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“I wasn’t feeling well after dinner and went to bed early. I woke up with the mother of all migraines and felt groggy and off. I took some painkillers, waited half an hour for them to kick in, and headed to work.”
“Could someone have drugged you?” Ryan asked, eyes sharp and analytical.
“Possibly.” A flicker of distress crossed Roman’s features. “You’re thinking they could’ve slipped something into my food or drink at Gianni’s?”
If someone had gotten to Roman’s food or drink… It meant they were close, intimate with his routines. A shiver ran down Caleb’s spine as the realization hit him with the force of a punch.
“Perhaps.” Ryan tapped his pen on his notebook. “If you eat there regularly and often on Friday night, as you said, it would’ve been easy for them to set something up. Can you remember if you went to the restroom at any point? Or left your table unattended for another reason?”
Roman frowned. “I got a call from a local number, but it was a bad connection, so I stepped outside for a moment. The call was disconnected, and since I was having dinner, I figured I’d call back later.”
“Did you?”
“No. Forgot all about it until now.”
“Can you check your call log for that night? See if you can find the number?”
“Sure.” Roman flipped through his phone, scrolling back to the correct date. “It must’ve been this one ‘cause that was right about the time I would’ve been at Gianni’s.” He rattled off the number, and Alex wrote it down.
“It probably won’t lead anywhere, but just in case the FBI gets access to the phone records. They may be able to determine where the call was made from,” Ryan said.
“You drive a BMW, right?” Caleb asked.
“Yeah, an X1. I’ve only had it for a few months.”
“BMWs have a pretty sophisticated on-board computer.” Caleb tapped his finger against his chin. “I wonder if I’d be able to get any information about the route that night. Mind if I give it a try?”
“You can hack into my BMW?” Roman’s eyes were big.
Caleb grinned. “I wouldn’t call it hacking. It’s not hard when you know where to look and how to access it.”
“It’s all hacking to me, but knock yourself out.”
“Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can find any streetcars or businesses with security cameras in that area. Maybe one of the cameras caught something,” Alex said.
“Speaking of the FBI,” Caleb said. “Do you know what evidence they collected? Did they request metadata and network logs from your cell phone provider for the stuff you supposedly sent your secretary, for example?”
Roman dragged a hand over his face. “I don’t know, to be honest. I’m not in the business of questioning the FBI about their methods, so when they told me they couldn’t find out who did it, I took that as the gospel truth. In hindsight, I should’ve been a little more insistent.”
Caleb instinctively reached out, unable to stand the distress in Roman’s voice, and patted the man’s knee. “You didn’t have reason to suspect they weren’t honest with you.”
“Maybe, but I should’ve been more careful. I knew Whitman had a long reach.”
Ryan cocked his head. “Are we thinking he may have bribed FBI agents?”
Roman gave a helpless shrug. “I don’t know, but I can’t rule it out. It’s hard for me to stay objective after all this. I feel I’m only a few steps away from full-blown paranoia.”
Alex raised one eyebrow at Caleb. Oh shit, he still had his hand on Roman’s knee. He hadn’t even realized it until Alex’s curious stare. Caleb ignored the heat creeping up his cheeks as he quickly withdrew his hand. Funny how he had no issue being fucked in public, yet this made him feel self-conscious for some stupid reason. Why was that? He had nothing to be embarrassed about.
“I think that’s also a result of the gaslighting,” Ryan said. “Which proves how effective that shit is.”
“Is there a way to get an idea of what the FBI has done to investigate?” Alex asked.
“I’m sure it wouldn’t raise suspicion if I called the special agent in charge and asked him about it. It’s about time for an update anyway, so I’ll throw that in as an offhand question.”
“Sounds good,” Ryan said. “And I’d be happy to be in the room to suggest questions to ask him if you prefer.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m worried about the confidentiality of the case.”
