Read In Death 07 - Holiday in Death for Free Online Page B

hair in snaking, flame-colored ropes approached with a small crystal bottle.
    "Keep that thing away from me," Eve ordered.
    "I'd like some." Obligingly, Peabody tilted back her head so the droid could spritz some perfume on her throat.
    "It's called Do Me," the droid purred. "Wear it, and prepare to be ravished."
    "Hmm." Peabody angled her head toward Eve. "What do you think?"
    Eve took one sniff, shook her head. "It's not you."
    "Could be me," Peabody muttered, trudging after her.
    "Let's try to keep our focus here." Eve took Peabody's arm as her aide paused at a cosmetic counter where a woman was being painted with sparkling gold from the neck up. "Let's hit the men's department, see if we can find out who waited on Hawley day before yesterday. She used credit so they'd have her address."
    "I could finish up my Christmas shopping in about twenty minutes."
    "Finish it?" Eve turned back as they stepped on the people guide going up.
    "Sure, I've only got a couple of little things left." Peabody pursed her lips, then bit the inside of her cheek to hold back the grin. "Haven't started yet, have you?"
    "I've been thinking about it."
    "What are you getting Roarke?"
    "I've been thinking about it," Eve said again and jammed her hands in her pockets.
    "They've got great clothes here." Peabody nodded toward the display droids as they turned left on the glide toward Men's Casual Wear.
    "He's got a closet the size of Maine full of clothes already."
    "Have you ever bought him any?"
    Eve felt her shoulders hunch defensively and straightened her spine. "I'm not his mother."
    Peabody paused by a droid modeling a dull silver silk shirt and black leather trousers. "He'd look good in this." She fingered the sleeve. "Of course, Roarke would look good in anything." She wiggled her brows at Eve. "Guys really love having a woman buy them clothes."
    "I don't know how to buy clothes for somebody else. I barely know how to buy them for myself." When she caught herself trying to imagine Roarke's face and body in place of the droid's, she hissed out a breath. "And we're not here to shop."
    Scowling, she strode straight to the first checkout counter, then slapped her badge on it under the nose of the clerk.
    He cleared his throat and tossed his long black hair over his shoulder. "Is there something I can do for you, Officer?"
    "Lieutenant. You had a customer a couple of days ago, Marianna Hawley. I want to know who waited on her."
    "I'm sure I can check on that for you." His eyes, a trendy gold, shifted right, then left. "Lieutenant, would you mind putting your identification away, and perhaps, uh, buttoning your jacket over your weapon. I believe our customers would be more at ease."
    Saying nothing, Eve jammed her shield back in her pocket, then hitched her jacket over her side arm.
    "Hawley," he said, obviously relieved. "Would you know if her transactions were made with cash, credit, or store accounts?"
    "Credits. She bought two men's shirts -- one silk, one cotton -- a cashmere sweater and jacket."
    "Yes." He stopped running the scan on his register. "I remember. I waited on her myself. An attractive brunette of about thirty. She was selecting gifts for her partner. Ah..." He closed his eyes. "Shirts in fifteen and a half, thirty-one-inch sleeves. Sweater and jacket, forty-two chest."
    "Good memory," Eve commented.
    "It's my job," he said, opening his eyes to smile. "Remembering customers, their tastes and needs. Ms. Hawley had excellent taste, and the foresight to bring along a wallet hologram of her young man so that we could program a color chart for him."
    "Did she deal with anyone but you?"
    "Not in this department. I gave her my full time and attention."
    "You have her address on record?"
    "Yes, of course. As I recall I offered to have her purchases sent, but she said she wanted to take them with her. She laughed and said that it added to the fun. She enjoyed her shopping experience very much." His eyes clouded. "Does she have a