Page 194 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Jury-rigged

“You may have a point there. Rommel’s alleged activities that night
again are linked to his health.” Labelle flipped through my notes,
back to the first murder and forward again. “He said he was
convinced a long session in a Turkish bath would sweat the illness
out of him. An all-night establishment near the Orthodox church
supplied the venue. He checked in about nine p.m., put his clothes in
a locker, wrapped himself in a towel and joined a half-dozen or so
other like-minded individuals in the steam room. He wedged himself
against a corner on the bench so he could lean back and relax, letting
the others fuss with the steam regulator and eucalyptus branches. A
masseur was supposed to show up at ten but did not, leading to a lot
of grumbling and a couple of defections. Three men, none
acquainted with Rommel, remained in there with him the rest of the
night, each leaving only for a few minutes at a time.”
“Do you have photostats of their driver’s licenses?”
“What? Sure. I’ve got them in another folder here.” I quickly
ransacked my files, aware she might get up to help if it took more
than five seconds. “Yes, here they are. We verified the names and
addresses in order to take a closer look at any link they might have to
the Simulians or their interests. They are all over sixty, respectable
enough in their own communities: a delicatessen counterman, a
retired meter reader, a salesman in a discount men’s clothing store.”
She looked up from the copies. “And all requiring corrective lenses
to operate a motor vehicle. Did you examine the steam room?”
“Yes. I get your drift, Lieutenant. If these guys are myopic, and the
place was perpetually filled with vapor, then how could they be sure it
was always Rommel coming back from the toilet?”
“I’m waiting.”
Very funny. How can you answer your own question until it’s been
asked? But she really was waiting, as if for a slow-witted child to
count to ten.
“The tattoo.”
“Oh?”
So she didn’t know about it: ha! “Yes, of course; Rommel has a
skull surmounting a hammer and sickle emblazoned on his chest.
None of the other Simulians do, nor, I would bet, does anyone else in
this city. Each of the witnesses independently mentioned that tattoo

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