Salvation in Death (In Death #27)(56)

“And it was your job that he was where he needed to be when he needed to be there.”

“Exactly.”

“You also had a long, close relationship with the victim.”

“Yes. Yes, I did.”

“Did you spend time together—free time, I mean. Leisure time.”

“Oh yes. Quite often.” His shoulders relaxed, but the hand that had moved from his tie to his leg plucked, plucked, plucked at his pants at the knee. “Our families sometimes vacationed together, and we enjoyed having barbecues. When my wife was alive . . . You remember, Sam.”

“I do. She made the best potato salad in Mississippi. Rest her soul.”

“And did you and the victim—just the two of you—ever spend leisure time together?”

“We fished. Often with the boys, or other friends. But, yes, sometimes just the two of us.”

“You spent a lot of time—between the work of the church and free time—in each other’s company.”

“It was rare for a day to go by we didn’t spend time.”

“So you know he was engaged in an extramarital affair.”

The air went out of Billy, as if Eve had pulled a plug. But Samuel came up out of his chair, quivering with outrage. “How dare you! How dare you slander a man like Jimmy Jay! If you speak one word of that indefensible lie outside this room, I can promise we will sue you, and the New York City Police and Security Department.”

“The affair has been confirmed, and documented on record,” Eve said coolly.

“Then I insist on seeing that confirmation, that documentation. If you think I’ll take your word, or allow you to go to the media with—”

“Cut your jets, Wright. First, you have no legal right to that access at this time.”

“We’ll just see about that.”

“Yeah, you do that. Meanwhile, I’m not interested in gossip, I’m interested in murder. And motive. For the last four and a half months, the victim engaged in a sexual affair outside of his marriage. He, in fact, engaged in same on the afternoon of his death.”

Eve cut her eyes from Samuel to Billy. “But you know that already, don’t you, Billy?”

He jolted, as if she’d given him a nudge with her stunner. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You fished, you barbecued, you vacationed together. You managed his work, his time, and a great deal of his life. You knew where he was and where he needed to be nearly every minute of every day. But you want me to believe you didn’t know he was spending an hour or two, two, sometimes three times a week in hotel rooms with another woman? That he often got himself a boost from that woman backstage before he went on to preach?”

“That’s enough!” Samuel snapped it out. “You’re trying to enhance yourself by besmirching the reputation of a good, Christian man. Neither my client nor I have any more to say to you.”

“Nothing more to say, Billy?” Eve shrugged. “Then I guess we’ll have to talk to other people who may have known. And I can’t control it if those people decide to talk to other people. Including the media.”

“That sort of threat—” Samuel began.

“I’ve got a job to do,” Eve shot back. “That’s not a threat.”

“Please don’t.” Billy spoke quietly. “Sam, please sit down. I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry.” He cleared his throat—a tic, Eve determined, used to give him time to collect his thoughts. “Only God is perfect, Sam.”

“No.” Outrage quavered into disbelief. “No, Billy.”

“Jimmy Jay was a great leader. A visionary, and a humble child of God. But he was also a man, and a man with weaknesses. He did fall victim to lust. I counseled him as a friend, and as a deacon of the church. He struggled against this weakness, and he succumbed to it. You mustn’t think less of him. You mustn’t cast the first stone.”

“How many times?” Samuel demanded.

“Once is too many, so it doesn’t matter.”

“It may matter to the investigation,” Eve corrected.

“I believe he succumbed with six women over the years. He struggled, Sam. This was his demon. We have to believe, if he’d lived, he would have beaten it. Our job now is to shield Jolene and the church from this. To preserve Jimmy Jay’s image, so that Luke can take his place and continue the work.”

“Killing him before he got careless enough to let it get out,” Eve suggested, “that would be a good way to preserve the image.”

“This interview is over.” Sam strode to the door. Tears as much as anger glittered in his eyes. “Don’t come back here without a warrant, or I’ll cite you for harassment, and for prejudicial treatment of a sanctioned church.”

Eve leaned over to retrieve her recorder, and switching it off spoke quietly to Billy. “I know what you did. I know why you did it. I’ll take you down. It’ll be up to you whether I take the rest down with you.”

She straightened. “I hear confession’s good for the soul. Peabody.”

They walked out, leaving Billy slumped on the couch, and Samuel nearly weeping at the door.

In the car, Peabody sat silent as Eve began the weave and dodge through traffic. Then she shook her head. “How did you know he did it?”