Jackson shrugged. “It’s hard to shake off my years as a prosecutor.But let me ask you a couple of questions.”
“Okay. I can’t promise to answer them.”
“You’ve basically cleared Park. So I’m asking as your friend. We used to go over shit like this all the time.” They could figure this out if they talked about it. All the pieces were here, they just had to figure out how to put them together. So Jackson said, “It’s reasonable to suggest the killer luredthe victim to Park’s apartment. How did Zoe Haufman come into the building? By herself? You must have seen that on the surveillance video.”
“By herself, yeah.”
“Before or after the unidentified people in the video?”
“Both.” Gavin bristled. “Back off, Jack, this isn’t your investigation.”
He’d hit on a soft spot. Gavin was hiding something crucial. He decided to keep pushing. “Ifthis Tucker guy or the other man Park didn’t know got there before Haufman did, they could have been lying in wait.” Jackson pressed his hands into his desk and decided to try a legal argument. “As defense counsel, I have the right to see anything entered into evidence. The prosecutor plans to enter the tape into evidence, right? So I should be able to see it.”
“Jack, I—”
It wasn’t likeGavin to be so evasive. His lawyer sense told him something was up here. “Is there a problem?”
Gavin grunted. “First of all, I don’t plan to arrest your client. He’s a witness, but you’re right, the evidence all points to someone else being the killer. That means you aren’t technically defense counsel. I don’t have to show you shit.”
A fair point. Jackson had known that well enough, butthought it worth a shot. “Fine. I just thought I could help. Was the doorman at least at his post the whole time? Maybe we can rule out someone stealing his keys as a theory of the crime.”
Gavin hesitated. “Well...”
“What? Was he not at his desk?”
“I don’t know.”
“How can you not know? The front desk is shown on the surveillance footage, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Gavin’s voice caught.
“Was there an issue with the video?”
Gavin grunted again. “Can’t leave this office, Jack.”
“It won’t. Tell me.”
“There are three minutes missing from the video the management company sent us. I suspect they thought we wouldn’t notice. The prosecutor sent a subpoena, but I don’t have the complete video yet.”
Well, fuck. “That three minutes is roughly around the time of the murder,isn’t it?”
“It is, yes. Give or take.”
“Why would they slice that out?”
“If I had to guess,” Gavin said, leaning back in his chair, “they cut something that makes them look bad. Like, if the doorman walked away from the desk or did something he wasn’t supposed to and it got out to the residents of the building? That would make management look bad, right? Then Park could sue the pantsoff the management company.”
“True.”
“God, what a fucking mess this case is.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Jackson wanted to go to the management company and shake them down, but it was best to let the NYPD or the DA’s office deal with it. He tried to turn his attention back on what would actually help his client. “You’re planning to state that you’ve cleared Park of any wrongdoingin the case as part of your statement.”
“Yeah. Well, because on top of everything else, my theory is out the window because Parker Livingston is a goddamn homosexual.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Gavin frowned. “I wish I’d had that piece of information since the beginning.”
