"The rest of his things?"
"Scattered all over the living room."
"Was she raped?" asked Doc.
"There's nothing to suggest rape."
"An angry lover?" proposed Mason.
"A husband who came home early from work?" suggested Peterson.
"There'd be a body missing," Mason pointed out.
"Maybe the boyfriend, tired of sharing her, decided to come out of the closet and she threatened to leave him."
"The lover in love theory? Peterson, how humiliating!"
"Who can say that?! Everyone seems to be going crazy these days. And without alcohol, there's nothing else to keep human impulses in check."
"You look better since you've been on tonic water, Pete. The 18th Amendment thinks about your health."
"As if Prohibition didn't triple the workload," he complained to himself.
"Are there any witnesses?"
"The body was discovered by the caretaker at 6.45pm. The door of the flat was half-opened. The man saw two men enter the building: the first went up at about 4 p.m. but, as he had been there before, he didn't ask any questions; the second, a notary, asked about the Perkins' interior at about 5.30 p.m."
"Have you identified them yet?"
"They're working on it."
"What about the husband?"
"Samuel Perkins, a Sunshine Cab driver, is..."
"Disappeared, I guess. When was he last seen?"
"What a lovely reunion! Pity he wasn't invited: I would have brought something." Standing in the doorway of the morgue towered the burly homicide detective Matthews. Peterson's hand went immediately to Mason's chest as the newcomer advanced toward them. This was neither the time nor the place to let tempers flare.
"I came to say hello to Doc and tell him a few cheerful stories. Now that he's a father, he needs more constructive anecdotes than the evolutionary cycle of maggots in corpses," Mason improvised, throwing a smile at Doc, who caught it and began to shake his head vigorously.
"Yeah, congratulations Doc. Take care with that creature: one creepy family member is more than enough!" barked Matthews, giving the doctor half a sidelong glance. Mason did not spare an ounce of contempt for Matthews. They were separated by Peterson and the naked body of a poor girl to whom fate had reserved a terrible fate.
Doc frowned in surprise, and Matthews emerged:
"Still playing cop, Stone?"
Mason met Peterson's gaze, convinced that spark would start a fire, and reassured him with a smile. A smile that turned into an amused grin when his eyes landed on an item in the cart next to the girl's body.
"Hey, we're celebrating, Matthews: relax, put on a hat and have a drink."
Matthews' face became a mask of anger, his white fists along his sides, clenched just tight enough to stop the blood. Mason was handing him a pythal.
"Try it, but I'm convinced you'll do just fine," he continued.
Matthews covered the distance in three wide strides. His size, so heavy, was no impediment when his anger took over. The world was full of rabid dogs. Especially the NYPD, when enlisting was a solution to a hot meal and warming hands with some poor guy who had no fault other than being in the wrong part of town. Matthews was a watchdog. He always had been, and he was now that he'd traded in his uniform for a name tag and a desk among dozens of others. Big and stupid enough to be the nightmare of every half-wit in New York.
"Let's be calm!" chimed in Peterson.
"Throw this clown out, Peterson, or Doc will have to make room!" Matthews was foaming with rage. If he had left, Peterson would have barely restrained him.
"Don't worry, I was just leaving. For a morgue the atmosphere is getting a little too hot." Stone walked around Peterson and Matthews, showing no haste in doing so.
"I don't want to see you around here again, is that understood?"
"Explained. Take care Doc." he said raising his arm.
"Next time I catch you snooping around in one of my cases I'll lock you up and throw away the key, understand?"
"Only if you let your parents beat me up a bit - cuddling is important if we want things to last."
"I'll accommodate you." Matthews loosened the knot on his tie and lifted his shirt sleeves, stepping forward.
"Stone, get out of here!" ordered Peterson, stepping between them.
"Matthews feels ready to come to school, Pete, do you want to deny him that pleasure?"
"Get out or I won't be held responsible for what happens."
"Oh yes you will be, Peterson. As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to report to Martelli and tell him how you allow certain individuals to sneak into the precinct. You should choose your friendships better," Matthews threatened.
"Is that how you want to play it?" replied Peterson.
"That's how it works in my neck of the woods. The district first."
"It's fascinating how quickly you can forget. A cop is always a brother, right?"
"Not when it embarrasses the force and betrays the family."
"And who arrogates all rights and leaves all duties to others?"
"What are you implying, you little brat?" Matthews pulled Peterson to himself and spat all his contempt at him. "I'll fix the student and then the master."
"Um..." intervened Doc.
"What is it, Doc?" barked Matthews.
"Stone's gone," he said.
Police Line Do Not Cross
The seals fell.
Some doors just need a little encouragement sometimes. Mason had the magic touch: when he leaned his full weight against it, the old, moth-eaten jamb crumbled like shortcrust pastry.
The Perkins lived in a turn-of-the-century council block: the flat wasn't big enough for a family with children, but they hadn't had any. Perhaps they hadn't had time. Elizabeth was still so young.
There was that feeling in her chest. It was as if, ever since he'd seen her, lying on that cold morgue bed, Elizabeth had crept under his skin.
Mason rubbed his eyes. He'd been up for two days. He needed coffee. The air in the flat was stale and the autumn sun had taken a holiday in the living room.
It was not difficult for him to imagine the confusion of the investigation after the body had been found he could still breathe in the sweat of all the blue-collar workers who, back and forth, trampled on evidence and confused clues; he could smell the forensic flashes; the palpable excitement of some rookie; the stench of Matthews' cheap cigars; the chalk dust traced where Elizabeth had fallen.
The neighbours had heard nothing: not a sound, not a laugh, not a cry. Regular in a neighbourhood like that, where the more you keep your mouth shut the better. A taxi driver and a secretary couldn't afford a better life.
The bedroom was tidy, the thalamus untouched.
Where are you, Samuel Perkins?
Elizabeth had not screamed. Maybe she didn't think she was in danger. Maybe it had been a sex game gone wrong. There were too many questions in that story. It was like trying to catch the dark.
He searched the house one more time, even though Matthews' team had turned it upside down at least a dozen times and maybe left him with nothing. He checked the best places to hide liquor bottles. That habit had outstripped all others in the last ten years. He found nothing. He searched the bedroom, dug in the wardrobe, rummaged through the cupboard, tore out the drawers looking for notes of clandestine love that would lead to a fatal outburst of anger, nothing.
All he found in the boiler was a pile of ashes.