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she?”
    â€œI’m not a good judge of children’s ages. She could have been eight or ten.”
    â€œDid he ever mention her to you?” Jane asked.
    â€œAs I said, we talked about—”
    â€œYeah, I know,” Defino interrupted. “Music and philosophy. Just answer our questions.”
    â€œNo, he never mentioned the Chinese girl.”
    â€œDid you ever meet Mr. Stratton’s sister?” Jane asked.
    â€œOnce or twice.”
    â€œDid she give you any gifts of money to keep your eye on her brother?”
    â€œNo, she did not.” His pale face had reddened.
    â€œDid she ask you to look out for him?”
    â€œIn a way.”
    â€œIn what way, Mr. Vale?” Jane asked, her own irritation nearing Defino’s.
    â€œIf he seemed ill, I was to call her.”
    â€œThen you had her phone number.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat else?”
    â€œThat’s it. I didn’t see him ill. I never called her.”
    â€œWas she generous at Christmas?”
    He took two long breaths before he answered. “Yes.”
    â€œBut you never knocked on his door when you hadn’t seen him for a month.”
    â€œWhat do you people want? A man died in his apartment. Nobody hurt him; nobody killed him. I was not his keeper just because his sister handed me a Christmas envelope.”
    Defino stood. “OK, Mr. Vale. If you think of anyone else who visited Stratton, you can call us at that number.” He handed Vale his card.
    Vale stood. His face had lost some of its ruddy color. “Can you tell me why you’re asking these questions? Andy died alone in his apartment. What are you looking for?”
    â€œWe’re investigating his death,” Jane said. “There are unanswered questions. Can you show us where his apartment was?”
    â€œAll the apartments have been changed,” Vale said. “I don’t have a key to the one that replaced Andy’s, but I can show you approximately where it was.”
    â€œLet’s do that.”
    Vale left the room and came back wearing a heavy jacket. They followed him outside and up to the street where he pointed to the third floor. “The windows are all new but those on the left are more or less where his were.”
    â€œSo he could see the park from them.”
    â€œYes. And he had his chair set so he faced outside. It made him feel good, he said, to see the trees and the grass and the people walking around.”
    â€œThank you, Mr. Vale,” Jane said. “If we have any other questions, we’ll be back.”

5
    T HEY SAT IN a coffee shop a block away, warming their hands on mugs of coffee.
    â€œYou were in rare form,” Jane said.
    â€œHe ticked me off.”
    â€œNo kidding.”
    â€œSo we find the laundry?”
    â€œIt’s another Five.”
    â€œI love this case,” Defino said bitterly. “It’s another Five and another Five.”
    â€œDrink up.”
    â€œAt least it’ll be hot in the laundry.”
    An old grandmother sat in a corner of the small store, doing nothing except watching what went on. A moment after they entered, a woman one generation younger came from the steamy back to stand behind the counter.
    â€œYou do shirts here?” Jane asked.
    â€œShirts, yes. You got shirts?”
    â€œNot right now but maybe tomorrow. What time do you open?”
    â€œOpen seven. See?” The woman pointed to a schedule hanging on the wall.
    â€œAnd how much are shirts?”
    â€œOne dollar fifteen.”
    â€œThat sounds great. How long does it take to get them back?”
    â€œFour day.”
    â€œIs your daughter here?”
    â€œWha?”
    â€œYour daughter. You have a daughter, don’t you?”
    â€œNo unnerstand.”
    â€œYour daughter doesn’t work here?”
    The old woman in the corner growled a few syllables.
    â€œNo unnerstand. You got shirts?”
    â€œWe’ll be