Connections in Death (In Death, #48)- J. D. Robb Page 0,115

shift. Both state all three came in, together, right about three-thirty. That works, given the time the witness from across the alley thinks she heard voices. Add the time for them to get the van back to the cousin’s garage, change, for that idiot Chesterfield to trade the stolen bracelet for a quick BJ. Yeah, it works. And the waitress states Jorgenson paid for all three, said it was for doing what had to be done.”

“That should put him on the mat. Not out, but down. His lawyer’s going to want to deal. Call me in if and when he does. I’ll enjoy shattering his dreams.”

Peabody came in. “Hey, Reo.”

“Sit,” Eve ordered. “Put the knee up.”

“I will, for a minute, while I tell you . . .” She sat, breathed slowly in and out as she lifted her foot onto a chair Reo moved over for her. “The sweepers are still processing, but they’ve got Jorgenson’s prints as reported earlier. Driver’s door, cargo doors, the wheel. No surprise there, or finding the other two idiots’ prints. The new is they’ve picked up some blood in the cargo area. Not readily visible—laying the body on plastic was, at least, semi-smart. But it didn’t catch it all. They’re taking samples, doing an on-site comparison.

“Oh, and the cousin’s pissed. He claims he cut Jorgenson off over the winter because he knew Jorgenson was stealing from him, suspected he took the van out for joyrides, or to have sex. It’s why he installed the door cam.”

“Why didn’t he change the damn code on the garage?”

“He did, and that seemed to solve things. He caught Jorgenson trying to get in once on the feed, then that was it. He hardly checked the feed the last couple weeks because, no more trouble. Until he found out this morning Jorgenson threatened one of his drivers into giving him the code just a few days ago. She was too scared to tell him what happened, then let it all out when the cops came to the office.”

“He planned it out. One of the three was always going to die.”

“I think I see exes in his eyes,” Reo commented.

Eve cracked the tube, drank, paced. “He’d have been smarter to do it all himself. Get Duff to let him in, deal with Pickering—though he wouldn’t have taken Pickering out easy, and that’s one reason. But he does that, does Duff, and if he needs more, he pulls out somebody like Aimes, does what he does. But he draws in three morons. Because he wants a following, he wants to be in charge. He goes low there because he can manipulate them. Once they kill for him, he’s got them. And once they kill the weakest among them, they’re sealed. That’s how he saw it. You get the war started, whatever else it takes, and use it to take Jones out, one way or the other, and step in.”

She drank again, gestured with the tube. “He sincerely believed they’d go down for him. They’d never flip. That’s his arrogance, his own sense of self-importance. One flips because he thinks it makes them all heroes, because being a killer is a badge of honor.”

“And he believes, probably sincerely,” Peabody added, “that Jorgenson feels exactly the same.”

“You got that. The second flips because he’s not just stupid but scared. Take away his high, his gang buddies, he breaks down.”

“I’ll put in,” Reo commented, “it strikes me Jorgenson lacks leadership qualities.”

“You’ve got that right. We’re going to hit him with Jones,” Eve told Peabody. “The skimming, the partnership with Cohen, the whole ball. He won’t take it well.”

“You know, you need to start stocking popcorn around here.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Eve turned to the door as a uniform opened it. “Sir, Jorgenson’s lawyer’s ready to resume.”

“Thank you, Officer. Come on, Peabody, let’s finish this fucker.”

Eve stepped into interview, resumed the record, sat.

“Lieutenant, my client believes he may have some information that will apply to your investigation and perhaps aid you in it.”

“We’re all ears, right, Peabody?”

“We got four of them.”

“In sharing this information, I’ve advised my client he may be in some legal jeopardy, despite acting without prior knowledge of any crime. We require assurances my client won’t be prosecuted for these actions without knowledge, or the subsequent knowledge afforded during this interview, which has led my client to believe he has salient information.”

“That’s a lot of words to say you want to cut a deal.”

“Lieutenant, since hearing the statements made by Washington