“Just that he thought the hat was new or the guy was a dork.”
“Excuse me?” said Diane.
“The bill on his cap was straight, not curved. You know, you have to train your cap bill to have that curve in it. Most new hats don’t have it. It’s dorky to not train your cap bill.”
“Of course.” Diane had rolled up many a baseball cap bill and stuck it in a glass to get that curve in it. “If he saw the bill of the cap, did he see a face?”
“Partial face. The guy’s collar was pulled up and he had his head turtled down and his hands in his pocket as though he was cold.”
“Thanks, Neva. That’s a good lead. Thank your informant for me.”
“Sure. The police are kind of funny on this one,” said Neva. “Normally, a member of the fire department like McNair would be held in the same regard as a member of the police department. They would pull out all the stops to find his killer. But McNair was considered lower than Internal Affairs because of the way he’s gotten so many good cops in trouble.” She shook her head. “He was a nasty fellow and he’s sure caused a lot of problems. Garnett has to report directly to the mayor every day. They said he’s pulling his hair out trying to deal with all of this—and he has a nice full head of hair.”
“I can imagine. When Garnett gets the report on trace from both the crime scenes, get me a copy. I’m particularly interested in the fiber evidence from all the crime scenes.”
“Sure. You really think you can get Garnett to put in a DNA lab?” asked Neva.
“I don’t know. The museum might do it if the numbers line up the right way.”
“Jin’s really excited. Boy, you know how to reward people for accomplishment—shopping in Paris, DNA lab.”
Diane laughed. “I suppose I do.”
“OK, Diane,” Frank said after washing down a bite of pizza with a swallow of beer, “tell me about your day.” His blue green eyes glittered with amusement. “Why do you think you will need an alibi?”
Diane related the entire mess as they sat at her dining table eating pepperoni, mushroom, and sausage pizza. She started with Blake Stanton trying to hijack her car and ended with McNair taking the evidence.
“Now both Blake Stanton and Marcus McNair are murdered. A city councilman would like me to be the killer, for some reason I can’t fathom.”
When she finished, Frank was no longer smiling; his eyes didn’t have that wrinkle in the corners they got when he was amused.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the attempted carjacking?” he asked.
“It paled in comparison to finding Star,” said Diane. She cleared off her oak dining table and threw the pizza box in the trash. She put the other pizza he brought in the refrigerator. Frank always brought more food than they could possibly eat. A consequence, he said of coming from a family with two older brothers and an older sister.
“You are also important to me,” he said when she returned to the table with coffee.
“I know, but it was over, and there would be plenty of opportunities to tell you.”
“It must have been terrifying, facing a crazed kid with a bloody stump and a gun.”
“Scary perhaps. He looked mainly pathetic, except for the gun. But what I really need is to find out who killed him and who killed McNair—and Joana Cipriano. You know, everything we’ve found out about her doesn’t point to a person involved in criminal activity. Actually, I don’t know that McNair was involved in anything criminal. It’s just that I wouldn’t put it past him.”
They moved to her living room. She turned on some music—jazz violin played by Stephan Grappelli—opened up her drapes so they could watch the falling snow, and snuggled up with Frank on her large burgundy and gray striped sofa. She had liked the colors when she got it, but now she wasn’t sure.
“Why don’t you leave it to Garnett and his detectives?” asked Frank, kissing her temple.
“Because they aren’t being accused of murder—twice,” countered Diane.
“Neither are you, really. Just by some crazy woman and a councilman of questionable motives. I know Adler. He’s not aboveboard himself.”
Diane turned her head to face him. “You think he could be involved in something illegal with his nephew?”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. But he’s smart enough to make sure nothing leads to him.”