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“Friendly A bit reserved, but amiable They were both devoted to the children and that united them He was a little annoyed e became intimate, but” Hammett broke off, stared at Eve “You can’t possibly think” With what elini skulking around that neighborhood with a knife, plotting to kill his ex? No, Lieutenant” He dropped his hands again “Marco has his flaws, but he’d never hurt Cicely And the sight of blood would offend his sense of propriety He’s much too cold, much too conservative to resort to violence And he’d have no reason, no possibleher harm”

That, Eve thought, was for her to decide

She tripped frooing to the West End Here she would find no silvery cushions, no tinkling waterfalls Instead there were cracked sidewalks, ignored by the latest spruce-up-the-city cas that invited the onlookers to fuck all manner of rills, which were so much cheaper and less effective than the force fields employed in the posher areas

She wouldn’t have been surprised to see a few rodents overlooked by the feline droids that roamed the alleyways

Of the two-legged rodents, she saw plenty One cherinned at her toothily and rubbed his crotch proudly A street hawker sized her up quickly and accurately as cop, ducked his head under the wreath of feathers he sported around his enta hair, and scurried off to safer pastures

A selected list of drugs were still illegal Some cops actually bothered to pay attention

At thehelped her get answers

The rain had washed most of the blood away The sweepers fro in the ih for evidence But she stood for a moment over the spot where Towers had died, and she had no trouble envisioning the scene

Now, she needed to work backward Had she stood here, Eve wondered, facing her killer? Most likely Did she see the knife before it sliced across her throat? Possibly But not quickly enough to react with anything asp

Lifting her gaze, Eve scanned the street Her skin prickled, but she ignored the stares of those leaning against the buildings or loitering around rusting cars

Cicely Towers had come uptown Not by cab There was, to date, no record of a pickup or drop-off from any of the official coh to try a gypsy

The subway, she deduced It was fast and, with the scanners and droid cops, safe as a church, at least until you hit the street Eve spotted the signal for the underground less than half a block away

The subway, she decided Maybe she was in a hurry? Annoyed to be dragged out on a wet night Sure of herself, as Hammett had said She wouldn’t have been afraid

She marched up the stairs to the street in her power suit, her expensive shoes She—

Stopping, Eve narrowed her eyes No umbrella? Where was her daanized woo out in the rain without protectionBriskly, Eve pulled out her recorder and muttered a note to herself to check on it