The Truth of Yesterday (31 page)

     
“The latter most likely.”

     “Well, how is Micah?”

     “He's...good, I guess. He's been shaken up over Paul's murder. I don't think he was completely over him.”

     She frowned. “Did you know Paul?”

     “No, I'm not from around here. Can you tell me about him?”

     “Where do I start?” she sighed. “He was a sweetheart. I miss him so much. I keep thinking I'm going to run into him in the hall, I don't think it's really sunk in yet that he's gone.”

     “Were you good friends?”

     “Yes, very good friends. We talked pretty much every day, and I don't just mean in the hallway. He'd come over for a drink in the evening if he wasn't working or I'd go over there. Sometime he'd call me at work just to talk.”

     “Where do you work?”

     “I work at the daycare center in the Pentagon.”

     It was my turn to look surprised. I was going to have to work on my poker face. “Were you there...?”

     “September 11th? Yes. I've never been so scared in my life. Paul was waiting here for me when I got home after what seemed like forever. He just held me while I cried myself to sleep. He was a good person, he didn't deserve to die.” She broke off and visibly tried to regain her composure.

     “I talked to
Razi
Akiba
earlier today, do you know him?”

     Her expression changed to look as if she'd bit into something rotten. “Oh, I know him, alright,” she said disdainfully.

     “I take it you don't like him?”

     “No, I don't.”

     
“Any particular reason or just general dislike?”

     She thought a moment before answering. “I'm not really certain,” she said finally. “There's just something about him that I don't trust. I always got the impression that he was using Paul, although I couldn't quite explain why. And I know he tried to break Paul and Micah up when they were still dating.”

     “He did? Did Micah know?”

     “Well, I never told him. I talked to Paul about it, but he wasn't concerned. He said they had a solid relationship and it didn't matter what
Razi
said or did. It was well before Micah started talking about moving.”

     “Why did he want to break them up? Did he want to date Paul?”

     “That's what I thought at the time. But when Micah moved away and Paul was free
Razi
never made a move that I knew of, which seems strange. If he wanted Paul so badly why didn't he go after him when he was available?”

     “Maybe he's the type that only wants what he can't have.”

     “Well, he does strike me as that type, but still...”

     “Or maybe
Razi
was dating someone else by then.”

     “That's possible. I certainly don't keep up with his love life. I don't really spend much time in his company.
Only if it's one of Paul's rare get-togethers.”

     “After Micah left, did Paul date anyone else?”

     “Not seriously. He always said he was so busy with work that he didn't have the time or energy to date socially. I always thought it might have had something to do with him still being hung up on Micah.”

     “So there's no angry, jilted ex-boyfriend?”

     “Not that I'm aware of.”

     “Did he have any enemies that you know of?”

     “No. That's what's so scary about all this. It seems so random, and yet, the way he died-it seems more like a murder with a lot of passion behind it.”

     
“Passion?”

     “Yes, strong emotion. Somehow, it doesn't feel-what's the word police use? Premeditated? There are so many ways to kill someone if you just want to get rid of them; poison, shooting,
a
planned accident. Strangling someone seems like a very heat of the moment thing to do. It's a very personal way to kill someone. They're actually in your hands as their life leaves them.”

     I shuddered at the thought. “You sound like you've given this a lot of thought.”

     “Oh I have, trust me. I've lain awake almost every night since it happened wondering. Wondering what it was like for poor Paul in those last seconds. Wondering why on earth someone would want to kill him. I just don't understand it.”

     “And you probably never will. Most murder is senseless. There's no way you can understand it.”

     “I just wish I could do something.”

     “You can. You can answer my questions and tell me everything you can remember.”

     “I'll do my best.”

     “Great. Were you in a position to know who came to his apartment?”

     “Well, it's not like I spied on him, or anything, but yeah. Living next door to him and being friends I saw people come and go.”

     “Who came?”

     
“Besides
Razi
, mostly just his clients.
He did in-calls and out-calls.”

     
“Meaning?”

     “In-calls are when the clients come to you, out-calls are when you go to them.”

     “So a lot of clients came here?”

     “I don't know about a lot.”

     “But some came here?”

     “Yes.”

     “Did any come more than once?”

     “You mean like regulars?”

     “I guess so, yeah.”

