Papa Jack Chapter 71
"Hey, Bro! I've got something!" Ryan exclaims.
"More about counterfeit knives?" Esposito asks skeptically.
"Yeah, but more about knives being a lousy investment. This guy went big on Chef's Edge because his broker told him to. Then, he read an interview with Eric Donnelly about a book he was writing. Chef's Edge came up as a target for counterfeiters. But he was a day late putting in a sell order on his stock, and it tanked. He lost a bundle. After that, he not only dropped his broker but her whole firm. Guess who his broker was?"
"Melissa Jergen," Ryan's partner offers.
"Exactly," Ryan responds, "And there is a whole string of comments here from other investors who dropped Melissa, her firm, or both."
"Stockbrokers work on commission, don't they?" Esposito queries. Ryan nods. "Then Melissa would have lost a bunch of money," Esposito realizes.
"Right, and her bosses wouldn't have been too happy with her either," Ryan assumes. "Donnelly's interview would have been poison to her career. We need to bring her in."
"Yeah," Esposito agrees. "Let's go pick her up."
"This is ridiculous!" Melissa Jergen declares. "Why would I kill Eric Donnelly?"
Palms braced on the table in Interrogation, Esposito looms over the suspect. "Because an interview he did cost you money – a lot of it."
"It also cost you and your firm clients," Ryan adds. "Donnelly put everything you count on at risk – all over some stupid knives. So you made the punishment fit the crime. You took one of his Chef's Edge knives – a real one – and stabbed him in his guilty heart. Then you left his apartment and took the murder weapon with you."
Melissa shakes her head. "And when exactly was I supposed to have done all this? I told you that I had to be at work during my usual running time with Eric. I had to use my keycard to get into the building. My entrance would have been recorded. My sign-on to the network would have been timestamped, too, as would my browsing history and trades. The company can track all of that to make sure the staff is working, not hanging out in the breakroom or jacking off somewhere. You can check. There's no way I could have been anywhere near Eric's apartment the morning he was killed. And for your information, a lot of people lost money with Chef's Edge, not just my clients."
"Like who?" Esposito demands.
"For one, Lorna Charles."
"Ms. Charles is on video driving away from the park after running with Donnelly," Esposito retorts.
"She could circle the park in a few minutes and drive back to Eric's apartment," Jergen counters. "She could have told him she'd thought of something that didn't come up in their conversation while they were running. He was always curious about things like that and would have let her in."
"Or you could have left your computer on while you were logged in and gone and killed him," Esposito accuses.
"Except that I couldn't have," Jergen retorts, "because the automatic power-saving feature would have put it to sleep. It does that on all the traders' computers to keep the overhead low. I also wouldn't have had any queries or trades recorded while I was gone, and I assure you, I queried and traded all morning."
"We will check that," Esposito declares.
"Fine," Melissa agrees. "You do that. And while you're at it, check if Lorna Charles was anywhere near Eric Donnelly's apartment the morning he was killed."
"The building has no doorman or cameras," Esposito argues.
"But Chic Sporters, the boutique across the street, has an outdoor camera," Melissa returns. "I get some of my running clothes there, and the manager told me that after she caught a shoplifter stuffing running shorts down her pants, the store put in full coverage cameras inside and out. That way, if someone makes it out the door with stolen merchandise, they can at least see in what direction the thief goes."
"What kind of sportswear does the boutique sell that's worth that much effort to steal?" Ryan asks.
"For one," Melissa replies, "Lululemon. The company went public in 1998, raising over 300 million on 18 million shares. Their clothes aren't my style, but they sell like crazy. Anyway, check Chic Sporters' video. Eric's killer could be on it. And if you have any more questions, I want a lawyer," Jergen announces.
"Just sit tight, Ms. Jergen," Ryan advises. "If what you told us checks out, you won't have to spring for a lawyer."
"But if it doesn't, you better find a good one," Esposito warns.
"Hey," Ryan calls to Esposito. "I just got off the phone with the manager at Chic Sporters. She checked the outside video for the time around when Donnelly was killed. She said Melissa Jergen isn't on it. But another woman she doesn't recognize is. She's sending the video over now. I'll have Wong put it on the big screen in Tech so we can get a good look."
Esposito squints at Tech's high-resolution monitor. "Look at that woman in running clothes headed for Donnelly's building. It's hard to make out her face, but from the height, weight, and hair color, she looks like…."
"Lorna Charles," Ryan fills in.
Kate groans as her phone rings in the middle of playing her recording of the latest episode of Temptation Lane. She picks up the receiver to hear Ryan's voice at the other end of the line. "Beckett, I know you can't participate, but I'm doing an interview you might want to watch. And Castle might want to see it too. He's really into this case."
"When are you doing it?" Kate asks.
"Soon. The suspect – she doesn't know she's a suspect – is on her way in now."
"All right," Kate agrees. "I'll call Castle and meet you at the precinct."
Richard brings in a high stool from the break room for Kate to sit on at the one-way mirror in Observation. He stands beside her, gazing into Interrogation One.
Smiling and carrying a file folder, Ryan drops into a chair opposite Lorna Charles. "Ms. Charles, thank you for coming in. Can I get you a bottle of water or something?"
Lorna shakes her head. "I don't drink bottled water anymore. BPA. Just tell me what you want to know."
"I'm sorry, but we're still trying to get the timeline straight on Eric Donnelly's death," Ryan apologizes. "Now, you told us that you drove home from the park, and he was going to jog to his apartment, which was in the opposite direction. Is that right?"
"Yes."
"And around what time was that?"
"The sun was coming up, so that would have made it a little before eight."
"And you went straight home?" Ryan asks, still smiling.
"Yes."
"And you were there for the rest of the day?"
"Yes."
"Then," Ryan says, pulling a shiny print of a screen capture out of his file and holding it up, "why was there video of you going to Eric Donnelly's apartment at 8:30?"
"This is not me!" Lorna insists, grabbing the print.
"No?" Ryan queries, taking the paper back by one edge. "When we check your prints against the ones CSU found in Eric's apartment, we'll see."
Whistling, Ryan leaves the room.