ll have a look around tonight. If it’s empty, I won’t have any trouble getting in and out.”
“It will be locked.”
“Yes. I’m sure it will be.” He could pick a lock in about ten seconds with one hand, but he didn’t tell Dani that. She looked at him, her eyes still wide, and he guessed he didn’t have to spell it out. It didn’t stop her stream of suggestions, however.
“What if we go to the office tomorrow and talk to Sybil?” she said. “I will introduce you, and we will tell her you are looking for a place to rent, some place with more space than what we have here. She won’t be suspicious. She can’t ever even remember my name.”
He mulled that over. It couldn’t hurt. Picking locks and snooping around wouldn’t tell him who’d been in the space in 1934, but Sybil might. “All right. But it might have to wait until Monday. I have to meet Eliot tomorrow afternoon. But I can go with you in the morning to the morgue. You are going tomorrow?”
She nodded. “But you don’t have to help me.”
“You help me, I help you.”
She smiled like it was Christmas Eve and she couldn’t wait for the morning. His heart flipped and sank simultaneously. He wasn’t going to be able to avoid Dani anymore. He didn’t want to avoid Dani. But he should. He knew he should.
“And can I please come with you when you pick the lock?” she pled.
“No.”
“Please, Michael?”
And that’s all it took for him to capitulate. Please, Michael. Please, Michael, and a pair of pleading, mismatched eyes framed in thick lashes and winged red-gold brows.
“All right, Dani. All right.”
14
He came to dinner that night and stayed to listen to the Cleveland Orchestra play Debussy, stretched out on the rug, feet crossed, his hands clasped behind his head, his eyes closed. He fell asleep that way and didn’t awake, even when Zuzana flipped off the radio and Lenka sighed that it had been the best ever.
“He has made himself quite at home, hasn’t he?” Zuzana muttered, scowling at him.
“Shh, Zuzana,” Lenka hissed. “Let him be. I like looking at him.”
“Good grief, Lenka. What a thing to say,” Zuzana said, shaking her head.
“He has beautiful lips. Did you notice that, Daniela? And lovely teeth too when he decides to smile.”
“God save me,” Zuzana groaned.
“Well, it’s true, Zuzana,” Lenka argued. “And the truth is never unwelcome.”
“The truth is always unwelcome.” Zuzana snorted. “One would think you were born yesterday, sister. I’m going to bed. You two can gawk at the man, but I’d rather look at my eyelids.”
“Good night, Zu,” Lenka said, unbothered.
“Good night, Tetka,” Daniela added.
Lenka sat for a minute more, her hands in her lap, her eyes on Malone, the same soft smile on her lips that she’d worn while listening to the orchestra. “He likes you, Daniela,” she purred.