super.â
âYeah, you should talk to him. Heâs a white guy, young, or he was eight years ago, and I think heâs a writer or musician. The super job gives him a free apartment and some walking around money. He knows whatâs going on in the building and the neighborhood. He didnât like me very much, didnât like the cops either, but maybe you can sweet-talk him. Itâs happened before.â
âWhat shape is the building in?â Defino asked.
âI forgot to tell you. They renovated it about a year after Stratton died, gutted it completely. Gentrification. Itâs happening all over the area. So the apartments are gone and so are the people. You may still find some of them; the super might know where they went. Some of the older tenants moved into other old buildings just to keep their rent down.â
âBut the superâs still there?â
âYeah. He liked the lifestyle, although he bitched a lot about the kind of people that were moving in. Their jeans were Lauren, not Leviâs. Makes a difference.â Shreiber grinned.
âWhat impression did you get about Strattonâs mental condition?â Jane asked.
âIt depended. If he took his medication, he could be OK. I gather he was very bright. I talked to people who had discussed pretty highbrow stuff with him, politics, world affairs, philosophy. He read a lot. He didnât make it through college because he broke down and had to leave, but he educated himself.â
âAny record of suicide attempts?â
âNone I could find. I talked to his psychiatrist. He hadnât seen Stratton for a long time, at least a year, because Stratton wouldnât go, even when Constantine sent a car to take him. But he had access to the records in the institution and Stratton never tried to hurt himself. I have to tell you, he had to be encouraged to eat sometimes. Eating wasnât high on his list of priorities.â
âSo he may have just sat down in his chair and read books and not bothered eating,â Jane said, feeling discouraged.
âThis could be one of those cases that looks like what it is, an accidental death.â
âWhatâs your impression of Mrs. Constantine?â Defino asked.
âSheâs an interesting woman. Sheâs as rich as God. You see that apartment? I saw that Picasso, I couldnât catch my breath. She was still married to Constantine when I worked for her, but I only saw him once for a minute. Not the communicative type. I donât know why she bothered to get divorced. She couldâve stayed married to him and not known he was around. Maybe she wanted the money in her bank account, not his.
âI think she grew up protecting this brother from the world. It was like a personal affront when she couldnât save him. She comes across as a tough broad, but I donât think she has a nasty bone in her body except where Constantine was concerned. She also hired me to look into that, whether he had something on the side.â
Defino raised his eyebrows. âAnd?â
âWhat do you think? A guy with that much money has what he wants. Probably didnât mean much to him, just a little diversion like horse racing or baccarat. Although he married a cute little piece of ass after the divorce. It was in the papers. I was out of it by then.â
âSo Mrs. C. kept the art and the apartment and Mr. C. moved on.â
âThere was enough there, no one got cheated. Believe me.â
âWhat youâre telling us is that you believe Stratton died of natural causes, probably brought on by his mental condition,â Jane said. They werenât getting anywhere. They might as well wrap this up.
âYou expect me to say anything else?â
That seemed to do it. They both stood at the same moment. Wally helped Jane on with her coat.
âYou have any specific questions, give me a ring. I know why youâre doing this. The
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley