"So even in the middle of all this, Worthington was still trying to get something on me?" T.S. asked. "That's why he doped me and tried to set me up with Little Pete?"
"You got it. Like I say, he found you hard to please."
"I should think so." T.S. sat back with great dignity. "How utterly sordid."
"Murder usually is," the detective reminded him.
"And Eva?" Herbert asked almost fearfully. "She was killed because of mistaken identity?"
Here, Santos softened. "Not really," he admitted with a kindly nod toward Auntie Lil. "Don't forget, as Leteisha, Rodney was a real working girl and had coworkers who were always happy to contribute information in exchange for a buck here and there. People, if you want to go so far as to call them that, had been telling The Eagle about you, Miss Hubbert, for a number of days. You'd been seen having dinner with Little Pete. And you apparently met the super of Worthington's building? Funny how that little detail slipped your mind when you gave your statement. Anyway, the descriptions of you weren't very exact. For one thing, they left out your big mouth—" He smiled again, loving every minute of his revenge. "All The Eagle knew was that an old lady was snooping around, and he might have mistaken Eva for you. But I think that Eva was probably killed because she'd put two and two together and had figured out that The Eagle was also Leteisha Swann. She'd been hanging around the stoop as a bag lady or something." He stared at the assembled group. "A curious fact that I'm sure you'll eventually enlighten me on. And she made the mistake of letting The Eagle know he'd been found. I think it was just a matter of hours for her after that."
"She should have told us right away," Auntie Lil protested. "Oh, those women. Always trying to upstage each other."
"Or you," Santos pointed out and she fell silent. "At any rate, after Eva was killed, Worthington figured out that there was more than one little old lady snooping around."
"Many more than one!" Herbert interjected, the memory of being trapped in a street opera still fresh in his mind.
"He was waiting with Sally St. Claire in his car outside Homefront today when Little Pete came for Timmy. He didn't want any more screw-ups and was personally supervising Timmy's removal. He saw you arrive and he saw Bob Fleming rush in after you. Sally says that they went back to the super and asked for a better description of the old lady who'd been asking about Emily. That's when he realized you were the one who'd come around asking questions. And that you were still alive. When they saw you again at the hospital, it was easy to pick you up after that. Since you weren't paying attention like I had warned you to."
The constant undercurrent of jousting between Detective Santos and Auntie Lil was tactfully ignored by the others.
"And the ladies from the soup kitchen?" Herbert asked. "Were they involved in any way? I'm speaking of Miss Adelle and the others."
"The ladies from the soup kitchen are a royal pain in the ass and they turned this place into a zoo last night. But other than that, they are uninvolved. So far as we can tell."
Auntie Lil looked a bit disappointed. "What about Nellie?" she asked. “The woman who runs the Jamaican restaurant?”
T.S. rolled his eyes. Auntie Lil loved conspiracy stories. Even when she had to make them up.
"Certainly she's involved," Santos said. "But only so far as the kid, Little Pete, is concerned. Seems she's had her eye on him for a while. Seen him around the streets. Wants to get him off them. Looks to me like she's going to do it by force, if necessary. She marched him in here and, by God, he told us just about everything. You would have, too, if you had seen the look on that woman's face."
"She's going to try and get custody of him?" Lilah asked.
Santos shook his head. "So far as I'm concerned, it's out of official channels. I have a feeling we should just let things take their course on their own."
"Well, what do you think? Is there enough to get Worthington?" T.S. knew the system and was not convinced. He'd seen worse people get off for more.
Santos nodded slowly. "Yeah, we'll get him. At least on blackmail and ordering Eva's death and endangering the welfare of minors and a handful