“No. She told me she was moving to a condo on the ocean. Rockaway? Long Beach Island? I don’t remember.”

“When was this?”

“At least three years ago. Maybe a little more. It was very cold. January or February. I asked her why she wasn’t going to Florida or someplace warm.” He laughed. “She said she didn’t like big bugs.”

-13-

-13-

It wasn’t much, but it was far from a wasted morning. Ted had something to work with, and that beat trying to weave fog into mittens. He left the Preacher with a hefty contribution and called Lester. There was no answer, but Lester called back in less than thirty seconds.

“What’s up?”

“You’re at the courthouse? Take down these addresses. Find out whatever you can, and text it to me. Then go down to the county clerk and check tax records. I’m getting a slice, and I need to hear from you before I’m done eating. Call me when you’ve got it all.”

Ted didn’t want to leave Corona without coming up with more information about Miss Miller. She could be dead and buried or alive and kicking a few blocks away.

One slice turned into two. He made notes on a napkin and calculations on his smartphone. By focusing on the numbers, he was able to tune out some of the Mexican rap music coming out of the overhead speakers.

Though he’d seen only the bare bones of the court docs, Ted knew that Barbara Miller had lost three buildings. According to ACRIS, the city’s online real estate records, she owned nine others. Even if all twelve buildings were standard three-story walk-ups, the combined rents would have added up to a nice piece of change. In Manhattan, most midsize landlords had been driven out of the business by a crushing combination of competition, government taxation and regulation, and massive amounts of capital, both foreign and domestic. But in the outer boroughs, it was still possible, though becoming harder every year, for a business like Miller’s to survive. And be quite profitable.

He estimated taxes, water bills, management costs, and insurance. He already knew—again from ACRIS—that six of the properties were not mortgaged, so it was a safe assumption that the others were no different. As long as her maintenance costs were under control, Barbara Miller was netting well over a million dollars a year.