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“Don’t listen to Dolores, honey,” said Chase. “She’s a great cop and I love her to pieces but quite frankly she’s full of crap. And I say this with the greatest respect.”

“Uncle Alec always says Dolores is the station’s barometer. If he wants to know what’s going on all he has to do is take her out for a drink and he’s completely up to date on the latest gossip, grievances, office politics, feuds and every family issue of every officer.”

“Your uncle takes Dolores out for drinks?”

“At least once a month.”

“Chief Alec works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.”

Chapter 41

Deirdre Dickinson was a tall young woman with a sandy-colored bob, a tilt-tipped nose and a pronounced chin. She got up when they entered.

“Detective Kingsley?” she said. She looked a little anxious, Odelia thought.

“That’s me. And this is our civilian consultant, Odelia Poole.”

Deirdre nodded nervously.“I just wanted to know when my father’s body will be released. I would like to organize the funeral as soon as possible.”

“I would have to check with the coroner’s office,” said Chase. “But I imagine it won’t be long now. Please, take a seat.”

Deirdre did, and so did Chase and Odelia, Chase on Uncle Alec’s side of the desk, and Odelia right next to Deirdre.

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Miss Dickerson,” said Odelia, leaning forward and placing a commiserating hand on the woman’s arm.

Deirdre nodded and looked down. Her eyes were red-rimmed and it was obvious she’d been crying. “I loved my father, Miss Poole. In spite of the horrible things people say about him he was not a bad man. He just did what he thought he had to do to make it in his line of work.”

“Did… you have a good relationship?”

“Yes, we did. In private, my father was a sweetheart. Not the bully they made him out to be.”

“There’s a rumor,” Odelia began, and Deirdre looked up sharply.

“Don’t believe the rumors, Miss Poole. I know people say Daddy cut me out of his will but there’s absolutely no truth to that.”

“I heard you were suing him?”

Deirdre shook her head decidedly.“Vicious gossip started by Daddy’s enemies. We had a wonderful relationship.”

“Now that you’re here, I wanted to show you something,” said Chase, and took out the picture of the rose. He placed it on the desk in front of Deirdre.

“What is this?” she asked, looking up.

“It was found in the safe. Where your father died,” Chase explained.

Deirdre’s eyes shot full of tears at these words, and she quickly took out a tissue and pressed it to her nose. “This is all so horrible. He didn’t deserve to die—and he certainly didn’t deserve to die in this way. Who would do such a terrible thing? And why?”

“Does the name Yasir Bellinowski mean anything to you?” asked Odelia.

Deirdre shook her head, trying to compose herself.“Is he the man that did this?”

“He’s one of the leads we’re pursuing,” said Chase.

“He’s a gangster, isn’t he? A mobster? My father published stories about him.”

“Did he ever mention Bellinowski to you?”

“Daddy never talked about his work. He liked to keep his family life and his professional life strictly separate. He even forbade us from reading theNational Star when we grew up. Of course me and my sisters would sneak copies home from school and read them anyway.” She smiled a weak smile. “We were very proud of him. All of us were. Even Mom.”

Odelia remembered reading about Deirdre’s mom. She was Dickerson’s second wife, and originally hailed from France, where she’d returned after the divorce. Dickerson had gone on to marry two more times, but those marriages had ended in divorce as well.

“I know the rumors, Detective,” Deirdre said. “I know how they say that I did it. Or at least one of us. To get our hands on Daddy’s money. But I can assure you we would never hurt our father. He was a family man and doted on us. Even after he divorced our mother.” She looked up imploringly. “Please find whoever did this, Detective. Thesemonsters can’t be allowed get away with this. They really can’t.”

And with these words, she finally broke down into sobs.

Odelia rubbed her back, but generally felt helpless. She couldn’t imagine anything ever happening to her father or mother. She’d be devastated, too. And when she locked eyes with Chase, she could see he was thinking the same thing. There was a determined look in his eyes. He was going to bring Yasir Bellinowski to justice. Whatever it took.

Chapter 42

That evening, a homey scene at Odelia’s masked a deeper, more horrible truth: a usurper was working away in the background, chipping away at the foundations that made ours such a warm nest. I would have warned Odelia, but she was so busy with her investigation, hunched over her laptop, a frown marring her lovely features, that I didn’t have the heart to disturb her.

I was on the couch, Dooley next to me, watchingJeopardy with Gran, while Harriet and Brutus were nowhere to be found, and neither, for that matter, was Milo.

I knew he couldn’t be far away, though, and the fact that he was closetroubled me, making it impossible to relax.