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“Shit You blink and dogs go up” Eve poured credits into the worabbed a couple of wafer-thin napkins

She worked her way back, plopped down on the bench circling the fountain in front of the law building The panhandler beside her looked hopeful Eve tapped her badge; he grinned, tapped the beggar’s license hung around his neck

Resigned, she dug out a five credit chip, passed it over “Find someplace else to hustle,” she ordered him, “or I’ll run that license and see if it’s up to date”

He said so uncomplimentary about her line of work, but he pocketed the credit androom to Peabody

“Leanore doesn’t like Arthur Foxx”

Peabody sed garainy “She doesn’t?”

“A high-class lawyer doesn’t give that many answers unless she wants to She fed us that Foxx was jealous, that they argued” Eve held out the scoop of greasy potatoes After a brief internal struggle, Peabody dug in “She wanted us to have that data”

“Still isn’t h’s records that is None of the data I scanned points the finger Then again, none of it indicates a suicidal bent, either”

Contemplatively, Eve sucked on her tube of Pepsi, watched New York lumber by with all its noise and sweat “We’ll have to talk to Foxx again I’ve got court again this aft

ernoon I want you to go back to Cop Central, get the door-to-door reports, nag the ME for the final autopsy I don’t knohat the hang-up is there, but I want the results by end of shift I should be out of court by three We’ll do another walk-through of Fitzhugh’s apartment and see why he omitted Bastwick’s little visit”

Peabody juggled food and duly progra “What I asked before—about you not liking Fitzhugh I just wondered if it was harder to push all the buttons when you had bad feelings about the subject”

“Cops don’t have personal feelings” Then she sighed “Bullshit You put those feelings aside and push the buttons That’s the job And if I happen to think ain his own blood, it doesn’t ot there”

Peabody nodded “A lot of other cops would just file it Self-termination End of transmission”

“I’lanced over, mildly interested at the explosive crash as two taxis collided Pedestrian and street traffic barely hitched as sed, and two furious drivers popped like corks out of their ruined vehicles

Eve nibbled away at her lunch as the two inative obscenities She ilish was exchanged She looked up but didn’t spot one of the hovering traffic copters With a thin smile, she balled up the cardboard, rolled up the empty tube, passed them to Peabody