Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

POE AND MARPLE held their ground as the parents swarmed around them. Grey and Duff took a step back to avoid being run over. It was almost an assault—the desperate parents clamoring for answers, all talking at once. “What’s going on?” “Can’t you do something?” “Why is everybody just standing around?”

Poe held out his hands and pressed them gently downward, as if calming the waters. “One at a time, please. We’re here to help.” He glanced at Helene. “We’re all here to help.”

One of the mothers spoke up, her voice shaking. “You were the ones who found those killers this summer.”

“Yes,” said Poe. “We are.”

“Is this a murder case?” wailed another mom. “Is my baby dead?”

Her husband wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders. “Nobody’s dead!” he said firmly.

“Nobody knows anything yet,” said Duff, stepping in front of the throng, “but it’s important we move quickly.”

The parents totally ignored him. The man in the dress shirt reached past Duff to grasp Poe’s hand. “I’m Sterling Cade,” he said. “I’d like to hire your firm.” He looked around at the other parents. “I think we’d all like to hire you.” The others mumbled and nodded their assent. “I promise you,” Cade went on, “money is not an issue. Whatever you need from us, you’ve got it.”

“We’d be honored to take the case,” said Poe.

“Hold on a goddamn minute!” Duff called out, a sharp edge to his voice. “This is a New York Police Department investigation. And if it turns out to be an abduction, as it appears to be, we’ll be calling in resources from around the country.” Looking at the desperate faces in front of him, he softened his tone slightly. “Please, folks. I know this is a bad time. I know you’re scared. But we have this investigation under control.”

“We hear you,” said a woman in a maternity gown, standing with her wife. She pointed firmly toward Marple and Poe. “But we want them .”

“You’re making a mistake, ma’am,” said Duff, suddenly icy again. He held up his bony index finger and jabbed it in the air three times for emphasis. “We need one investigation, one central task force, one coordinated effort. That’s how crimes like this get solved. By professionals doing their jobs. Not by amateurs playing cops and robbers for a fee.”

Poe had a sharp retort ready, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t need it. And he was right. Another mother piped up from the back of the crowd. She stared directly at Duff.

“So why didn’t you catch those murderers this summer on your own? Why did you need help from Holmes, Marple, and Poe? It was all over the news.”

Duff’s mouth tightened. Poe glanced at Helene, reading her expression. Her look said, Don’t push it. Then he heard the question he knew was coming.

“Hey,” one of the dads said, “where’s the other guy? Where the hell is Holmes?”

Poe looked over at Marple. He knew she’d been expecting the question too. She had an answer ready.

“Mr. Holmes is working on a private case of his own at the moment,” said Marple. “But he’s not far, I promise.”

Poe nodded with a tight smile. Nothing Marple had said was strictly untrue. Their partner, Brendan Holmes, was indeed hard at work. At a private facility in upstate New York. Kicking his decades-long addiction to heroin.

Grey was aware of the situation. Duff, thank God, was not.

“If I know Holmes,” said Poe, “he’ll be helping out any way he can.”

Duff’s cell phone rang. He turned away to answer it. Grey stepped up and faced the group of distraught parents. She lifted her badge on its lanyard. “I’m Detective Lieutenant Helene Grey, NYPD.” She nodded toward Poe and Marple. “I’ve worked with these investigators before. I trust them. And if you want their help, that’s your decision. We’re all on the same team here. What all of us want is to find your children. Your babies. So right now what we need is to get your statements. One at a time. In your own words. Everything you can remember about the last twenty-four hours. Can we please start there?”

Poe watched as the crowd melted into acceptance. Even the wannabe-alpha Sterling Cade was nodding. Grey had gotten to them. Poe had seen her play tough cop plenty of times. But what this crowd needed was empathy. Grey clearly sensed it, and she’d delivered. She’d also given his firm a solid endorsement. Poe felt like reaching out to hug her, which he knew would be wildly inappropriate. He looked to his right.

Marple was gone.

For a second, Poe was nervous. Then he realized that his partner was probably off doing what she did best.

She was snooping.