Stalked by Allison Brennan Page B

stolen.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI have no idea, but there’s something at the edge of my memory that I’m hoping my notes will jar loose.”
    â€œDo you think Weber’s murder has something to do with a fifteen-year-old crime, and not her research into the Cinderella Strangler?”
    â€œI thought she was killed because of something she had already written, not what she was researching; and with the McMahon files gone, all fingers point to that case as being important. If you can finish reading her books tonight and put together the list of people who may have a reason to kill her, send it to both Madeaux and me, but the McMahon case is the priority.”
    â€œI will.” She’d eat in her room and finish the material before he returned tonight.
    â€œFor the time being, keep this between you and me. I’ll clear it with your supervisor when I get back.”

 
    CHAPTER TWELVE
    New York City
    Rob Banker was seventy and, aside from wrinkles around his mouth and eyes, looked surprisingly fit for being a smoker. He agreed to meet with Tony and Suzanne provided they talk outside where he could light up.
    Suzanne hated cigarette smoke. She’d smoked through high school and college, quitting only when she entered the FBI Academy. Being around cigarettes, even after ten years, always made her crave just one. But one would quickly turn into a pack and she’d be back to her old habits.
    â€œRosie was a good egg,” Rob said. “If I was twenty years younger.” He took a long drag on his Marlboro.
    â€œThis conversation is off-the-record, Banker,” Suzanne said.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause you’re writing articles for the damn paper and I don’t want my questions getting in print.”
    He grinned. “And I don’t want to be decked.”
    Suzanne glared at the reporter. “I’ll bring you to the Bureau and you’ll miss your deadline.”
    â€œFine, off-the-record.” He exhaled, and let out the smoke in a long, angled puff.
    â€œShe had a meeting scheduled with you the night she died,” Suzanne said. She didn’t know for certain that it was Banker, but he’d either confirm or deny.
    â€œShe canceled on me. We were supposed to meet at nine thirty at Gilly’s, the bar where we usually meet.”
    â€œAny specific reason for the meeting?”
    He shrugged. “To talk. Rosemary doesn’t trust a lot of people, but she and I go way back, and she bounced ideas off me. She called Monday morning and said she wanted to talk about the book—”
    â€œThe book she’s writing about the Cinderella Strangler,” Tony said to confirm.
    Rob grinned. “I coined the phrase.”
    Suzanne glared at him. “The victims were suffocated.”
    He shrugged, puffed on his cigarette a couple times, took his time to answer. “I said as much in every article. It’s what sticks. And it gave the story legs, helped get the word out to potential victims to watch out.”
    Suzanne wanted to argue with him, but Tony asked, “Did she tell you why she was canceling?”
    â€œNot really. I wish I’d asked her.” He seemed sincere.
    â€œWhat did she say?”
    â€œOnly that she was checking out a lead on an informant.”
    â€œInformant? Like a criminal informant?”
    â€œNo—she meant someone in law enforcement who was willing to talk off the record.”
    â€œDon’t you call those people sources?”
    â€œUsually, but Rosie had a sense of humor. She liked to call cops informants.”
    â€œSo she was meeting with a cop?”
    â€œNot necessarily—could have been a secretary, a dispatcher, even a janitor, anyone who worked for NYPD, really. Or maybe, because the case was federal, someone in your own house.”
    Suzanne doubted that, but Tony looked like he believed it. “Anything else?” Tony asked. “Did she have any sense that she