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Chapter 64
As soon asBeth Banks had turned the corner of the aisle, her brother looked at me. He lowered his voice and had a conciliatory tone. “I appreciate your loyalty to Emily. I knew her since she graduated from Quantico. She meant a lot to me.”
“Thank you, Justice Steinberg. But it still makes me wonder about a lot of things.”
“Like what?”
“Like what would a guy like you do to keep Emily from talking to your wife?”
He just stared at me. Then his mouth dropped open a little. Finally, I had struck a nerve with someone in this damn case.
It was almost a full ten seconds before he regained his senses. “Is that it? You think I’m worried Rhea would find out about me and Emily? Have you been operating on that assumption from the beginning?”
I said, “In your long legal career, you never saw a man take drastic steps to keep his wife from finding out about a girlfriend?”
“I know the theory. I agree that it happens. Much more frequently than is reported. But I think you should’ve spent a little more time digging into my relationship with Emily. Or maybe, more accurately, Emily’s relationship with my wife and me.”
Now it was my turn to stare silently. Eventually I said, “I’m not sure I’m following you. Your wife knew all about Emily?”
He gave me a little laugh. “Knew about her! They spent a lot of time together. I’m not sure I even saw Emily alone. My wife and Emily were close. They’d share a cigar once in a while. More important, we always considered our relationships private. As in it’s no one’s business but ours. I wish you would consider it the same way.”
I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I unleashed a verbal haymaker. “What about the relationship you had with Michelle Luna? Should that be considered private too? Or the fact that two different women who were friendly with a powerful man are now dead? What are the chances that both women who were close to you end up dead by strangulation?”
I had to wait. The mention of Michelle Luna had affected the justice. He was visibly emotional for a moment. Then he focused back on me. “As far as I know, Michelle and Emily never met each other. They were actually quite opposite. Michelle was on the wild side and also reckless. She had her own demons.”
“Is that what choked her to death in Baltimore? A demon? Or did Emily smoke one too many cigars?”
“Now you’re just trying to be cruel. Saying something like that doesn’t further your investigation. All that does is play on my emotions.”
I didn’t care if I hurt his feelings. When this was over and I had found Emily’s killer, if it wasn’t him, I’d apologize. Until then he could kiss my ass.
Justice Steinberg held up his hand and said, “We’re not getting anywhere. I hope someone finds Emily’s killer. I really do. I also hope you go back to New York City soon.”
Then I found myself alone and surrounded by toilet parts.
