A Good Marriage(96)
“There are some prints on your golf bag that match some others in Amanda’s blood from your stairs,” I said. “The prints aren’t yours, but they do belong to someone who was there that night.”
“Oh, thank God.” He exhaled loudly. “I’ve got to be honest, I was starting to get a little worried you weren’t going to pull this off.”
“Fuck you, Zach.” So much for staying unemotional. I was so angry now it was making my eyeballs throb.
“Fuck me?” He laughed. “Hey, you’re the one who’s been lying to everyone. First on that form, and then about your marriage. And who knows what else.” Oh, I did not like the way he had said that. What else did he know? “I may have been a shitty husband, but at least I was honest about it. Getting back to the money, I’ll be honest about that, too: there is none. But we’ll need those fingerprint results, obviously. So use your creativity. I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
“Zach, this is ridiculous,” I said, though I knew there was no point.
“Agreed, this entire situation is ridiculous,” he said crisply. “I’d much rather have avoided the complication of our shared history. But where else was I going to find a great lawyer, with access to the world’s best experts, who was willing to work for free? And to think, you never would have even occurred to me as a possibility if I hadn’t seen you at the farmer’s market in Prospect Park.”
“You go to the farmer’s market?” I asked. I could not remotely imagine Zach buying organic produce and bringing it home in a reusable shopping bag.
“As you can imagine, not to shop,” he said. “It’s great for observing people, though. It’s important to know people’s strengths if you’re going to work with them. But you know what’s more important?”
“No, Zach,” I said. “What’s more important than knowing someone’s strengths?”
“Knowing their weaknesses.”
There was a click. I’d been hung up on by a man locked away in Rikers. A man who somehow still held the key.
Grand Jury Testimony
BENJI PANKIN,
called as a witness the 8th of July and was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MS. WALLACE:
Q: Good afternoon, Mr. Pankin. Thank you for coming to testify today.
A: You’re welcome.
Q: Were you at the party at 724 First Street on the night of July 2nd?
A: Yes.
Q: How did you come to be there?
A: We were invited. I used to play basketball in a league in the neighborhood with Sebe. Neither of us play anymore, but I know some of the guys, Kerry and them.
Q: Who did you attend the party with?
A: My wife, Tara Pankin.
Q: Were you aware that there were sexual activities going on at the party that night?
A: Not that night specifically. But we’ve been to that party before. I’d heard about that kind of thing previously.
Q: Did you participate in those activities?
A: No.
Q: Why not?
A: Why not? Because my wife would fucking kill—sorry, excuse me. Poor choice of words. I know some marriages … I know that people do that kind of thing and it works out fine. They even manage to keep it all a secret. Who ends up with who at that party never gets out. To each his own and all that. But it wouldn’t work for us. I’d kill my wife, too, by the way.
Q: I see.
A: Shit. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I keep saying kill. This whole thing is just … Anyway, no, we didn’t have sex with each other or anybody else at the party. We did drink too much sangria. For half the night I was wearing a jester’s hat I found on the floor, if that tells you anything.
Q: Do you have a clear memory of that night?
A: I do. I remember everything that happened. I’m not like an alcoholic or something. I had three glasses of sangria. That’s it.
Q: Did you know Amanda Grayson?
A: No.
Q: Did you see a woman exit abruptly out the back of the party that night?
A: I did.
Q: Can you describe what happened?
A: She came down the stairs and was trying to leave out the front, but it was too crowded. She looked upset and in a hurry, so I told her to go out the back. I warned her that we weren’t really supposed to do that. One year, Sebe’s neighbor called the cops.
Q: What time was that?
A: 9:47 p.m.
Q: How do you know so precisely?
A: Because somebody had just asked me what time it was.
Q: I would like to show you a photograph.
(Counsel approaches witness with photograph, which was previously marked as People’s Exhibit 6.)
Q: Is that the woman you pointed the exit out to?
A: Yes.
Q: Let the record reflect that Exhibit 6 is a photograph of Amanda Grayson. Shortly before you pointed that woman out toward the back door, did you have an interaction with a man?
(Counsel approaches witness with photograph, which was previously marked as People’s Exhibit 5.)
Q: Is this that man?
A: Yeah.
Q: Let the record reflect that the witness has been shown a photograph of Zach Grayson. What did Zach Grayson say to you?
A: He told me to get out of his fucking way.