Page 114 of Calculated in Death

“That was impressive,” he agreed.

“Thank you, sir. The increase in the violence of his kills today—in his more personal involvement in those kills—indicates a growing taste for murder, and a passion that lacked with Dickenson. He’s a coward, Commander, who needs to prove his ability, his strength. Every kill has been an ambush. This time, we’ll turn that around.”

“And ambush him?”

“Sir. With an interview with Nadine Furst, I can sweeten the trap, play up my attending, and more, my excitement about it.”

Something close to a smirk played around Whitney’s mouth. “Are you that good an actress, Dallas?”

“I can pull it off. He’ll see the shine, not the trap. Moreover, if we don’t close this down prior, Alexander will also be in attendance. He’ll finish this job, in public, and in front of his employer. Commander, I strongly believe if we don’t wrap this up before, he will make that attempt. I want to be ready for him. He killed two people in under an hour today. He’s pumped, and so far he’s only missed once. He needs to rectify that.”

“There are easier ways to kill a cop.”

“But none as expedient, or that fits his pattern of impulse. None that brings those cops down at the moment it seems they’re most vulnerable. All dressed up, peacocking around. And all those people who saw his cowardice and humiliation on screen now get to watch his triumph. If we don’t have him in a cage, Commander, he’ll make his move tomorrow night.”

“I tend to agree. All right, Lieutenant, what’s your plan?”

STILL NEEDED SOME WORK, EVE THOUGHT AS she walked back down to Homicide. Even with the commander’s input, the op needed a tighter rein.

Calculating weak spots, soft spots, and dead ends, she stepped into her bullpen.

“Nadine’s in your office,” Peabody called out. “She said you’d asked her to come in.”

“Yeah.” She scanned the room. “I want everyone not needed in the field in whatever conference room Peabody can get. One hour. Peabody, get me the layout of Five Star Theater.”

She left the mutterings behind her, went into her office.

Nadine paced the small area in skinny heels the color of kiwis that matched the waist-whittling jacket snugged over a black leather dress. She peppered questions and answers through an earpiece. They seemed to deal with timing, editing, and eight o’clock reservations. Nadine’s cameraman sat in Eve’s visitor’s chair, and from the beeps and cheers emitting from his PPC, passed the time with a game.

When Nadine gave Eve a just-a-minute gesture, Eve turned to the camera. “Give us a few minutes.”

“Sure.” He hauled himself, his camera, his bag up, and still playing the game, strolled out of the room.

“If he wants it down to two-forty-three, I want Derrick to make the cuts. No, it has to be Derrick. I’ll let you know when I’m done here. If I knew that, I’d tell you now, wouldn’t I? Push it to eight-thirty. Just do it, Maxie.”

Obviously steamed, she yanked off the earpiece. “This better be good,” she told Eve. “I’ve got a special in post-production hell, an assistant who can’t seem to put two clear thoughts together this week, and a last-minute fitting on my dress for tomorrow night.”

“I don’t know if it comes up to the extreme priority of a dress fitting.”

“Don’t be so snotty. Tomorrow night’s important, and I’m damn well going to look sensational.” She stopped, gave Eve a cold, hard look. “You didn’t drag me down here to tell me you’re skipping the premiere?”

“Just the opposite. I want you to interview me about attending the premiere, and make sure it gets some splash.”

“Did you recently suffer some head trauma? From what I saw on the Amazing Baby Catch, you hit your ass. Then again...”

“Keep it up. I can get another reporter over here in ten seconds flat.”

“Another reporter wouldn’t go along with whatever you want to stir up, and in fact give it just the right stir.” Nadine sat, crossed her excellent legs. “What are you after?”

“Some media attention, on this specific event. You’ll have your own cameras covering it, right?”

“You bet your probably very sore ass.”

“If this plays out, you’re going to get a hell of a story.”

Nadine flicked a glance at the board, then shifted back to Eve.“What does tomorrow’s premiere have to do with the three murders?”

“We’ve got some lines, and may very well have that nailed down before the premiere. If not, we could nail it down at the premiere.”