Chapter Five
Jackson quickly assessed that a picture of Dan Abraham belonged next to “sleazy lawyer” in the dictionary. He embodied the sort of slimy stereotype that made the whole profession look bad. His knowledge of campaign law and his skill at spinning the truth must have been the only reasons Park kept him around.
Ray Shultz, Park’s other lawyer, seemed to mean well, but wasdefinitely out of his depth regarding the homicide investigation.
“So what’s our strategy?” Ray asked an hour into the meeting.
Jackson had a headache. They’d been talking in circles for most of the meeting. They sat in one of the hotel’s conference rooms, which had the benefit of being a fair distance from every other part of the hotel, so it was quiet and it felt like they had privacy.Dee or Dum—Jackson wasn’t sure which was which—had done a sweep for bugs before they were allowed to sit down, which seemed extreme, but Jackson went along with it.
“We’re releasing a statement,” said Dan. “We are not doing a press conference, because we don’t want to open ourselves up to questions we can’t answer. But we’ll release a statement to the press. We assert Park’s innocence andhis desire to find the real killer. Then we announce we’re suspending the campaign until further notice, out of respect for the victim—”
“Zoe,” said Ray.
“Right, Zoe,” said Dan. “We’re suspending the campaign out of respect for Zoe and her grieving family, and so that the campaign does not distract from the official investigation. In the interest of full disclosure, we also include thatPark has hired Mr. Kane to his team, but that he intends to cooperate fully with the authorities. Is that it?”
“A statement,” said Ray. “That’s our whole strategy?”
“I put together plans for what we do in the event of a number of different outcomes,” Jackson said. “We do our own investigating and mount a defense as if we expect the worst, but unless some evidence surfaces that I’m notaware of, I can’t see the police arresting Park.” He glanced at Park.
“I can’t think of anything,” said Park. “I told you everything I know.”
Jackson nodded. “We’ll need to wait for the medical examiner’s report, but I’m pretty sure it will tell us the time of death occurred at the same time three-hundred people saw Park at the fund-raiser, so he’s got a solid alibi. We start with that.”
They were interrupted then by a short Latina woman carrying a huge cardboard box. “Sorry I’m late. The line at the deli was epic.”
“Martha, this is Jackson Kane,” Park said, gesturing toward Jackson. “Jack, this is Martha Galvez, my campaign manager.”
They shook hands. Jackson tried to determine if they’d ever met. Probably not; she was pretty, with shoulder-length brown hair and ascar through her right eyebrow, something distinctive enough he would have remembered. “Nice to meet you.”
Martha gave Jackson a long look, eyeing him from head to toe. “Likewise.” She turned back to the box and started pulling hero sandwiches wrapped in white deli paper out of it. “There’s a mix of stuff here. Turkey, ham, some kind of vegetarian bullshit for Dan, meatball...”
“Do allof your meetings involve food?” Jackson asked.
Martha looked at him with a blank expression. “When else would we eat?”
“Fair point.”
“What’d I miss?” asked Martha.
Park filled her in on what had been decided so far, with Dan piping in to volunteer to write the statement.
“No,” said Martha. “Sam will do it. Where is he?”
“Sam?” asked Jackson.
“Director of Communications,”said Martha.
“Speech writer,” said Park. “Or, you know, whenever a news story reports that a spokesperson from the Livingston campaign said something, Sam probably said it.”
“Interesting operation you have here,” said Jackson.
Martha whipped out her phone and dialed.
Sam McGuire, it turned out, had been trapped in the lobby by some members of the press who had gotten past security.Martha sent Dee or Dum to retrieve him. When he arrived, looking harried, Martha said, “Why were you outside?”
“Because I have to go outside to get between here and my apartment?” Sam said. He was blond and young, twenty-seven or twenty-eight at the outside.
Martha turned to Dan. “Why isn’t he staying at the hotel?”
