“What time did you go out, speak to her?”
“I don’t know exactly. She goes out earlier. Mostly I don’t head down until later. Maybe, this time of year, close to ten? I don’t know. It’s not a time thing, it’s a hit thing. How many customers you log in a night.”
“Did you see or speak to her once you were on the stroll?” Peabody asked Traci.
“Not really. Not after the first little while. I mean, you have to workit, and if you all stick too close, it makes it harder to score a job. But I guess I did see her talking to a guy. You said clean, well-dressed? Like that.”
“Can you describe him?”
“Not really except he looked, from the back, like that. Clean, nice clothes. That was when this carload of assholes cruised up, and one’s hanging out the window, and he’s yelling how I should give him a freebie because he’s got such a big cock.”
She rolled her teary eyes. “I yelled back how if it’s so big I’d have to charge him extra, so instead of getting pissed off or nasty, he laughed. Oh, and that’s after Shy Guy came up. I saw him before the car pulled up.”
“You didn’t see Chablis after that?”
“I didn’t. I didn’t think about it. Sometimes we take a break together, or walk back home together. Sometimes not. So I didn’t think about it.”
“So, somewhere around ten you saw her with someone?”
“Yeah, if Marty came on at about ten, I guess it wouldn’t have been much after. Maybe like ten-thirty, but it wasn’t that long after.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“Can you tell us what happened to her?”
“He offered her money to pose for him. For a painting. He’ll say he’s an artist, and he’ll pay you to come with him to his studio so he can paint you. A lot of money. That’s what we believe. If anyone approaches you like that, don’t go. Get the word out on this.”
“Be damn sure of that,” Marty said.
“You’ve got a screen there,” Eve said as she rose. “Do you ever listen to media reports?”
“Not really.”
“Who has time?” Marty added.
“Make time.”
“Um, just one thing,” Traci said as Eve and Peabody walked to the door. “Chablis, see, she has family in Kansas.”
“Yes. We’ll notify them this morning.”
“It’s just that…” Traci exchanged a look with Marty. “They think she works in, um, retail. She said it was just easier that way. Maybe you don’t have to tell them she didn’t.”
“We can’t lie to them. If questions about how she earned a living don’t come up, they don’t come up. If they do, we have to stick to the facts.”
“Did she have a good relationship with her family?” Peabody asked.
“She really did. She went back every year for Christmas. And she talked to them every couple weeks for sure.”
“Then I think, if we have to tell them, it won’t matter how she made her living. What will matter to them is she’s gone.”
“They’ll want to bring her back out there.” Marty shrugged, but Eve saw tears glaze her eyes. “Maybe you could let us know where to send flowers.”
“Chablis liked flowers.” Traci gripped Marty’s hand. “Can you do that? Can you tell us?”
“Yeah, we can do that. We’re sorry for your loss.”
When they went out, Peabody glanced back. “Looks like Chablis had a kind of family here, too.”
