“Mall brats,” Abigail Trant said. “Why Rhiannon is not allowed to hang out here—I don’t want her acquiring these manners. Tell me a little about your business. I gather you’re not as big as Carnifice.”

Thank heaven for mall brats—Trant would be in her Mercedes by now if she hadn’t wanted to stomp on the kid. I gave her a thumbnail sketch of the difference between Warshawski Investigations and Carnifice Security. Something about it piqued a genuine interest from her—she forgot about the time and asked me how I’d gotten into detection, what special training I’d needed, how long I’d been doing it.

“Do you enjoy having your own business? Doing all the work yourself, do you ever have time for a private life?”

I admitted a private life was hard for me to maintain. “Since I have to work for a living, I’m happier working for myself than I would be in a big outfit like Carnifice. Anyway, I like knowing that it’s my work that’s solved a problem.”

“Do you think BB could put you out of business?”

I hunched an impatient shoulder. “I don’t know. But I’m curious to know why my asking questions about his kid’s old nanny makes him want to.”

She tapped the wooden counter with one pearl–colored nail. “I don’t think there’s any special mystery about the dead girl. I think it has to do with BB’s personality. You came to his house, you interrogated his wife and his son, and it makes him feel that you proved he was vulnerable. He’s threatening you so he can feel better about the fact that a private detective with a very small company could penetrate his security systems.” She looked at her watch and gave a little gasp. “The time! I really have to run now.”

She threaded her way expertly through the crowds of shoppers. Everything about Abigail Trant depressed me—her polished good looks and manners, the fact that she had stiffed me half a dozen times with perfect good manners, and the possibility she could be right about Nicola Aguinaldo. She was only thirty–five, but she could dance rings about me—no wonder she was entertaining important guests in Oak Brook and I was taking my sweaty body back to my un–air–conditioned car.

Chapter 14: Crumbs from the Table

14 Crumbs from the Table

When I got back to the city I was too worn out by the heat to go to my office. I’d been planning on buckling down on my project for Continental United, but I went home and showered and lay down.