Rick paused for dramatic effect as Janet sat forward in her chair, her eyes widening. He couldn’t help it, he just loved being the center of attention. It was a flaw, but one he was in no hurry to change. “According to the officers that responded to the 911 call, our victim, Kevin Barclay is in critical condition at the hospital, but not only was the assailant seen by the guy’s girlfriend, but she was also spotted by the landlady who was coming up the stairs to check out the disturbance. Annnnd, guess who has an active restraining order filed by his estranged wife, Gwendolyn Barclay?”
Snapping forward, Janet snagged her notebook and started scanning the page. “I didn’t get too many last names at that support group, but there was definitely a Gwen. She was one of the ones who chose to share last night.” Nodding absently, she stood up and started gathering items off her desk in preparation to leave. “If thisisrelated to our case, that means we’ve either missed potential victims between the Emery and Duncan murders or our killer has stepped up their timetable.”
The landlady was easy enough to track down, still in her housecoat and slippers when she cracked open her door with a glare and only allowed them entrance once she had thoroughly examined their badges. “I don’t allow no roughhousing in my building.” The woman said sternly as she ushered Rick and Janet into her small, tightly-packed living room. “The tenants know that, so I was on my way up the stairs to give 2C a talking to when this woman nearly knocks me down the damn stairs in her rush.”
The landlady, Mrs. Edson sat heavily in an overstuffed recliner and let out a disgruntled huff. “Next thing I know, I got police officers barging into my building.” Glaring from Rick to Janet, she continued, “My neighbors are a bunch of busy-bodies, you know. Lights flashing all over the place to wake the neighborhood,” she complained with a wave of her hand. “Now everyone’s going to be up in my business thinking something shady is going on under my roof.”
Janet offered the woman her best smile of understanding and attempted to steer the conversation back on topic. “Could you describe the woman you saw?”
Mrs. Edson shrugged. “Didn’t see much of her, she ran by me so fast. She was wearing one of those sweatshirts with the hood pulled up. Black.”
Rick raised a brow. “The woman was African-American?”
Mrs. Edson snorted. “The sweatshirt, dummy.”
Rick’s face turned red, but Janet jumped in before he could let loose with his temper and possibly offend their witness into mutinous silence. “Did you notice anything else? Height? Body type? Hair or eye color? Was she young, old? Anything?”
“She was white as far as I could tell, young, but then everyone looks young to me these days, thin, little bit of blonde hair flying out the side of the hood as she took off. Didn’t really notice the height except she was about as tall as me, maybe a little taller. That’s all I can tell you.”
“And it was definitely a woman?”
Mrs. Edson frowned. “Smelled like a woman. She was wearing perfume but not enough to give me a headache.” She eyed the two detectives with distaste. “All these women nowadays seem to think they need to go around smelling like a whore house, gives me the damn migraines.”
Janet and Rick both stood before Mrs. Edson could launch into another complaint and Janet extracted a card to hand to the landlady. “Thank you for your help. If you remember anything more, please give us a call.”
As soon as they were back out on the street, Rick ran a hand over his thinning crown and then smoothed his mustache before he blew out a frustrated breath. “How many blondes at that support group last night?”
“Three.” Pressing the button on the key fob to unlock the unmarked cruiser, Janet frowned. “But the assailant may have been wearing a wig.”
Rick settled into the passenger seat with a grunt. “At least we know we’re looking for a woman.”
Janet nodded and pulled the vehicle away from the curb. “Hopefully the girlfriend can give us something more.”
