“My team spent the bulk of today going through surveillancevideo from Livingston’s building.” Gavin sounded as exhausted as Jackson felt.
“And?”
“And between my team and the doorman, we were able to identify all but four people. I’d like to bring Livingston in tomorrow to see if he knows any of them.”
“That may not be possible.”
“What?” Gavin frowned. “You said he’d cooperate.”
“He absolutely will. But the campaign has him holed upin that hotel. I can’t underplay how insane the press circus has gotten. They’re like hyenas, Gav. Coming and going from that hotel is one of the most nerve-racking things I’ve ever experienced.”
“I’m not going to him. Enough media people know who I am that if I walk into the hotel, rumors are going to start swirling about me making an arrest.”
“All right. I’ll talk to the bodyguards andsee what I can do.”
“I’m also going to need the campaign to produce the staffer who called in the crime.”
“Sure. I don’t think he’s staying at the hotel, but someone knows where he is. That campaign is a tight ship.”
Dan had told Jackson that, at some point during the night of the fund-raiser, it became clear that Park had left part of the text of his speech in his luggage from theBuffalo trip, so Martha had sent an intern back to the apartment to grab it. When the intern took more than ten minutes, Park quickly scribbled what he could remember on a napkin and improvised. Apparently, the intern had been the one to discover the body and called in the crime. Jackson hadn’t met the intern; he wasn’t considered essential enough to put up in the hotel. But Jackson had no doubtMartha could make him appear with the snap of her fingers.
“Is that all?” Jackson asked. “It seems not worth the trip to tell me that in person.”
“I was in the neighborhood and figured you’d still be working.”
Reed appeared at the door and said, “Oh, hey, Gavin.”
It seemed far-fetched to think Gavin might have come to the office on the off chance he’d run into Reed, but the waythey looked at each other gave Jackson pause. Then he shook his head and pushed the idea aside, because there was no way Gavin and Reed were hooking up on the sly. Reed was straight, for one thing, not to mention happily married. Well, maybe not happily; Reed and his wife had been arguing a lot lately, to hear Reed tell it, though he’d been cagey about the details. But none of that mattered to Park’scase, so Jackson pushed it aside.
At Reed’s prompting, Jackson told Gavin about the substitute doorman and the keys.
“Reasonable doubt,” Gavin said, “sure, but no more evidence of Livingston’s innocence than anything else. One of the unidentified people on the tape could be a campaign staffer, for example.”
“He’s not involved.” Jackson hadn’t meant to snap, but he wanted Gavin to workwith him here, not against him. “Is it not equally as plausible that someone looking to make trouble for Park set up a meeting between himself and Zoe Haufman at Park’s apartment?”
“Sure, it’s possible.” Gavin crossed his arms over his chest. “Anything is possible.”
“I’m with Jack on this one,” said Reed. “Livingston may be a sleaze ball, but I don’t think he’s a murderer.”
“Is ‘sleazeball’ a legal term?” asked Gavin.
“That is the technical term, yes.”
At least Reed’s joking around had defused the tension. “As fun as it is watching you two flirt with each other, I have work to do, so if there’s nothing else?”
Gavin stood. “Call me in the morning so we can set up a time to get Livingston down to the precinct house to look at some photos. As early in the day tomorrowas possible, please. I’d try to get him in tonight, but I know you need some time to deal with security, and also I spent all day getting yelled at by city employees, so I’d like to just go home and forget about this case for a few hours.”
“I’ll do what I can. No promises.”
“Thanks, Jack.” Gavin rolled his shoulders. “I don’t want it to be Livingston, for your sake if nothing else, butif it walks like a duck...”
Jackson didn’t want to get into it again. He shook his head. “I’ll bring him in tomorrow morning. You can ask all the questions you want then. He didn’t do this. Which means the real killer is still out there somewhere.”
Gavin pressed his hand into the door frame. “I’m doing everything I can.” The strain in his voice made Jackson believe him.
“I can’t imaginethe pressure you’re under,” Jackson said.
“I appreciate your help.” Gavin rubbed his forehead. “Right now, I just want to take a Xanax and pass out.”
