“Sometime during my last visit to Italy, which lasted four days—three weeks ago. Janice wasn’t happy about the rent situation and I came home resolved to collect or else, knocked on Tara’s door and when she didn’t answer, I let myself in with my key. Place was empty.” His lips parted. “Was she dead by then?”

“No, sir.”

“So she did rip me off.”

“Place is still empty?” said Milo.

“Completely,” said Haldeman. “Feel free to see for yourselves.”

Chapter 24

ilo took the master key from Erno Haldeman’s giant mitt, slipped his own paw into a rubber glove, and turned the doorknob.

Blank white space. The smell of fresh latex pigment.

“You’ve painted?”

“Don’t worry, there was nothing worth preserving. Not a speck in the closet and she took every bit of furniture—here, I’ll show you.”

Milo held him back. “I’d like your permission to send a crime scene team over to dust for fingerprints and other evidence.”

“You’re saying she was killed here?”

“We know she wasn’t.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“We want to identify any visitors she had.”

“I told you, there weren’t any besides the old guy.”

“But if you saw her once a week that was a lot.”

Haldeman scratched the top of his hairless dome. “Are we talking an invasive process?”

“No, sir. And the crew will do their best to clean up.”

“That’s unpleasantly ambiguous, Lieutenant.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“But if they find something creepy, they’ll do damage.”

“I don’t see that, sir.”

“No good deed goes unpunished, huh?”

Milo’s favorite credo. He remained impassive. “It’ll take a day, Mr. Haldeman, and then we’ll be out of your way.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“You do.”

“But if I refuse you’ll get a warrant or whatever paper’s involved and the end result will be the same except you’ll be pissed off that I delayed you so the floorboards will end up being pried off.”

“Not unless there’s some reason you’re aware of that we should pry them.”

Haldeman gaped. “Good Lord, no.”

“Then I don’t see a problem. There’ll be some dusting, perhaps some spraying with chemicals. But all of it comes out readily and I’ll take special care to ensure you get your property back exactly as we found it.”

“Man, you take life seriously.”

“Kind of an occupational hazard, sir.”

“Guess it is. All right, go ahead. Just let me know when your crew plans to show up. I want to make sure to be here.”

“Will do, sir. Thank you.”

Haldeman smiled. “All this civic cooperation and you’re not going to tell me who killed her.”

“We don’t know, sir.”