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“Sure.” Simon’s head had come up again, as if having Rory there had given him confidence. “Alison. Alison Miller. And Olivia Darlington. They’re Nina’s friends at UVM. Olivia’s parents live in Boston.” His brow furrowed. “Now that I think about it, I think maybe Nina said something about visiting Olivia.”
Officer Reid took a note. Wright raised an eyebrow.
“When did Nina say this?”
Simon grimaced, like he was trying to remember. “I don’t know. It might have been during the breakup conversation, or maybe it was earlier in the day. Sorry. I can’t be sure. I just remember that she said something about it.” Reid was still busily taking notes. Wright kept his eyes on Simon’s face. Rory frowned and took his hands out of his pockets.
“I’m sorry, Detective, but I’m going to have to stop you there. I’m sure you mean well. And I know you have a job to do, but I have to think of my son. I’m sure you understand.”
Wright put his head to one side. “Well, not really. A young woman is missing. Your son’s very recently ex-girlfriend. Right now it seems like he was the last one to see her. I’m asking some basic questions here, Mr. Jordan. Of Simon. Who is an adult.”
“And Simon will be happy to answer them. But not without our lawyer.”
There was silence for a long moment. It felt to me like the entire world had just shifted an inch in the wrong direction. Like everything was suddenly a lot more serious. Like Simon really was in danger.
“Look,” Rory said. “I’m sure Nina’s going to show up. The kids broke up, and she probably didn’t want to come home straight after. That’s very understandable. I’m sure, in a day or so, she’ll come home with her tail between her legs and that will be that.”
“Mr. Jordan—”
Rory held up a hand, cutting Matthew off. “But if the worst-case scenario happened, if something happened to Nina, I don’t want you guys pointing the finger at Simon, because, and I don’t mean any offense here, but you guys don’t exactly have a perfect track record. We all know that innocent people can be targeted. I’m not trying to offend you, Detective. And I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just saying. Our priority is always going to be our son. We just need to make sure that we take care.”
Wright’s face was a mask. “I’m not sure who you mean by ‘you guys,’ Mr. Jordan.”
“Well, I just mean generally. You know. You hear about these things.”
“I feel like it’s always better to be specific. ‘The police’ is a pretty large grouping. I’m not sure that Vermont State Police has ever been accused of targeting innocent persons.”
Rory’s expression didn’t change. Wright did not know my husband. He was not someone you could embarrass or intimidate into rolling over.
“I’m not accusing you or your colleagues of anything, Detective Wright. I’m just saying that we’d like to do things by the book. I’m sure you understand.”
There was a pause during which no one moved.
“So, if you don’t mind...?” Rory took a step back, clearing the path for Wright to stand and leave the room. Wright took the hint.
“Thank you for your time, Simon, Mrs. Jordan. We’ll be in touch if I need anything further.”
“I’ll have our lawyer call the department,” Rory said. “Just so you have his details.”
Rory walked them to the door. Simon and I sat in silence, listening to the footsteps cross the hall, the door opening and closing, and Rory’s heavy tread returning.
“Simon, can you give us the room for a few minutes? I want to talk to your mom.”
I expected Simon to object. He hated being treated like a kid. Always wanted to be part of everything. And I didn’t want him to go. I wanted to talk to him, to reassure him that everything would be okay. But Simon didn’t object. If anything, he seemed glad of the opportunity to make his escape. Rory waited for the door to close behind him before turning to me.
“Jesus, Jamie.”
“I know.”
“You should have called me. You shouldn’t have let that guy in here. You can’t trust cops.”
“What was I supposed to do? Just turn him away at the door?”
“That girl is missing. Maybe she’s partying with friends, but if something really did happen to her, do you want them to try to pin it on our son?” Rory didn’t wait for an answer from me. He took his phone out and placed a call. I listened to him talk to his attorney, Alistair Reynolds, the same man who’d drafted our prenup. Rory explained the situation quickly, asked Alistair to call Matthew Wright, and hung up. He seemed calmer after the call. More confident. He patted my shoulder briefly.
“I’m not trying to give you a hard time. I’m sure you did your best. But you can’t trust these people.”
I nodded. I hadn’t exactly rolled out the red carpet for the cops, but it wasn’t the time to argue.
