„Maybe robbery plays in after all.“

„Did you hear that voice?“ Peabody sent a cautious look over her shoulder. „It sounded, you know, unearthly.“

„Funny, sounded computer-generated to me. But maybe that’s because I know ghosts don’t make ‘link transmissions, or shoot guns. Because – and this may be news to you, Peabody – ghosts don’t exist.“

Peabody only shook her head, sagely. „Oh yeah? Tell that to my great-aunt Josie who died eight years ago and came back half a dozen times to nag my great-uncle Phil about fixing the leaky toilet in the powder room. She left him alone after he called the plumber.“

„And how much does your great-uncle Phil drink?“

„Oh, come on. People see ghosts all the time.“

„That’s because people, by and large, are whacked. Let’s work the case, Peabody. It wasn’t a ghostly finger that pulled the trigger here. Or lured the vic to an empty building in the middle of the night. Let’s do a run. Spouse, family, beneficiaries, business partners, friends, enemies. And let’s keep it to the corporeal.“

Eve re-examined the body, wondering if he’d brought whateverit was. „They can bag and tag. Start checking doors and windows. Let’s find out how the killer got out of the building. I’ll have another talk with the first on scene.“

„You want me to stay in here? To wander around in here. Alone?“

„Are you kidding?“ One look at Peabody ’s face told Eve her partner was absolutely serious. „Well, for God’s sake. You take the first on scene. I’ll take the building.“

„Better plan. You want crime scene in now, and the body transported?“

„Get it done.“

Eve took a visual sweep on the main floor. Maybe it had been a hot spot in the last century, but now it was derelict. She could see where some of the work had begun. Portions of the grimy walls had been stripped away to their bones to reveal the old, and certainly out-of-code, electrical wiring. Portable lights and heating units were set up, as well as stacks of materials in what seemed to be tidy and organized piles.