ten coffee shops to every block in this neighborhood.”
"Because he knows things," Auntie Lil whispered back. "I can tell. And I want to find out what they are."
T.S. resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. Auntie Lil thrived on adding drama to any situation, even an already dramatic one.
"Listen to what Herbert's got," Auntie Lil told him, forgetting to whisper in her excitement.
Herbert carefully opened a leather-bound notebook. "This is the log," he explained solemnly. "Franklin is an excellent observer. He gave an impeccable report on last night's comings and goings. There is much activity there in the dead of the night. Adelle and her friends added more, but they tend to get caught up in speculative detail. I do not find it necessary to fantasize on the private lives of residents, but they seem to believe the information is important." Translation: he had left them arguing about whether one of the residents was actually an actress or a call girl. "Already, we have spotted several suspicious instances. I will give you the most important ones."
T.S. leaned forward, caught up in the excitement, and tried to see what Herbert had written in the notebook. Herbert picked it up and pressed it closer to his chest. "No sense peeking. I have a special shorthand. I will summarize for you."
The most important events were indeed suspicious. The same man had visited Emily's building three times the previous night. Once at ten o'clock; again at half past one in the morning; and for a final time just after three o'clock. "He was the same man, just kept going in and out with different people."
"How do you know he's the same man?" T.S. asked.
"Descriptions of him match exactly," Herbert said, "once you separate the facts from the fictions perpetuated by the excitable actresses. He is not very tall, short black hair thinning in front, very small ears and he wears a very expensive tan cashmere coat. No hat. Plus, he is chauffeured around in a silver Cadillac, so that makes it easy, too."
"But it's who he was with that's suspicious," Auntie Lil butted in, pressing T.S.'s arm in her excitement. "Tell him."
"The first time, he entered with a cheap blonde—that is Miss Adelle's description—very much younger than himself. But when he leaves, he leaves with a young boy who matches the description of the white boy in the small photos found in Emily's apartment. Except that his hair is blond, not black."
"Remember, Bob Fleming told me that the boy had recently dyed his hair," Auntie Lil reminded them. "So, I'm almost sure it's Timmy."
"Shortly after that, a middle-aged man leaves the building in a very big hurry. He had entered it approximately an hour before, but we were not able to ascertain his exact destination there. It is still early when he leaves, so Adelle herself follows him. He stops at Show World—this is a pornographic palace located near the Port Authority—and does not leave there for thirty more minutes. At which point, Adelle loses him in the Port Authority." Herbert bobbed his head in apology. "We cannot all be as skilled as myself in surveillance."
"No, of course not," T.S. murmured. "Go on."
"The second time that the man in the cashmere coat drives up, he is with a tall black man. Very rough-looking."
"Tell him! Tell him!" Auntie Lil commanded, practically bouncing up and down in her seat.
Herbert looked skeptical. "Maybe this is true. Maybe it is not. Eva, she is one of Adelle's loudest followers—"
"I know who Eva is," T.S. interrupted. "The actress with the bad haircut who had been feuding with Emily."
"That is her," Herbert confirmed. "She says that she saw something funny on the man's arm."
"Which man's arm?" T.S. asked.
"The black man's arm. He was not wearing a coat, despite the slight chill. He was wearing only a short black T-shirt. And beneath one of the sleeves, Eva sees feet."
"Feet?" T.S. was mystified.
"A tattoo of feet," Herbert explained. "Not feet, but more like talons." He curled his hands into claws and illustrated for them. "The feet of an animal with talons, clutching sprigs of branches in them."
"The Eagle!" Auntie Lil explained. Don't you see? He has a huge tattoo of an eagle on his arm. That's why the old man at the soup kitchen kept talking about The Eagle. This is the man who poisoned Emily. Almost certainly."
T.S. was doubtful. For one thing, the information came from Eva. For another, they were guessing at the hidden meaning of words babbled by a