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Sydney Ludkin had indeed taken his daughter’s death very hard. He was a big man with coarse features but he now sat slumped in one of the police vans, sipping from a cup of coffee a kindly officer had brought him, and looking wan and pale. He looked up when we entered the van, and didn’t even seem surprised to see Chase being accompanied by a very pregnant woman and two cats, such was his distress.

“I’m sorry to have to do this at this time, sir,” said Chase as he took a seat across from the man in the back of the van, which had been outfitted with a desk and benches for this exact purpose, “but I would like to ask you a few question if I may. You had arranged to meet Dotty this morning?”

Mr. Ludkin nodded and rubbed his cheek.“She’d asked me to take a look at her heater. It was acting up again, and since the owner couldn’t be bothered, I thought I’d take a look before we called in a professional, which would run into money. I rang the bell and knocked, but when she didn’t answer, I let myself in with the key and… and…” His voice broke and it took a little time to collect himself again. “I… found her.”

“Do you have any idea who might have done this to Dotty, sir?” asked Odelia kindly.

The man shook his head.“No idea whatsoever. Dotty was the sweetest girl. I just don’t get it.”

“The door wasn’t open? Lock forced or anything?” asked Chase.

“No, the door was closed when I arrived.”

“You didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary? No signs of a breakin?”

“No, everything looked fine to me. Dotty keeps her apartment clean. She hates mess.”

“She used to work for a caterer?”

“Still does, as far as I know.”

“We called the caterer, and they told us she stopped working for them ten months ago.”

The man frowned.“Ten months ago? She never said anything about that.”

“As far as you’re aware she was still working there?”

“Yeah, of course. There must be some mistake. When she called me on the phone yesterday she said they were catering some big wedding next weekend and her feet were already hurting just thinking about it.”

“Was she seeing anyone?” asked Odelia. “Boyfriend? Girlfriend?”

“She had a boyfriend. Mitch. Mitch Utz,” he clarified when Chase started jotting down the name. “She’d been seeing Mitch for a while now.” When Chase quirked an inquisitive eyebrow, he said, “Two years now, I think? Something like that. He’s a great fella.”

“One other thing,” said Chase. “One of her neighbors told us she introduced herself as Dotty Berg?”

“Dotty Berg,” the man repeated, clearly puzzled. “But her name isn’t Berg, it’s Ludkin. Dotty Ludkin.”

“No idea where the name Berg could have come from? A nickname, perhaps?”

The man slowly shook his head. Clearly this was a surprise to him.

“Okay, we’ll leave it at that for now,” said Chase, tucking away his notebook and placing a comforting hand on the man’s shoulder. “Is there anyone who can be with you, Mr. Ludkin?”

“Yeah,” he said, still looking pretty stunned. “Yeah, my girlfriend.”

We left Dotty’s dad in the car and returned to the apartment building, where several other police vehicles stood parked, and a small army of neighbors had gathered on the sidewalk to speculate about what was going on.

“Poor guy,” said Dooley as we entered the place. “He looked pretty shattered.”

“Yeah, he did.”

“Must be tough to find your daughter like that. How old do you think she was?”

“You heard Abe. Late twenties, probably.”

“And she didn’t live at home anymore?”

I gave my friend a sideways glance.“What are you driving at, Dooley?”

“No, I was just thinking that she was in her twenties and living alone. Which is probably the ideal situation for any parent, wouldn’t you say?”

“Not so ideal when your only daughter goes and gets herself killed,” I pointed out.

“No, there is of course that,” Dooley admitted. “So maybe there’s a point to be made for kids to keep living at home for as long as possible. At least they won’t be murdered.”

It seemed like a tough choice to make. On the one hand these perpetual guests at the hotel of mom and dad were a nuisance for any pets sharing the premises, on the other hand there is something to be said for keeping your kids safely at home.

Dotty’s neighbor who lived directly below her was an elderly lady named Sybil Garlic, dressed in a floral-pattern housecoat that had seen better days. Her gray hair was done up in curlers from which several strands had escaped and she looked a little annoyed at all the fuss. “I already talked to thepolice,” she informed Chase in truculent tones.

“Just a few more details we’d like to iron out,” Chase said soothingly. “You told my colleagues that you heard a fight upstairs yesterday?”

“Yeah, a big fight. Shouting and stomping and stuff being dragged around. I thought they were going to keep at it all day, but then it suddenly stopped and I heard footsteps on the stairs and then it all became quiet.”

“Did you happen to see who it was that left?”

“No, I didn’t,” said the woman, folding her arms across her chest and giving us a sour look.

“What time would you say?”