Imitation in Death Read Free Page B

state homes. "Didn't any of the adults in charge monitor your interests? What I mean is my parents-and they were big` on not restricting our choices-would've brought the hammer down in that sort of area when we were kids. You know, formative years and all, nightmares, emotional scarring."
    She'd been scarred, in every possible way, long before she could read more than a few basic words. As for night-mares, Eve didn't remember a time she hadn't had them.
    "If I was scrolling the Internet for data on the Ripper or John Wayne Gacy, I was occupied and out of trouble. Those were the essential criteria."
    "I guess. So, you always knew you wanted to be a cop."
    ,She'd known she wanted to be something other than-a victim. Then she'd known she'd' wanted to stand for the victim. That meant cop to her. "More or less. The Ripper sent notes' to -the police, but only after a while. He didn't start off, like our guy. But this one wants us to know what he's about straight off. He wants the play."
    "He wants you," Peabody said and got a nod of acknowledgment.
    "I've just come off a highly publicized case. Lots of screen time. Lots of buzz. And the Purity case, earlier this summer. Another hot one. He's been watching. Now he wants some buzz of his own. Jack got plenty of it back in the day."
    "He wants you involved, and the media focused on him. The city fascinated by him."
    "That's my take."
    "So he'll hunt other LCs, in that same area."
    "That would be the pattern.. Eve paused. "And what he wants us to think."
    Her next stop was Jacie's counselor, who worked out of a three-office suite on the lower fringes of the East Village. On her large, overburdened desk was a bowl of colorful hard candies. She sat behind them in a gray suit that gave her a 'matronly air.
    Eve judged her to be on the shadowy side of fifty, with a kind face and, by contrast, a pair of shrewd hazel eyes.
    "Tressa Palank." She rose to offer Eve a firm handshake 'before gesturing to a chair. "I assume this concerns one of my clients. I've got ten minutes before my next session. What can I do for you?"
    "Tell me about Jacie Wooton."
    "Jacie?" Tressa's eyebrows lifted, a slight smile touched her lips, but there was a look in her eyes, a steady look of dread. "I can't believe she'd give you any trouble. She's on a straight path, determined to earn back her A-Grade license.",
    "Jacie Wooton was murdered early this morning."
    Tressa closed her eyes, did nothing but breathe in and out for several seconds. "I knew it had to be one of mine."' She opened her eyes again, and they remained direct. "As soon as I heard the bulletin about the murder in Chinatown, I knew. Just a feeling in the gut, if you understand me. Jacie." She folded her hands on the desk, stared down at them. "What happened"
    "I'm not free to give you the details as yet. I can only tell you she was stabbed."
    "Mutilated. The bulletin said a female licensed companion had been mutilated in a Chinatown alley early this morning."
    One of the uniforms, Eve thought, and there would be hell to pay for the leak when she found the source. "I can't tell you any more at this time. My investigation is in its earliest-stages."
    "I know the routine. I was on the job for five years."
    "You were a cop?"
    "Five years, sex crimes primarily. I switched to counseling." I didn't like the streets, or what I saw on them. Here, I can do something to help without facing that day after day. This isn't a picnic, by any means, but it's what I do best. I'll tell you what I can; I hope it helps."
    "She spoke to you recently, about her upgrade."
    "Denied. She has-had-another year's probation. It's mandatory after her arrests and addiction. Her rehab went well, though I suspect she'd found a substitute for the Push she was hooked on."
    "Vodka. Two bottles in her flop."
    "Well. It's legal, but it violates her parole requirements for upgrade. Not that it matters now," Tressa rubbed her hands over her eyes and simply sighed. "Not that it matters," she