     “I'm sure there were regulars, but I didn't really pay that much attention. It wasn't really any of my business, you know?” She paused thoughtfully.
“Although, there was this one guy that I did seem to see fairly often.
I assumed he was a client, although I don't really know that for a fact.”

     “Can you describe him?”

     She screwed up her face in concentration. “He's kind of hard to remember. He wasn't strikingly handsome, but he wasn't ugly. He was just kind of ordinary.”

     I groaned silently. Ordinary people were the hardest to describe. People tended to take
less note
of them, and what they did notice could apply to just about anyone. Just like the insurance rep that deals with Novak who I can never remember. I made a stab at it anyway.

     “What color is his hair?”

     She frowned.
“Brown?
Gray? I'm not really sure.”

     
“Eyes?”

     “I have no idea. I'm not being very helpful am I?”

     I smiled but didn't answer. “Was he tall or short?
Fat or skinny?”

     “I can answer those at least. He was average height and weight.”

     Of course he was. “Did you notice any distinguishing features?
Any moles or scars?
A particular piece of jewelry?”

     She shook her head. “I'm sorry. I just didn't pay attention.”

     “Are you even sure it was the same guy each time?”

     “Yes, I noticed that much. It's just hard to describe him.”

     I gave up and went on to the next question. “Did you ever see anyone else who stood out? Maybe they didn't seem like they belonged or you saw them repeatedly?”

     “The only thing I can think of is the last couple weeks
Razi's
been showing up here with this kid.
A pretty boy, curly red hair, big blue eyes.
He looks like he's 13 or 14 at the most. I don't know where he got him; probably bought him off some crack whore.”

     “We've met. His name is Tad. He was a homeless kid that
Razi
took in.”

     “At what price?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “
Razi
never does anything without an ulterior motive.”

     I shrugged. It wasn't my place to go into that with Sabrina. “Did Paul confide in you much?”

     “I don't think Paul confided in anyone very much. Still, he probably confided in me more than most.”

     “A few people I've talked to said he seemed a little different recently, more withdrawn and almost secretive. Did you notice that?”

     
“Now that you mention it, yes.
It didn't really register at the time because I was really busy; my sister was getting married and I was the maid-of-honor. I hadn't thought about it at all, but he didn't invite me over very often and we definitely didn't talk as much.”

     “Do you have any idea why? Was something bothering him? Do you think he was hiding something?”

     “I honestly don't have any idea,” she admitted. “I was so caught up in my own life that I didn't even notice anything different. My God, what kind of friend am I? What if Paul was killed because I couldn't even be bothered to notice something was wrong?” Her voice was escalating to the point that I was afraid she'd burst into tears any moment.

     “You can't blame yourself for this,” I said quickly, and I hoped convincingly. “We don't even know what happened yet, if it even had anything to do with why he was withdrawing. Or for that matter, we don't even know for sure he was withdrawing. Maybe his life got busy at the same time yours did. It could have nothing to do with his murder. We just don't know enough yet to make any kind of educated guess. And even if it was connected in some way to his murder, he could have come to you and I'll bet you would have dropped everything to help him, right?”

     She sniffled a bit and nodded. “You're right. I would have.”

     “See? You don't have any reason to blame yourself for Paul's death. The only person to blame is the person who killed him. And you can help me catch whoever it was.”

     “I can?”

     “Yes. Can you think of anyone, no matter how remote, who might have wanted Paul dead?”

     “I can't. I'm sorry, I just can't think of anyone.”

     “What about
Razi
?”

     She shook her head. “No, I don't think so. He's a sleaze ball, but if he was going to kill someone, I don't think it would be as direct as strangling. He'd be more of the type who'd poison someone slowly. Or maybe stab them in the back.”

     “So you don't have any ideas?”

     
“No, not really.”

     I sighed. I was not coming up with an abundance of suspects so far.
Or motives either, for that matter.
I needed to get back into his apartment.

     “You've been in Paul's apartment, right?” I asked, as an inkling of an idea began to form.

     
“Many times.”

     “Would you walk through it with me? You can tell me if anything is missing.
Razi
said he didn't think so, but you would know better than me.”

     “But we shouldn't be in there; it's a police crime scene.”

     “The police don't seem very eager to solve this crime. There might be something in there that would help me find Paul's killer. Besides, they're done with it by now.”