Page 57 of One of Us Is Guilty

22

Eddie

Traffic in Manhattan is never as bad as you think it might be. That’s not to say that it’s good. It’s often quicker to walk if you’re foolish enough to go out in rush hour. This was a Thursday, coming up on six, but I was still able to make good progress. A lot of people who worked in the city were still taking two days to work from home. Thursdays and Fridays were much better now than they used to be.

‘You look amazing. Have a great time and be safe,’ I said.

She was touching up her lipstick in the side mirror. I don’t know how it happened, but it seemed to me that very suddenly my kid was becoming a young woman. She wore a navy dress, navy shoes, a pink denim jacket and had her hair tied up.

‘Don’t drink any alcohol, and no drugs,’ said Harry, from the back seat.

‘I’ll bear that in mind, Harry,’ she said.

‘I’ll text you later and make sure you’re okay,’ I said.

‘Dad, I have my cell. Don’t text me. I’ll be fine. If I need you, I’ll call. I promise. See you at midnight,’ she said.

I pulled in outside the hotel. She got out and ran to a group of young girls who had just gotten out of a Humvee and were standing on the sidewalk. I buzzed my window down to give a final warning of no alcohol, and I heard the excited high-pitched screaming thatpassed for a greeting. They were headed for one of their first big parties. That’s the thing about your daughter turning sixteen. Most of her friends were also turning that age too, and there seemed to be a full roster of parties planned. Only a few in the city, though.

I watched her get lost in the crowd. Harry got out of the back of the Mustang, pulled the seat back and sat in the front.

‘She’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘Let’s go get this over with.’

I sighed, pulled out into the traffic and headed over ten blocks to see our client in a different hotel.

The suite that Vanessa occupied had a living area, a double bedroom and a separate dining area. I didn’t get a look at the bathroom, but I guessed it was probably half the size of my whole apartment. It would cost more for one night in this hotel than I paid for my first car.

We set up in the dining area, the prosecution discovery spread out on the table. First, we let her read, then gauged her reaction. There was some surprise, sure, especially at the statement from Geoff Gilbert.

‘He’s lying, you know?’ she said.

‘Okay, so you were never jealous of Molly?’ asked Harry.

‘No, and we never fought. We never had any harsh words . . . For God’s sake, I barely even spoke to her. She was just someone who worked for Patrick – to me, anyway. He’s worried about his job. If Patrick’s campaign gets blown up by this case, he’s out of work. They’re all protecting him.’

I’d decided we had gotten so far down this road wearing our kid gloves. Time to put on thirty-three ounces and start fighting.

‘You’re still lying to us, and that has to stop,’ I said.

She was about to speak, but whatever words were about to be spoken froze on her lips when Harry opened his laptop, swiveled it round so the screen pointed at Vanessa and hit play on the security footage.

She watched in silence. Dispassionate. Cool.

The footage ended.

She leaned back in her chair, stared at us.

Didn’t say a goddamn word.

I laid it out for her.

‘The DA is going to show this video to the jury. He’s going to remind them that you told the police that you’d never been to Molly’s apartment. You lied about this. He’s going to make the case that you either knew, or suspected, that Patrick was sleeping with Molly. That you waited until he left her apartment, then you went inside. And when you left an hour or so later, you had her head in that gym bag.’

Her reply came fast.

‘When I left, she was alive.’

Harry and I looked at each other.