“Oh, hi, Gretchen!” Mathilda sounded thrilled to hear from her.
After enduring a little chitchat, Gretchen had finally gotten to the point.
“This is going to sound like an odd question, but could you tell me what kind of street art Luke does? A friend’s daughter is interested in learning more.”
“Graffiti!” Mathilda said, not bothering to hide her disdain. “Spray-painting, to be more accurate—can you imagine? But believe it or not, a gallery just reached out about selling some of his ‘work.’ Apparently, there’s actually a market for that kind of thing.”
All signs now pointed to Becks as the person who had destroyed Frankie’s studio. And then there was Luke, who would have happily encouraged mayhem for the sake of mayhem. But what if it hadn’t stopped at Frankie’s studio? What if Becks had been upset enough to go to Frankie’s apartment and confront her?
Thatwas why Gretchen still needed to talk to Noah. Maybe he knew the name of the ex-boyfriend who had been stalking Frankie. She didn’t care who it was. She just needed a suspect other than her son.
“Thank you,” Gretchen said to Hilary, staring at her friend. Her best friend. She took a sip of her drink, willing herself to go on. “Hilary…did you sleep with Richard?”
Hilary spat out a mouthful of mezcal onto her impractical white shag carpet. Then she barked out a laugh as she sat up. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Her shock seemed genuine. Still, Gretchen did not feel as relieved as she had hoped she would be. “Richard’s secretary, Deborah—she said you were at Goldman. That you wanted to confront him about something.”
Hilary closed her eyes for a long time, far too long.
“I know you think she walks on water, but that woman is a judgy bitch,” she said finally. “I knew the second I spoke to her that she’d make it her mission to snitch.”
“Snitch?”
“Okay, fine. Not the point.” Hilary waved a hand, erasing the word. “Scotty told me that Frankie came to him for some legal advice a week or so ago. She said someone was harassing her. But shealsosaid that she and Richard had been seeing each other.Scotty made me promise not to say anything to you.” She took a sip of her drink. “So I went there to tell Richard to go fuck himself.”
“Oh.” Gretchen felt…nothing. She was completely numb. What a fool she had been. Had everyone known but her?
“Hey, I’m sorry,” Hilary said quietly, grabbing Gretchen’s hand and squeezing it. Gretchen could see the gesture, even if she couldn’t feel it. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I could have ignored Scotty. And I was going to. I told him if he didn’t make Richard tell you, that I would. And then…she was dead.”
Grand Jury Transcript
Testimony of Noah King
Conducted by Abigail Hoffman, Assistant District Attorney
November 27
(Cont.)
Q. Okay, so what was your understanding of the connection between Mr. Falk and Ms. Callahan?
A. That it was exactly that—a connection. There was no relationship.
Q. What do you know about the events that took place late at night on September 10th and in the early-morning hours of September 11th?
A. On the advice of counsel, I plead the Fifth Amendment on the grounds that anything I say might incriminate me.
Q. Do you know what happened in Frankie’s apartment that night?
A. On the advice of counsel, I plead the Fifth Amendment on the grounds that anything I say might incriminate me.
Q. Do you know who was in the apartment that night?
A. On the advice of counsel, I plead the Fifth Amendment on the grounds that anything I say might incriminate me.
Q. Do you know, Mr. King, where Ms. Callahan is now?
A. On the advice of counsel, I plead the Fifth Amendment on the grounds that anything I say might incriminate me.
