She was a dumpling

She was a dumpling, her hair an unconvincing red, her cheeks heavily rouged. Her billowy print dress flowing. Her smile was guarded, and something about her stance suggested she was keeping close to whatever device she could use to summon help.

I said I had a few questions about what had happened upstairs.

She said, "You a cop?" and her face relaxed for a moment, then tightened. "You're not a cop," she said, with such certainty she had me convinced.

----"Hope to Die", Lawrence Block