“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Wolfe snapped, clearly unnerved. “No, we weren’t getting it on.”
“Funny.” Jerry picked at a loose thread on his khaki slacks. “That’s not what your e-mails would suggest.”
“What e-mails?”
“The e-mails you’ve exchanged with Dr. Tao over the past few months. Three months, to be exact. Isn’t that how long the affair lasted?”
Wolfe stiffened. “It’s illegal for you to break into her e-mail. I could have your license yanked.”
Jerry smiled easily. “Who says I broke in? Her fiancé knew her password and gave it to me. But thanks for the law lesson.”
“This is bullshit. You’ve totally misinterpreted.”
“Come on, man.” Jerry sighed. “You were having sex with her. Admit it.”
“That’s disgusting.” Wolfe’s face scrunched up to demonstrate just how disagreeable it was. “She’s sixteen years older than I am.”
“But she had good genes. Looked younger.”
“To you, maybe.”
“You didn’t find her attractive?”
“Not compared to my girlfriend.”
“Who initiated it?”
“There was nothing to initiate.”
“I heard she was a flirt,” Jerry said.
The teaching assistant hesitated. “Well, yeah. But that was just her way of flattering you. Of making you feel good about yourself. It was all in good fun.”
“And you never flirted back?”
“I already said. Never. And I’d really like to know who said we were hitting it, because I can confirm that we most definitely were not.”
Jerry grinned. “You’re right, I guess I misinterpreted. What do I know, I’m an old dog. In my day, there was no such thing as e-mail. What I might think is sexual innuendo could just be… friendly conversation.”
Wolfe didn’t respond. The two of them sat staring at each other.
A discreet clearing of the throat distracted both men, and Wolfe’s eyes flickered past Jerry to the doorway behind him. A petite blonde was standing there, laptop case slung over one shoulder and a bag full of textbooks thrown over the other. She looked nineteen.
She smiled self-consciously, looking past Jerry. “Hi, Ethan. I think I’m a bit early.”
“Hi, Suzanne,” Wolfe said. If he was relieved to be interrupted, he didn’t show it. “Can you give me five minutes? We’re nearly done here.”
“Sure.” Her eyes skimmed over Jerry. “I’ll grab a coffee. Want anything?”
“Coffee would be great. Cream and sugar. Need change?”
She shook her head, closing the door behind her firmly.
Before Jerry had a chance to react, Wolfe was up and out of his seat, maneuvering his lean body toward the door. Flinging it open, he practically fell into the hallway, his breathing heavy. Jerry saw that beads of sweat had formed at the younger man’s temples.
Strange.
“Are we done here?” Wolfe was still in the hallway, struggling to compose himself. “As you can see, I have a student waiting.”
“I guess we are.” Jerry stood up, looking at him closely as he ambled out into the hallway. “Thanks for your time, Mr. Wolfe. You have my card. Let me know if you think of anything that might be helpful.”
Wolfe raised an eyebrow. “You know, that’s the exact same thing the police said. Who am I supposed to call-them or you?”
“Me,” Jerry said cheerfully. “Definitely me.”
Detective Mike Torrance met Jerry at the Golden Monkey a few hours later. Jerry could easily eat here five days a week. They had the best dim sum in Seattle. Morris hadn’t seemed too impressed, but Jerry was convinced.
“I think something’s definitely up with this Ethan Wolfe guy,” Jerry said, peeling the paper off his char siu bao, a wonderful doughy delight that opened to reveal tasty barbecued pork inside. The steam poured out and he let it breathe on his plate so he wouldn’t burn his tongue. “He rubs me the wrong way. Something about him is off. You know the type?”
“I am the type,” Torrance said, spearing a siu mai with his fork. Torrance couldn’t use chopsticks to save his life. “So he lied about the affair? Did he not think there’d be evidence somewhere? Not that I blame him. He admits they’re fucking, it looks bad if she turns up dead. But it is sort of hard to picture. He’s a good-looking guy, young, and she’s what, thirty-nine? Not your average hookup.”
“But she’s attractive,” Jerry said. “You wouldn’t think it was so far-fetched if you’d met her. There really is something about her. She’s got a certain je ne sais quoi.”
Torrance stopped chewing. “Oh, shit. Don’t tell me you slept with her?”
“No.” Jerry gave his former partner a dirty look. He took his first bite of the siu bao, savoring the flavor. “But the thought did cross my mind. If I was single, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.”
Torrance snorted. “I’m sure Annie would be happy to know that,” he said, referring to Jerry’s wife. He looked over the selection of food on the table and speared a shrimp roll. “But what if Tao was, say, sixteen years older than you? The same age difference between her and Wolfe? What if she was seventy? Would you still find her attractive?”
Jerry laughed. “That’s not the same thing and you know it. She and Wolfe definitely had an affair. That’s a fact. Sheila admitted it to Morris.”
“It’s only half a fact. She never told him the name of the student.”
“You didn’t see the e-mails. It has to be Wolfe.”
“You mean the e-mails you illegally hacked into?”
“No, the e-mails that I paid someone else to illegally hack into,” Jerry said with his mouth full. “Asshole.”
“I thought you said there was nothing specific in them.”
“Not in so many words, no.”
“You can’t prove anything. People flirt all the time.”
“I can read between the lines, Mike. She told her fiancé she had an affair with a student.” Jerry waved to a passing waitress and pointed to their empty teapot. “I’d bet my left nut it was Wolfe.”
“Tao’s a sex addict, isn’t she? God knows how many students she was screwing. Flirty e-mails or not, you need proof. I know you don’t like this guy, but stay objective.” Torrance forked another pot sticker. “I still think the lady took off. There’s just no evidence otherwise. And Gardener’s kind of… big. She could still attract a twentysomething, but she was gonna marry him? I’d have second thoughts, too.”
“That’s mean,” Jerry said, mildly offended. “Morris is a nice guy.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to insult your friend.”
Jerry ignored the jab. “My client is a nice person. Good job, makes a lot of money, lives on the East Side. Used to play for the Packers. He’s a catch.”
“Maybe you should date him.”
“Fuck you.”
They ate in comfortable silence for a minute, then Jerry said, “I’m at a dead end.”
“I figured.” Torrance sighed. “I hate to say it, but I told you so. Tao freaked out, and she walked. I never really thought this would go anywhere-you know I don’t hand you live cases. So you tell Gardener you tried, collect your big fat fee, and go on your merry way. What’s the problem?”
“Speaking of fat fees.” Jerry pulled a small white envelope out of his jacket and slid it across the table. “Here’s your cut. Thanks for the referral. But I’m telling you, something doesn’t feel right about this.”
“Thank you kindly.” Torrance eased the envelope into his shirt pocket. “But don’t think you’re not paying for lunch. I’m not spending my money to eat in this shithole.”
“If I’m buying lunch, you need to do me a favor.”
“Depends.” Torrance’s mouth was full of dumpling.
“Can you run a detailed background check on Wolfe?”
Torrance almost choked. “Are you nuts? That would be a violation of Wolfe’s privacy. He’s not officially a suspect in her disappearance because she’s not officially missing. And you want me to tap into the department’s resources to find out who he is? Why don’t you do it?”