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Terri chatted more with the nurse while I wandered away to figure this out. Of course, I’d have to get a warrant to see the exact days Jaden was in the hospital. But the story sounded legit.
Chapter73
IT HURT TObe knocked back to square one on the investigation. I’d been confident one of the Banning brothers was a good suspect. Now I felt like we were struggling to stay afloat. That didn’t mean I could just give up. I had to confirm what the nurse had told us.
I located the head of security for the hospital. She was a pleasant woman who had retired as a captain from the Newark Police Department. She assigned a young man to help me search through the video surveillance of the hospital from the beginning of the month. She didn’t even make me tell her what I was looking for. It was perfect. I didn’t have to worry about anyone saying something to the Bannings later.
It didn’t take long to find Kyle Banning. I was even able to figure out what room Jaden had stayed in from the video. And I saw Kyle often enough to establish that he hadn’t left the hospital at night to murder Estella Abreu. He’d arrived every night at about seven, presumably after work.
After I texted Terri an update about the security footage, I left the hospital and got back on Amsterdam Avenue, driving slowly and scanning both sides of the street. I didn’t see the bullies again.
I pulled up to Holy Name and found Seamus outside, directing some workers as they planted new shrubs. His face lit up when he saw me.
“Michael, my boy. What are you doing here this time of day? Lately, I only see you around here after the boys get beat up.”
I had to chuckle at that. I told him about seeing the bullies on my way to an urgent interview. As always, he made me feel better about my decision.
My grandfather said, “I find myself taking my midday walk off the church grounds, just hoping to catch a glimpse of the bullies. It’s a problem, to be sure. But the world is full of problems. You’re one of the few people I know trying to solve them.”
I nodded, feeling better already.
“Sometimes you forget how important your job is. You’re trying to catch people who havekilledother people. In the big scheme of things, some punk kids harassing the boys isn’t that big of a deal. You need to show your profession more respect.”
Seamus turned to admire the shrubs as they were settled into the ground. Then he looked back at me and said, “Was your interview fruitful?”
“Not really. I had to eliminate my two best suspects from the case.”
“How can avoiding arresting the wrong person not be fruitful? It sounds like you hit a home run.”
Just looking at it from a different perspective made me feel better.
My grandfather continued: “I’m going to keep taking my walks in the neighborhood. Those boys have to live around here somewhere. None of us had ever seen those bullies until this foolishness started, but why would they travel to bully someone? There are plenty of targets all over the city. I wouldn’t worry about it, Michael. These things tend to work out. We’ll either catch the bullies or they’ll get tired of hanging out near the church. The boys won’t have any problem.”
Talking to my grandfather usually cheered me up. This was starting to feel like a full-on pep talk. And it was working.
Chapter74
BY EVENING, Ibarely had any energy left as I trudged through the lobby of our building, giving a weak wave to the doorman. In my left hand, I carried three giant bags: the family dinner. I’d picked up three buckets of fried chicken with enough sides to satisfy a small army. Which is essentially what we fed every night.
Food and my family revived me to a degree. Everyone’s schedule had been hectic. We all chatted about our day. I left out most of what I’d done. Except that I’d visited my grandfather at the church.
Mary Catherine also skimped on details about her day. I knew she’d taken one of the prescriptions her fertility doctor had written. It had knocked the stuffing out of her. She put on a brave front for the children, but I was worried, although she seemed back to her old self once we finished eating.
I waited till the younger kids were in bed and the older kids were all doing their own thing. I even let the boys play a video game so they didn’t care if I was around or not. Then I did something I almost never do at home: I worked on my case.
I sat at the small desk in our bedroom and looked through all the information Walter Jackson had sent me. He had come up with half a dozen more names. He’d also taken the time to attach criminal histories, work histories, and anything else he thought might give me an insight for each interview. Name after name seemed similar. All relatively wealthy young men who had decent jobs. None of them had any criminal history. There was nothing that pointed to one name more than another.
Until I reached the name Thomas Sloan. He was the veterinarian Walter had been unimpressed by. More importantly, Walter had found two incidents in which the NYPD had been called to Dr. Sloan’s house. Both times on suspicion of domestic abuse.
That caught my attention. My personal belief is that someone who can commit domestic violence can commit any kind of violence. It isn’t something I’d bring up in court, but it influences me when I interview people.
The next document Walter had sent me via email made me freeze in place. Dr. Sloan’s son, Lewis, had attended the Wolfson Academy. What were the chances of that? Slim enough for me to put Thomas Sloan as my first appointment in the morning.
It looked like he had a veterinary clinic here on the Upper West Side. I immediately texted Terri Hernandez and told her I had a possible suspect. She agreed to meet me in the morning a block away from the veterinary clinic.
I tried not to be obvious, shutting down my computer when Mary Catherine walked in the room.
She laughed. “You don’t think I know you’re working on a case? I never set down the rule that you couldn’t.”
