“I hope you can see,” Regina said, “I’m not coming from a place of judgment, just curiosity about how it worked. Like, how frequently did Adam have these flings?”
Olivia blew out air. “Every few months, I guess.”
“Did he go out and meet people, did he connect with them online?”
“I mean. Both, probably? I don’t know. I wasn’t sitting there, helping him swipe.”
“Did you ever meet any of these individuals?”
“Of course not,” Olivia said. “That’s weird. Why would I want to meet them?”
“I can imagine some people might feel better, knowing who their partner was with.”
“Not me.”
“Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
“Yeah.”
“Did he only meet with men, or was it women, too?”
“I wouldn’t... Men.”
“That was a rule.”
“We didn’t need a rule. Look,” Olivia said, “you’re still not getting it.”
“I’m trying to.”
“Yeah, well, if you did, you wouldn’t be asking these kinds of questions.”
“Bear with me, please, a little bit longer.”
Olivia sighed impatiently. “Yeah, okay.”
“We met with Detective Kinney,” Regina said. “He showed us CCTV footage from Adam’s parking garage, taken Saturday evening. In it, Adam’s hauling what looks like an equipment case.”
“He had a bunch of those for his cameras and stuff. I told the cops, he didn’t have it with him when he showed up at my place.”
“Any idea what happened to it?”
“No.”
“Can you think of a reason why he’d have a camera on him?”
“I mean, he was a cameraman, it was part of his job.”
“He wasn’t going to a job the next day, though.”
“I guess.”
“You said that you and Adam had sex that night.”
“...yeah.”
“Did you make a movie?”
A beat.
“Excuse me?” Olivia said.
“Did you film yourselves having sex?”
“I... No. You really just asked me that.”
“I’m trying to understand as best I can.”
“We didn’t make a movie. And this” — louder, steely — “is making me pretty uncomfortable.”
“I’m sorry. But is it possible that he made a movie with someone else?”
“Oh my God. Seriously?”
“Olivia, I’m—”
“You did not just seriously ask me that.”
“I’m having trouble wrapping my head around the camera case — why Adam brought it with him, where it went.”
“If I thought he was with someone, don’t you think I would’ve told that to the police?”
“You didn’t tell them about the arrangement to begin with.”
“Yeah,” Olivia said, “because it didn’t matter. He wasn’t meeting anyone. He would have told me, okay? Now can we please be done? Please?”
“One final thing and then we’ll wrap it up,” Regina said.
“Oh my God... Whatever.”
“I wanted to return to something you said last time. I asked what you thought when Adam wasn’t in his apartment. You said you suspected he was with another woman.”
“...okay?”
“Do you remember saying that?”
“Not really.”
“I can play you the recording.”
“No, I... If you say so.”
“What made you think that?”
“I mean. I don’t remember saying it, so I don’t know.”
“You see where I’m coming from,” Regina said. “Your arrangement allowed him to have sexual contact with men, not women.”
“When you put it that way it sounds like a business agreement.”
“Based on what you’re telling me, in your position, I would sooner imagine he was with a man. But you said you were worried about a woman.”
“Yeah, but... That’s not what I meant.”
“Okay. What did you mean?”
“I just... I don’t know. I don’t know, okay? I wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe I felt insecure. I don’t know any women who aren’t insecure about that.”
“Sure. You also told us that Adam hadn’t given you a reason to be suspicious.”
“He didn’t.”
“Does it seem possible?”
“Does what seem possible?”
“He was meeting with a woman, but he didn’t inform you,” Regina said. “That could be one reason he had a camera with him.”
“No. No. I need to stop, please. My head is killing me.”
“I have some Motrin in my purse, if you’d like.”
“No, it’s — I’ll be okay. Let’s just drop this.”
“Sure,” Regina said. “Would you be open to talking again?”
Silence.
The audio continued to run as Regina picked up the recorder. Good habit, in case the subject took a parting shot.
Two sets of footsteps, the squeak of a hinge.
“Feel better,” Regina said.
A door closed.
Still the file ran. I heard feet walking up a driveway; heard the double beep of a car unlocked, the grunt as Regina climbed behind the wheel, a clunk as she set the recorder in the cupholder.
“Fuck a duck,” she said.
Chapter 17
I called her. “Kickass work.”
“But of course.” Background hiss; she was driving. “You believe that?”
“I couldn’t see her. Did you believe it?”
“Yes and no. I’m listening to her go on, how this cute little deal worked for them, she feels no jealousy, au contraire, she’s happy that he’s happy. And you know, in person, it really did look like she’s convinced herself it’s the truth. Then I bring up other women and boom. Not happy.”
“How unhappy?”
“Hell hath no fury,” she said. “As to where that leads us, who knows? What’ve you been up to?”
I recapped my interview with Trevor.
“Dammit,” she said. “I wish I’d spoken to you first, could’ve brought him up with her. All right. What do you want to do?”
“Deep dive on Miss Olivia. Try her again once she’s cooled off.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“You sure? You’ve done a lot with her.”
“Yeah, which is why I’ll take care of it.”
“Okay. We should probably check in with Rick and Liz, too.”
“That,” she said, “I’m gonna let you field.”
On Wednesday I drove to Los Altos. This time it was Rick Valois who saw me into the living room. Liz hovered by the fireplace, darning her fingers. Nobody offered me a drink.
We sat.
“I’ll be sending you my written summary later today,” I said. “I wanted to talk in person first, so we could go through it together and you can ask questions.”
Liz said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I opened my laptop. “I’ll start with the coroner’s report. I spoke to the lead investigator and reviewed the file. In my view, they’re correct: At present, the physical evidence alone isn’t strong enough to support a homicide ruling.”
Rick’s expression curdled instantly. “That’s not what the independent lab said.”
“I understand that, Professor. But they’re not bound by the same legal categories, and other than a single, ambiguous statement in the conclusion, the autopsy findings themselves are identical. To overturn an official ruling we’d need ironclad proof. We don’t have that. Not even close.”
“So what? You’re done?”
“Let him speak, please,” Liz said.
“If that’s what he thinks, fine,” Rick said. “Let’s cut the crap and move on.”
“May I?” I said.
He waved assent.
“Thank you,” I said. “None of this is to say Adam’s death wasn’t a homicide. There are questions worth asking. But any contrary evidence we have, at least right now, is flimsy at best.”