from the autopsy and there’s nothing. No seminal fluid, so no DNA inside her—”
“I said I don’t want to hear about it,” Daniel said, closing his eyes and waving Mike away with one hand.
“Listen up, buddy. Hearing about it might be the only way to reach you. Whoever did this to Naomi had the time and place to slaughter her like an animal. It didn’t happen here, obviously. And it likely didn’t happen on the street, or someone would have found a whole mess of blood by now.”
Daniel clapped his hands to his ears and Mike pulled them away just as fast.
“Could be she was abducted by a stranger, but my money’s on somebody who knew her well enough to hate what she stood for. Hate everything about her. You don’t get this personal with your violence—you don’t sever the head of a woman—unless you’re so full of vitriol that swinging the ax is what gets you off.”
Daniel tried to keep his eyes squeezed shut so the tears that had formed wouldn’t be visible to us.
“Who did she know, Daniel?” I asked, softening the tone to get him to talk to me. “Who were her friends?”
“I told you, she didn’t have friends,” he said, turning to face me.
“We’ll get the names of the people who demonstrated with her. At least the ones who were also arrested. Did she talk about them?”
“Maybe so. But I didn’t listen. There were antiwar groups and pro-choice marches. Save the whales. Protect the rain forests.” He was mocking her now, ticking off a list of issues, just like Mike had done, only this list was for real. “Anti-smoking, pro-mammograms, anti-handgun, pro-opening the borders, free Tibet.”
“And most recently a full-on involvement with a religious organization,” I said.
“Not up my alley, Ms. Cooper. I was the get-out-of-jail-free card. I was there when she needed me. That’s all.”
“How much time did you spend with her after she was released the first time?”
“Hardly any. We had lunch together once when I was between jobs. And she came to a Christmas party with me, when the first show I worked on was breaking up.”
“A party?”
“Yeah. Naomi said she wanted to meet new people. She was living in an ivory tower.”
“I don’t get it,” Mike said. “She was on the barricades, Daniel. She was on the street for all these causes. It doesn’t get more common ground than that.”
“No, I meant her intellectual life. She was taking courses and everyone was so serious. She said she wanted to hang with me ’cause I made friends easily and I didn’t have the emotional baggage that she did.”
“Where was she taking courses? The ivory tower?” I asked.
Daniel looked sullen again. “I don’t know, Ms. Cooper. Some religious school, I guess.”
“Did she actually meet any of your friends?” Mike asked.
Daniel squirmed and looked away. “Like, I knew they weren’t her type anyway. She came ’cause she thought there’d be actors and people she could talk to. By the time Naomi got to the party, it was mostly a bunch of inebriated stagehands and prop guys.”
“Did she stay? Did she hook up with anyone?”
Daniel gave Mike his best what-are-you-crazy expression. “I think she stayed long enough to insult a couple of the crew. I mean, just talking her usual way to them—stuff nobody really cared about.”
“Did she leave with you?”
“Nah. Naomi left before I did. I wasn’t in the mood to get stuck taking her home, getting a lecture about how we should be family and all that. It was her new kick, and quite frankly it didn’t interest me a bit.”
“So what have we got here?” Mike asked, pointing to the scraps of paper.
“Junk. I was just trying to clean up. Gonna have to start packing and sorting out Naomi’s things.”
“Clean up? If this place was any neater,” Mike said, “I wouldn’t think anyone lived here. Who put you in charge?”
“Like I said, I’m the next of kin.”
“Let me guess. Your sister inherited some money when Rachel was killed.”
“I—I, uh, don’t really know. I don’t know much about that.”
“You went to her bank to withdraw money when she was arrested, didn’t you?” I asked. “Any idea how much was in her account?”
“Oh, no. This isn’t about money,” Daniel said, shaking his head.
“Did Naomi have a will? You know who her lawyer is?” Mike had a laundry list of questions ready to pop.
“Sure she had a will. Ever since her mother—since Rachel was killed so suddenly—Naomi was always spooked about being ... well, like, ready