In Death 17 - Imitation in Death by authors_sort Read Free Book Online

Dennis. I'm just swamped today."
     
     
"Dallas."
     
     
"Dallas, of course, Dallas." He made a little ha-ha sound and walked to a long counter, bent down to the minifriggie beneath.
     
     
He continued to speak in his rapid-fire style, in a accent less tone that said West Coast to Eve. "It's just madness around here, my mind's going a thousand directions at once. Parched. Just parched. Drink?"
     
     
"No, thank you."
     
     
He took out a bottle of something orange and frothy and poured it into a glass. "Suelee tells me you were very insistent about seeing me."
     
     
"Suelee was very insistent I wouldn't see you."
     
     
"Well, ha-ha, just doing her job. Don't know what I'd do without my Suelee guarding the gates." He beamed, sat in an I'm-a-busy-but-personable-son-of-a-bitch style on the edge of his horrible red desk. "You'd be amazed how many people try to get in to see me on any given day. Comes with the territory, of course. Actors, writers, directors." He threw up a hand, waved it dramatically. "But I don't often have an attractive policewoman looking for a meeting."
     
     
His smile glittered, white and perfectly even. "So, tell me, what've you got? Play, vid, disc book? Cop drama's cooled off recently, but there's always room for a good story. The girl cop angle's good. What's your pitch?"
     
     
"Your whereabouts between midnight and three A.M. this morning."
     
     
"I don't understand."
     
     
"I'm primary on a homicide investigation. Your name's come up. I'd like to know your whereabouts during the time frame I just gave you."
     
     
"Murder? I don't- O oh!" With another laugh, he shook his head so his hair shook fashionably. "Interesting pitch. Let's see, my first reaction would be what? Shock, insult, fear?"
     
     
"A licensed companion was brutally murdered early this morning in Chinatown. You can speed up this process, Mr. Fortney, by telling me where you were between midnight and three."
     
     
He lowered his glass. "You're serious?
     
     
"Midnight and three, Mr. Fortney. "
     
     
"Well, my God. My God." He laid his free hand on his heart, patted it there. "I was home, of course. Pepper comes straight home after the show. We tend to go to bed early during a run. It's both physically and emotionally exhausting for her. People don't understand the strain of performing, night after night, and how few reserves one has left after-"
     
     
"I'm not interested in where Ms. Franklin was," Eve interrupted. Or in, your stalling tactics, she thought. "Where were you?"
     
     
"Well, home, as I said." His tone was a little testy now. "Pepper would have arrived by midnight, and she needs a bit of company and care after a show, so I always wait up to be there for her. We had a nightcap while she ran down, then we were tucked in before one, so she could get her beauty sleep. I can't understand why you'd possibly question me. An LC, in Chinatown? What could that have to do with me?"
     
     
"Can anyone verify that you were home during the time frame?"
     
     
"Pepper, of course. Pepper. I was right there to greet her when she arrived home, just before midnight. And we were in bed, as I said, by one. She's a very light sleeper. It comes from being so creative and sensitive. She'll tell you she'd have known if I so much as stirred from the bed in the night."
     
     
He took another drink, a longer one. "Who was this woman who was killed? Do I know her? I don't use the ,services of companions. I do, naturally, know many people, from various walks. Certainly some actors and, hopefuls might moonlight as LCs."
     
     
"Jacie Wooton."
     
     
"It means nothing to me. Nothing." The color that had come into his face during his rambling alibi began to diminish. He shrugged, carelessly now. "I don't believe I've ever been to Chinatown."
     
     
"You bought stationery in London several months ago. Fifty sheets and envelopes, plain, cream-colored, unrecycled stock."
     
     
"Did I? It's certainly possible. I buy quite a