Murder in Alphabet City by Lee Harris Page A

I didn’t see people go up to apartments. And I don’t remember any dark-haired women.”
    â€œDoes the name Bee-Bee ring a bell?” Jane asked.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWe think she may have been living with Stratton.” She left it open.
    â€œCould be. He never mentioned it.”
    â€œGive it some thought,” Jane said, making it sound like an order. She didn’t like him any more than Defino did.
    â€œI’ll do that, Detective. Are we done?”
    â€œFor now,” Defino said. Everything that came out of Defino’s mouth sounded like a warning.
    MacHovec had called the psychiatrist. “He’ll see you at noon tomorrow but don’t expect much. Stratton saw him once or twice and never came back. It’s so long ago, he had to dig out the file to figure out who I was talking about.”
    â€œIt’s a Five,” Defino said.
    â€œYou sound like a broken record.”
    â€œI feel like one.”
    MacHovec passed the sheet with the name and address on it to Jane. “He’ll be eating his lunch.”
    â€œSean, take a look through the names of the tenants and see if there’s a woman whose name could be Bee-Bee.”
    â€œI’ve got them all here. No one’s name even starts with
B.
”
    â€œMaybe someone they interviewed in the park.” She turned pages in the file till she came to those interviews. “There was a Barbara, but she had two children, not a likely girlfriend.”
    â€œYou really think a guy like that had a girlfriend?”
    â€œShe was in the apartment. The Chinese girl saw her. Whoever she was, she had some kind of relationship with Stratton.”
    â€œMaybe she was Social Services.”
    She didn’t think so, but it gave Sean something to do. Bee-Bee, she thought. BiBi. B.B. She picked up her phone and dialed Mrs. Constantine’s number.
    â€œHello,” she said, as though she were expecting a call.
    â€œMrs. Constantine, this is Detective Jane Bauer.”
    â€œDetective Bauer, yes. Do you have something for me?”
    â€œI have a question. We think your brother may have had a woman friend whose first name was Bee-Bee. Does that ring a bell?”
    â€œBee-Bee. No, I can’t say it does. What do you mean by a woman friend?”
    â€œShe was sometimes in the apartment with your brother. During the day.”
    â€œHm.”
    â€œShe had dark hair and often wore beads.”
    â€œThe little beads. Were the beads hers?” A hint of excitement crossed the wire.
    â€œWe don’t know.”
    â€œBee-Bee. Dark hair.”
    â€œWe’re going to get a sketch on Friday. Maybe that will help. I just wondered if the name meant anything to you.”
    â€œNothing, I’m afraid. But I’m glad to hear you’ve learned something new.”
    â€œI’ll call when we have a sketch.”
    Defino was looking at her. Jane shook her head. “I’m thinking she may have been a groupie in the park or in one of the buildings they were tearing down. She may have liked the idea of taking care of a man who couldn’t quite take care of himself.”
    â€œHappens.”
    â€œAnd after he died, she decided to grow up, give up the love beads, and have an establishment life.”
    â€œLet’s hope the picture helps.”
    â€œYou sound as if you’re starting to believe.”
    â€œI’ll believe when it’s a fact.” He sat down at the typewriter and started banging out his Fives.
    MacHovec set up an appointment for Friday afternoon with the artist, who agreed to meet Rose in the Nine. Jane called Rose’s private phone and left a message on the machine. It was such a long shot, that an eighteen-year-old could remember a face she had seen as a ten-year-old, it hardly seemed worth it, but it was all they had. Maybe this bright young woman had a photographic memory that would activate someone else’s imagination.
    Jane went through the