Miracle Creek(28)

“Not so much me as that document.” Shannon looked amused, almost triumphant.

Matt read again. 8:58 a.m. Maybe he’d misdialed. But four minutes? “Maybe I heard an ad for an insurance deal and I called for a quote?” He didn’t remember doing that, but it was a year ago. Who knew how many random, boneheaded things he did on a whim on a daily basis that were so insignificant he couldn’t remember them a week later, much less a year?

“So you did make this call, but in response to an ad?”

Matt looked to Janine. She had both hands to her mouth. “No. I mean, maybe. I don’t remember this call, and I’m trying to figure out … I mean, I’ve never even heard of this company. Why would I call them?”

Shannon smiled. “It just so happens that Potomac Mutual logs all incoming calls.” She handed documents to Abe and the judge. “Your Honor, I apologize for the lack of notice, but we found out about this call yesterday and only got the log last night.”

Matt stared at Abe, willing him to see the What-the-fuck-do-I-do question on his face, rescue him somehow, but Abe kept reading and frowning. “Any objections, Mr. Patterley?” the judge said. Abe mumbled, “No,” still reading.

Finally, Shannon held out the document to Matt. He wanted to snatch it from her hand, but he waited, managing not to even look at it until she asked him to read it out loud. Under the heading with the date, time, wait length (<1 minute), and total call length (4 minutes), it read:

NAME:

Declined to give.



SUBJECT:

Fire insurance—Arson



SUMMARY:

Caller interested in whether all our fire policies pay out in cases of arson. Caller happy when told that arson coverage included in all policies, with exception only if policyholder involved in planning/committing arson.



Matt read calmly, with the clinical tone of someone not about to be accused of conspiracy to commit arson, and looked up when done. Shannon said nothing—just looked at him, as if waiting for him to break the silence. I had nothing to do with this, he reminded himself, then said, “I guess it wasn’t for a quote, after all.” No one laughed.

“Let me ask again, Doctor,” Shannon said. “You made an anonymous call to Miracle Submarine’s insurer the week before the explosion asking if they’ll pay out if someone deliberately burns it down, didn’t you?”

“Absolutely not,” Matt said.

“Then how do you explain that document in your hand?”

A good question, one with no good answer. The air felt dense with anticipation, too dense to breathe in, and he couldn’t think. “Maybe it’s a mistake. They got my number crossed with someone else’s.”

Shannon moved her head in an exaggerated nod. “Sure, that makes sense. Some random person calls, and by some incredible coincidence, both the phone and insurance companies get the number wrong, and by another incredible coincidence, you end up being the star witness in a murder trial where, lo and behold, the deaths are caused by arson. Do I have that right?” Some of the jurors tittered.

Matt sighed. “All I know is I didn’t make that call. Someone must’ve used my phone.”

Matt expected Shannon to mock him again, but she looked satisfied. Interested. She said, “Let’s explore that. This was last August, on a Thursday morning, at 8:58. Was your phone lost or stolen around then?”

“No.”

“Anyone use it? Borrow it because they forgot theirs, that type of thing?”

“No.”

“So who had access to your phone around 8:58 a.m.?”

“I was definitely at HBOT. I never missed a morning dive. The official dive time is 9:00, but we’d start earlier if everyone’s there, and later if someone’s late. It’s been a year, so I don’t remember when we started that particular morning.”

“So let’s say you started late that day, say at 9:10. Could someone have used your phone without you knowing?”

Matt shook his head. “I don’t see how. I either left my phone in the car, which is locked, or I kept it with me and put it in the cubby right before the dive started.”

“And what if it started early—say, 8:55? By 8:58, you’re in the chamber, along with the others, including Elizabeth. Who could’ve used your phone?”

Matt looked at Shannon, the excitement plain in the way her eyebrows lifted in anticipation, a smile curling her lips, and he realized: this entire line of questioning had been for show. She’d never thought for a moment he’d made that call. She’d just made him think it so he’d become rattled, desperate to think up an alternative suspect to hand to her on a platter. The obvious alternative. The only one, really.

“For the morning dives, the only person in the barn,” Matt said, “was Pak.” This was hardly a secret. But still, saying it out loud felt like betrayal. He couldn’t look at Pak.

“So Pak Yoo had access to your phone during your morning dives, which sometimes started before 8:58, the time of the call in question, is that correct?”

“Yes,” Matt said.

“Dr. Thompson, is it a fair reading of your testimony that Pak Yoo must’ve called his insurance company anonymously, using your cell phone, to ask whether his fire insurance policy will pay out if someone else sets fire to his business, something which is alleged to have happened a few days after? Is that a fair summary?”