Chapter Eleven

"Small Miracles"

Every kind of meat popular for breakfast was on my plate when I met Ami in the kitchen.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I went a little overboard," she explained while setting a plate of hot biscuits in front of me as well. "I like to cook and I don't get a chance to very often."

"You shouldn't have gone to all this trouble," I gently admonished her as I took a seat. There was bacon, sausage links, patties, and even steak, biscuits, eggs, and gravy: Enough for a small army! I'd eat as much as I could, but the soreness in my back had diminished my appetite.

She smiled sweetly and sat down with a steaming mug. "Honestly, it was no trouble. I told you I grew up in the country. We raised chickens and had our own garden. My sister and I even raised a pig once."

From the looks of her, I would have never guessed. "You are full of surprises," I glibly commented. "All right, Miss Corn Queen, I'll do my best."

Half an hour later, I leaned back in my seat and groaned. I was just about to explode and couldn't take another bite. Ami said she'd enjoyed watching me eat but hadn't touched a morsel. Mr. Alpati's models adhere to strict diet restrictions, she informed me. All she'd enjoyed was coffee.

I gingerly stood and stretched a little before clearing the table out of habit.

"We can come back and do this later. I want to help you with your investigation."

Her eagerness was revealed in her tone, as well as the sparkle in her eye.

"Very well," I told her, wiping my mouth one last time with a cloth napkin. "Let's start in the living room."

Ami followed me to where Sadie had been found and I began speaking my thoughts out loud. Even if she hadn't been present, I would've done so. It's how I work.

"She was lying face down, with her head in this direction," I began, visualizing the scene as I described it. "Which could mean that someone snuck up from behind without her realizing it."

"Not with those mirrors on the wall," Ami pointed out.

I glanced up to where she had indicated. Indeed, there were several wide strips of silver etched mirrors hanging on the wall above the media console.

"Good point," I mentioned, physically drawing Ami to the exact location of Sadie's body. "Stand here and look in that direction," I told her, pointing her toward the wall of mirrors.

She did so while I crept up behind her. Even though I couldn't see myself in the mirrors from that angle, she definitely could see me.

"What does that mean?" Ami asked me.

Perhaps a significant fact though it was too early to tell for sure. "That most likely, Sadie knew her killer personally. Whether she let them in or they were already here is another story. You didn't hear her scream, did you?"

"No," Ami replied. "And I just remembered something. Whenever Sadie couldn't sleep, she would come in here and listen to music. She always rolled up a towel and put it under my bedroom door to muffle the sound and not disturb me. There was a towel there that evening, so I'm assuming that's what she was doing in here in the middle of the night."

"Was the music playing when you came in?" I asked, needing more details than what she'd already shared.

"No. The turntable was still spinning though."

I wasn't sure if that was an important factor or not.

"What time did you go to bed?" I asked, just to make sure she hadn't left anything else out of her statement to the police.

"Around 11:00," she answered, which matched her original report – something I had gone over thoroughly several times. At least the rest of her story was consistent. "And something woke me up around two a.m."

"Do you remember what exactly?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"I'm not sure," she replied truthfully. "It was a thudding sound and could've been the door shutting or Sadie…"

The memory was still fresh and painful, so I volunteered to finish her statement. "Hitting the floor."

"Right," she quietly agreed. "I sat up in bed and listened and didn't hear anything else. I was curious though and got up, grabbed my robe, came in here…and that's when I found her. I called the police first but remembered seeing your office, so I called Mr. Quinn as well."

And I was thankful she had or I never would have met her.

"Whoever was in here and attacked Sadie, left before you got up," I reasoned. "Tell me this: Does Mr. Alpati have a key to your apartment?"

"Yes," Ami answered, which didn't surprise me all that much. The man definitely liked to be in control. "I think he considers this apartment one of his personal canvases to try out new interior designs. He's always swapping out furniture or changing the paint on the walls, although he usually does all that while we're traveling."

"You mentioned before that he always travels with you, so, he had to hire someone to come in here while you were out of town. Which means he either loaned them his key or had another one made."

"That's a scary thought I've never considered before."

I had more news for her but would wait to say anything until I could prove it. I placed my finger to my lips to silence her and started searching: inside lamps, beneath tabletops, along the edges of the wood trim. Finally, success came when I picked up a rather heavy ashtray on the coffee table. It was made out of some sort of black marble, had four legs on it like a chair, and wasn't flush to the surface. Attached underneath it was exactly what I was looking for: A listening device. For the time being, I removed it and stepped outside to lay it on a patio table. I didn't want to alert Alpati of my discovery. Not just yet.

When I stepped back inside, Ami appeared flushed and concerned. "Is that what I think it is?"

"If you're thinking it's a radio transmitter used to eavesdrop on whoever comes in here, then yes. It's remarkably advanced. Quinn and I don't have anything that compact."

"Why that sonofabitch," she mumbled, her mood rapidly shifting to anger. "You mean to tell me that he's been spying on us this whole time! The nerve of that man!"

"But why?" I pondered out loud. "Why would he think it was necessary to listen to what you girls were talking about?"

"I don't know! Whenever we did talk, it was mostly about work," Ami informed me. "Sometimes we'd sit in here and watch television and gossip about other models, but nothing ever that interesting. When we're not working, we lead relatively boring lives."

I smiled at her choice of words. "For some reason, he thought it was necessary to spy on you two. Either he's paranoid or he's afraid."

"Of what?" Ami asked. "He has more money than he knows what to do with and has men guarding him all the time. What could he possibly be afraid of?"

I studied her for a moment to see if she would come to the same conclusion I was. After a few seconds, a single brow lifted – a sign I was learning that revealed she was thoroughly perturbed.

"He's hiding something," she determined on her own.

"A secret worth committing murder in order to protect," I added. "Perhaps it's time to go get that warrant."

Just as the words left my mouth, her phone rang, causing both of us to jump a little in surprise. Ami answered it and then held the handset out toward me. "It's Mr. Quinn. He says it's urgent."

I listened to what Quinn had to say and then hurried to grab my coat and weapon. Ami was hot on my trail.

"What is it? What did he say?" she was asking me.

On my way out, I answered her. "Mr. Alpati is fleeing. One of our contacts saw him at the airport. He's booked a flight out of the country. Stay here." I demanded.

"But.."

I interrupted her firmly. "This could be dangerous. I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can."

I paused and glanced back at her as soon as I stepped through the door. She was worried. For me. Small miracles occur every day, if only you know how to look for them.

My hand was drawn to her face seemingly of its own accord and I took the time to tenderly caress the soft skin of her cheek with my fingers. Not only did she seem to appreciate my touch, but smiled and leaned into it. My heart leaped for joy but I didn't have time for anything else. I had to get to that airport.