Book of the Dead Read Online Free PDF Page B

his scent. “I don’t think so. I think it matters more what she was wearing. Black jeans, a white silk shirt, a black silk–lined black leather jacket. Also, black panties and a black bra.” He pauses. “It’s curious her body didn’t have any fibers from these, just the fibers from the sheet.”
         “We don’t know for a fact it was a sheet,” Benton reminds him sharply.
         “Also, her clothing, her watch, necklace, leather bracelets, and earrings haven’t been found. So the killer took these things,” the captain says to Scarpetta. “For what reason? Perhaps souvenirs. But we will talk about her pedicure, since you think it important. Drew went to a spa on Central Park South right after she got to New York. We have details of this appointment, charged to Drew’s credit card – her father’s credit card, actually. From what I’m told, he was most indulgent with her.”
         “I think it’s been well established she was spoiled,” Benton says.
         “I think we should be careful using words like that,” Scarpetta says. “She earned what she had, is the one who practiced six hours a day, trained so hard – had just won the Family Circle Cup and was expected to win other…”
         “That’s where you live,” Captain Poma says to her. “Charleston, South Carolina. Where the Family Circle Cup is played. Odd, isn’t it. That very night she flew to New York. And from there to here. To this.” He indicates the photographs.
         “What I’m saying is money can’t buy championship titles, and spoiled people usually don’t work as passionately as she did,” Scarpetta says.
         Benton says, “Her father spoiled her but couldn’t be bothered with parenting. Same with her mother.”
         “Yes, yes,” Captain Poma agrees. “What parents permit a sixteen-year-old to travel abroad with two eighteen-year-old friends? Especially if she’d been acting moody. Up and down.”
         “When your child becomes more difficult, it gets easier to give in. Not resist,” Scarpetta says, thinking about her niece, Lucy. When Lucy was a child, God, their battles. “What about her coach? Do we know anything about that relationship?”
         “Gianni Lupano. I spoke to him, and he said he was aware she was coming here and wasn’t happy about it because of major tournaments in the next few months, such as Wimbledon. He wasn’t helpful and seemed angry with her.”
         “And the Italian Open here in Rome next month,” Scarpetta points out, finding it unusual the captain didn’t mention it.
         “Of course. She should train, not run off with friends. I don’t watch tennis.”
         “Where was he when she was murdered?” Scarpetta asks.
         “New York. We’ve checked with the hotel where he said he stayed, and he was registered at that time. He also commented she had been moody. Down one day, up the next. Very stubborn and difficult and unpredictable. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could work with her. Said he had better things to do than put up with her behavior.”
         “I’d like to know if mood disorders run in her family,” Benton says. “I don’t suppose you bothered to ask.”
         “I didn’t. I’m sorry I wasn’t astute enough to think of it.”
         “It would be extremely useful to know if she had a psychiatric history her family’s been secretive about.”
         “It’s well known she’d struggled with an eating disorder,” Scarpetta says. “She’s talked openly about it.”
         “No mention of a mood disorder? Nothing from her parents?” Benton continues his cool interrogation of the captain.
         “Nothing more than her ups and downs. Typical teenager.”
         “Do you have children?” Benton reaches for his wine.
         “Not that I know of.”
         “A trigger,” Scarpetta says. “Something was going on with Drew that no one’s telling us.