Bone Box. Faye Kellerman
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through the file. “The address is in Manhattan.”
“Chelsea.”
Decker looked up. “Does he still live there?”
“Last I checked he did. Short, chubby guy. Pettigrew was tall and lanky. Odd couple. But then again who am I to talk. My wife is three inches taller than me. No great feat, but there you have it.”
“If it isn’t Pettigrew, I don’t want to put the spouse through emotional trauma.” Decker checked his watch. “But if the remains are Pettigrew’s, I’ll have to come back.” He looked at Breck. “You have Lawrence’s dental records on your computer?”
“I do.”
“Could you please forward them to my police department captain? He can take them over to the morgue first thing tomorrow, and if he gets an initial match, we’ll confirm with the original X-rays when I get back upstate.”
McAdams said, “You want to stay in town for the night.”
Decker said, “If that’s okay with you.”
“It’s fine with me. You want to bunk out at Nina’s house?”
McAdams’s step-grandmother. She owned a huge co-op on Park. “I think Rina would rather stay with the kids even though it means sleeping on a pull-out couch or, even worse, an air mattress. She’d probably like to be there when Lily wakes up.” He turned to Breck. “Our granddaughter.”
“Don’t have any of those. Don’t even have any married children although that doesn’t stop people from having kids these days. If there’s nothing else, give me the e-mail of your station house computer and I’ll send in the X-rays on file.”
“I’d really appreciate it.” Decker gave him Captain Mike Radar’s e-mail address and then his card. “If you should think of anything else, please call.”
Breck gave Decker his card. “Likewise.”
“Thanks for your time. You’ve been very helpful, Mr. Breck.”
“Jimmy.”
“Pete,” Decker said, pointing to himself.
“I’m Tyler.” McAdams handed him his card. “But people don’t usually call me Tyler.”
“What do they usually call you?”
McAdams smiled. “People call me lots of things. Most of the names aren’t fit for polite company.”
“Helpful guy.” Decker started up the motor.
McAdams shuffled through the pages. “Big file. My nighttime reading. Where are we going?”
“Let me give Rina a call.”
“Do you want me to drive while you talk?”
“No, just hang on a sec. It’ll be a quick conversation. Do you mind staying overnight?”
“I’ve got my toothbrush and jammies in Nina’s co-op. What’s the plan?”
“Interviewing in the city tomorrow. I’d like to get it done as long as we’re here.” Sammy picked up the phone. “Hey, son.”
“Hi. How are you?”
“Fine. You sound tired.”
“Not too bad. At least I’m not working as late as you are. Are you picking up Eema, now?”
“Actually I’d like to stay the night if that’s possible.”
“Of course it’s possible. It’s great. Eema will be happy. I’ll pull out the couch. I’ve got an extra air mattress, too. You should be okay although your feet might stick out.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine. Is Eema there?”
“Of course.”
Rina got on the phone. “So we’re spending the night?”
“Okay with you?”
“Do I really have to answer that? Where’s Tyler staying?”
“At his grandmother’s apartment in Manhattan.”
“Nice place.”
“It is. I might be there very late, Rina. I want to do some reading and it’s easier for us to spread out at the co-op.”
“Why don’t you just spend the night there? A sofa mattress won’t do your back any good.”
“My back is fine. Besides, I want to see Lily.”
“Peter, it isn’t a social visit. You can see Lily when you come to pick me up tomorrow. Go get some rest. A sofa bed is fine for me. It’s even fine for you if I’m not there. It’s not good for the both of us.”
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Positive. This is the rule: you can sleep wherever you want, just not with whomever you want. You stick to that and we’ll both be fine.”
The next morning at nine, just as Decker got off his cell phone, McAdams walked into his step-grandmother Nina’s eat-in kitchen—a caterer’s space that held the most up-to-date appliances, rare wood cabinets, and countertops of concrete and stainless steel. Nina didn’t cook but there was a housekeeper who made morning coffee and had set out china, silverware, and linen napkins. The table had fresh-squeezed juice, iced water, toast, croissants, pastries, and jam and butter.
“I see Esther has put out the spread.”
“A lovely woman,” Decker said.
“Nina only gets the best.” McAdams poured himself coffee and nabbed a piece of wheat toast from the basket. He took a nibble on the dry bread. “What’s up?”
“That was Mike Radar. We’ve got a tentative match.”
“Really?”
“You sound surprised.”
“Yeah, a little. We pull out this random set of bones from the ground. And by asking a few questions to the right people, we identify the remains. It just seemed like a long shot.”
“It’s called being a detective.”
“Well, I can’t argue with success. Poor Lawrence … Lorraine. Are we going back to Staten Island?”
“We’ll tell Joanne Pettigrew today, but if Pettigrew was legally married, our first obligation is to the spouse.”
“Who is usually the primary suspect.”
“Yes. Keep that in mind.”
“Are we sure they were legally married?”
“I thought of that as well. I’ll check with records. Even if Pettigrew wasn’t legally married to Osterfeld, I’ll want to talk to her. See what she can tell me about the day Lawrence disappeared.”
“Actually, Lawrence is the she and Osterfeld is the he.”
“Yes. Right.”
“Do we tell Osterfeld about the match?”
“We only have a preliminary match. I’d hate to tell Osterfeld and be wrong. I’ll have to think about how I want to handle this. The most recent address I have is in Queens. Astoria. Not far from James Breck.” Decker sipped his coffee. “Ready when you are.”
“Just let me wolf down some breakfast.”
“Take your time.”
“Thanks.” Tyler buttered his toast. “How many people on the list that Breck gave us?”
“About