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“Fine with me.”
“I’d like to know why you left it with the keys in and the door open. Were you drinking? If so, that’s a violation of your parole conditions.”
“No,” I lied, remembering that the bartender had said today was his day off, so they probably hadn’t been able to ask him.
“Then why did you leave the car?”
My father interjected, “You don’t know he was the one who left it. You’re making an assumption.”
“I’m only asking.” Detective Willoughby produced my keys from his pocket and held them up. “These were in the ignition. We went to TJ’s house this afternoon, but he wasn’t home. We tried a key in his front door. It fit.”
My mouth went dry.
My father replied, “I hope you didn’t enter without a warrant.”
“We didn’t.” Detective Willoughby pursed his lips. “But the fact that TJ’s keys were in the ignition suggests he was the driver.”
Suddenly my mother came forward, waving her manicured hand. “Oh my goodness, if you must know, I was driving.”
What?
Detective Willoughby turned to her. “Youwere? Why did you leave the car?”
My mother laughed lightly. “I ate at Ellen’s, but I don’t see so well at night anymore. I hate to admit it, it’s an age thing, you know.Anyway, I called Paul and he came to pick me up. I must have left the keys in the car and the door open. Silly me.” She snatched the keys from Detective Willoughby’s hand. “Thank you.”
“Why didn’t you go back for the car today, Ms. Devlin?”
“I haven’t had a chance yet. We’ve been working to get back up and running for tomorrow morning. Any progress on who burglarized us?”
“We’re on it. We’ll keep you posted.”
My mother went to the door and opened it wide. “Detectives, I’d appreciate it if you would prioritize protecting our business over harassing our son. Now, please, let us get back to work.”
Detectives Willoughby and Balleu followed her to the door. “Thank you for your time.”
“You’re welcome,” my mother said, letting them out and closing the door behind them.
I clammed up while the detectives were within earshot, wondering what had come over my parents. I had never seen a couple work so smoothly together, like the Astaire and Rogers of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
“Thanks, Mom, Dad,” I said, grateful. “I did drink, that’s why I left the car, but that’s all over now. Believe me, it will never ever happen again. I know you’ve heard that before, but now isn’t the time to convince you. I’ll show you from now on, and you’ll know.”
My mother shot me a stern look. “I backed you only because it sounded like you didn’t drive.”
My father brushed past me, his gaze averted. “Let’s get back to work.”
•••
We worked together in the conference room for the next several hours, my father and Sabrina at the head of the table, my mother andAndre on one side, and Gabby and Martin on the other. Everyone had his laptop, and in the middle of the table were twelve accordion files that contained Runstan’s legal matters in chronological order, spanning my father’s and my brother’s time as their lawyers.
Everybody worked on their assignments, and I circulated among them, seeing if they were learning anything and trying to put it together. We ate bad pizza and drank worse coffee. My mother took breaks to call John but he didn’t call back.
I knew my father was worried, but he reviewed the Runstan files quietly. I continued to worry about John, too, and at the same time sensed that nobody was learning anything new in the files.
My investigation was failing.
•••
Sabrina sighed. “Well, TJ, I’ve gone through my calendar for the past year and I made a list of every time John told me where he’s going. Here it is.” She pushed forward a list of dates and times, which covered only a single page.
