In Death 10 - Witness in Death

frustration and ran her initial background checks at home. Roarke loved his toys, and the computer and communications systems in her home office made the junk at Central look like something out of the second millennium.
    Which it very nearly was.
    Pacing her office with her second cup of coffee, she listened while her computer listed the official details of Areena Mansfield's life.
    Areena Mansfield, born Jane Stoops, eight November, 2018, Wichita, Kansas. Parents, Adalaide Munch and Joseph Stoops, cohabitation union dissolved 2027. One sibling, male, Donald Stoops, bom twelve August, 2022.
    She let it run through education data for form -- all standard stuff as far as Eve could tell right through her enrollment in New York's Institute of Dramatic Arts at the age of fifteen.
    Got the hell out of Kansas first chance, Eve mused, and couldn't blame her. What did people do out there with all that wheat and corn, anyway?
    Areena's professional credits started young. Teen model, a scatter of plays, a brief stint in Hollywood before a return to live theater.
    "Yeah, yeah, blah blah." Eve wandered back to her machine. "Computer, search and list any criminal record, all arrests."
    Working...
    The computer hummed with quiet efficiency. Comparing it to the useless pile of chips she was cursed with at Central made her sneer.
    "Gotta marry a billionaire to get a decent tool these days."
    Search complete...
    Possession of illegals, New Los Angeles, 2040.
    "Now we're talking." Intrigued, Eve sat behind the desk. "Keep going."
    Plea bargain resulted in probation with standard obligatory rehabilitation. Obligation satisfied at Keith Richards Memorial Rehabilitation Center, New Los Angeles.
    Consumption of illegals with secondary charges of indecent exposure, New York City, 2044. Second rehabilitation ordered and satisfied, New Life Clinic, New York City.
    No further criminal activities noted in subject file.
    "That's good enough. What was her drug of choice?"
    Working... File indicates Ecstasy / Zoner combination in both counts.
    "That'll get you off, won't it?"
    Please rephrase query.
    "Never mind. Search and list cohabitation and/or marriage data."
    Working... Formal cohabitation license issued in New Los Angeles for Areena Mansfield and Broderic Peters from June 2048 to April 2049, union mutually dissolved. Marriage license issued in London, England, for Areena Mansfield and Lawrence Baristol September 2053. Divorce petitioned, Mansfield v. Baristol January 2057, unopposed and granted. No children resulted from marriage or cohabitation unions.
    "Okay. Search and list any professional credits in productions that involved Richard Draco."
    Working... Off-Broadway production of drama Broken Wings, from May through October 2038. Subject and Draco, Richard, in secondary roles through run of play. Small-screen video production, Die for Love, starring subject and Draco, Richard, taped New Los Angeles, 2040. Video production, New York, Check Mate, starring subject and Draco, February 2044. London Arts production of drama, Twice Owned, starring subject and Draco, Richard, from February 2054 through June of that year.
    "Interesting timing," Eve murmured, reaching over idly to scratch the ears of the plump cat that leaped onto her desk. As Galahad made himself comfortable directly in front of the computer screen, Eve watched Roarke stroll in through the door connecting their personal offices.
    "You didn't mention Areena had an illegals habit."
    "Had being the operative word. Is it relevant?"
    "Everything's relevant. Are you sure her affection for illegals is past tense?"
    "To my knowledge, she's been clean more than a dozen years." When he sat on the edge of the desk, Galahad slithered over to bump his head against Roarke's long-fingered hand. "Don't you believe in rehabilitation, Lieutenant?"
    "I married you, didn't I?"
    Because it made him grin, she angled her head. "You also didn't mention that she and Draco were in some productions together over the years."
    "You didn't ask."
    "The timing of two of their acting connections coincide down the line with her illegals convictions."
    "Ah. Hmmm." Roarke sent Galahad into feline ecstasy with one slim finger over fur.
    "How tight were they, Roarke?"
    "They may have been involved. Gossip ran that way during their last project together in London. I didn't meet Areena until a few years ago when she was married and living in London. And I never saw her and Richard together until we were casting this