Kate pulled herself out of the final turn into a perfect stand still as the music reached the final crashing crescendo and was gulping in air as the pounding at her door could finally be heard in the following silence.
She pushed a button on the mp3 player to keep it from moving on to the next song as she padded across the floor. She grabbed a bottle of water and a towel from the small table next to the door as she pulled her ear buds out. She took a drink and ran the towel across her face as she opened the door.
The sudden movement startled the rather young looking cop on the other side and his hand came forward and he stopped it in mid air before he knocked on her face.
She raised a brow, "Can I help you?" Kate was used to fans, but hadn't really had a problem with it since moving in here, part of the appeal of coming to a place that wasn't exactly a blip on the radar, but wasn't New York or Hollywood or the like.
"Yes, um, we're investigating a homicide that took place below you. Did you happen to hear or see anything unusual in the last twenty four hours?"
Kate's brow arched, "This whole place is strange, but no, nothing out of the ordinary that I can recall."
The officer scribbled something in his note book and looked back up at her, "Do you happen to know who lives in 6A and 6B, we were told they were occupied, but no one answered when we knocked."
Pounded is more like.
She smiled pleasantly, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I live there."
The officer looked confused and looked across and down the hall, "In which one?"
"Both of them," she stated baldly.
He looked her up and down and glanced behind her at the empty space and looked even more confused.
She shrugged a little and answered without prompting, "I knew people who know the owner and they are remodeling it for me into one single space." 6A was a glorified closet with a toilet and small kitchen, 6B was a living room, and three bed rooms, with a kitchen sink, but no bathroom, it baffled her, but it was all turning into one medium sized apartment for her now. She shrugged, "But we're getting off topic here, you said you were investigating a homicide?"
A look of recognition came to his face now but he tried to hide it and instead blinked rapidly and looked down at his notes flipping through them, "Umm, yes, Mr. Henry Olsen in apartment 5A was found dead, we have reason to believe it wasn't of natural causes. Can you tell me specifically what you were doing last night between the hours of 12 and 4 am?"
Kate's brow furrowed. She'd had several conversations with Henry on the elevator or when she was picking up her mail or ran into him in the lobby. While he wasn't anything extraordinary from what she'd observed, he seemed a descent fellow and she couldn't think of a reason anyone would want to kill him.
She shook her head, "Why don't we go over to my apartment, " she started walking out the door and he moved oddly away from her as she did so and shut the door. Walking across the hall to her living space and opening 6B, all while she talked, "I hope it wasn't Hillary that found him, poor girl." She shook her head at the thought and then came back around to his question, "I was at the Cat's Eye until half past twelve, listening to the pianist. I got home at about a quarter to one, then went to bed."
She had let him follow her in and gone over to the half plastic covered kitchen and opened the fridge and got out a bottle of juice.
"Can anyone verify that?"
Kate turned around, "Well, the bartender probably, I sat at the far end near the stage. When I got back I passed someone in the lobby on my way up, but I've only been here a few weeks and I couldn't tell you if they were a tenant or a visitor, so that won't help, and I sleep alone."
He was busy scribbling in his note book again and looked at her, "Again, did you hear or see anything unusual after you got home? Your... apartments are situated above the victims, anything really, will help."
Kate leaned lazily against the counter and went up and down on her toes a few times stretching out her legs to keep them warm so she could go back to C in a few minutes when this was all done. She thought about it.
"I don't know that it is unusual as Henry seemed to be a night owl and I often heard him doing something, probably the TV on some nights, but last night it sounded like he was rearranging his furniture, I'm not sure what time, but it was loud enough it woke me up but I was able to go back to sleep."
The cop made more scribbles and then flipped the notebook shut, "Thank you Miss Molloy, if you think of anything else, please give us a call." He dropped a card on an end table in her living room where he had walked into and stayed.
She knew she hadn't given him her name, and that he really had recognized her from something. She just hoped he kept his mouth shut about it.
She nodded, "Sure thing Officer." He started walking toward the door and then stopped and tapped his little note book he was holding against his opposite fingers and seemed to have an internal debate. She'd seen it before and started walking toward him with her hand out stretched. "Who do you want me to make it out to?"
She saw his face redden as he flipped it to the back and handed it over with his pen, "Chris if you wouldn't mind."
It didn't really matter if she did mind since she was already scribbling something out for him. She handed it back with a smile. She didn't hate scribbling her name for people, but she didn't really want to be bothered right now either. "I'll make sure and call if anything else comes to mind."
It was a subtle dismissal and he nodded, tipping his hat and going back out in the hall to presumably harass anyone else on the floor.
She waited a few moments and then walked out, closing the 6B door and going back over to C. Once she was back in though she couldn't bring herself to finish her morning work-out. She'd been up since just after five and was now wondering if coming here was a good idea.
Her uncle somehow knew someone that knew the owners or he knew them or something and had helped arrange her here. She'd been touring and going non-stop for what felt like forever and the inevitable exhaustion had caught up with her. She wasn't a super star, her fame was still on the small side since she preferred to tour with the dance company than do all the other stuff her agent wanted her to, but it was enough to wear on her when she was spotted with an "A lister" at a club a few months ago.
She just wanted some space, no she needed some space, she wasn't sure she wanted the life she had trained so hard for anymore and so with a few calls from her mother to her uncle and some frustrating conversations with her agent, here she was.
She took a few minutes to stretch out and throw some sweat pants and a loose top on over her leotard, and slipped out of her point shoes into some slippers before she headed down stairs. She didn't know many of the people in the building, but she'd met Henry's daughter once and figured the least she could do if the girl was here, was to give her her condolences.