IN THE CARon the way home, Kate told Holly the whole story, and ended by telling her that Evan expected Kate to handle seeing Mitchell at the Children’s Hospital benefit. don’t know how I’m going to face him after what he did to me.”
know exactly how you’re going to do it,” Holly assured her, I will coach you. In fact, if Evan has room for me at your table, I’ll come along for moral support.”
’ll make room—”
first thing you need is a fabulous gown, which calls for a trip to Bancroft’s.”
,” Kate admitted, already phoned Bancroft’s to arrange for a personal shopper to help me pick out a gown for Saturday.”
can pay the bill, butI’m your new personal shopper.”
Chapter Thirty-three
STANDING OUTSIDE THEinterrogation room and flanked by Lily Reardon and Jeff Cervantes, Gray Elliott watched MacNeil and his regular partner, Joe Torello, getting ready to begin interviewing Mitchell Wyatt.
are they?” Cervantes asked.
and Levinson,” Gray replied.
“ThePearson and Levinson? Together in the same room?” Lily said, looking reluctantly impressed. ’m surprised they didn’t refer Wyatt to a criminal defense lawyer.”
will when the time comes.”
Lily reported directly to Gray and handled cases that he was particularly interested in; Jeff reported to her and would assist her at Wyatt’s trial. we gotten any reports back yet on what the searches turned up?” she asked.
Gray shook his head. yet.”
brought Wyatt in this morning?” Cervantes asked.
came in on his own. Levinson called me at home last night when Wyatt was still en route. It seems someone tipped Wyatt off about our searches, and he figured out on his own that our alleged confession was bogus, and that he was our actual suspect.”
he landed at O’Hare anyway?”
you see.”
act of an innocent man?” Lily suggested.
a moderately clever one who wants us to arrive at that conclusion,” Jeff stated.
think he’s more than moderately clever,” Gray said. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out an article he’d found on the Internet and had translated from Greek to English that morning. “Six years ago, a Greek reporter talked Stavros Konstantatos into giving him an interview about the key to his successes and how he managed to squeeze out his competition.”
Gray showed them the picture from the article, in which the Greek tycoon was proudly holding up his arms, fists clenched. The translated caption beneath the photograph read,“I have two fists with which I do battle. With my right fist, I wield the power and might to vanquish those who would oppose me. My left fist is subtle; it uses reason, shrewdness, and restrained force against my enemies. I strike with either fist.”
does this have to do with Wyatt?” Lily said, handing the page back to him.
Wyatt was his ‘left fist,’ ” Gray said. refers to him as that in the body of the article.”
Cervantes peered through the two-way glass. , the way he’s sitting in there.” The table was oblong with two chairs on the long side facing the two-way mirror, and one chair at each end. Wyatt was sitting on the side facing the two-way mirror, but he’d angled his chair away from the table and was sitting with one foot propped on the opposite knee, his back to Pearson. A tablet and pen were on the table near his elbow, along with an untouched cup of coffee provided by MacNeil. ’s turned his back on one lawyer, and he’s ignoring the other.”
doesn’t think he needs them,” Gray speculated. think he intends to handle this entirely by himself.”
lawyers undoubtedly warned him not to donate any of his DNA by drinking anything we give him,” Cervantes said. also knows this is a two-way mirror and that we’re probably standing out here.”
As if on cue, Wyatt turned his head to the right and looked straight toward them.
,” Lily said. ’s even better looking in person. If there’s a heterosexual woman or a gay man on the jury, I’ll never get a conviction.”
Gray ignored that and tipped his head toward the glass. we go,” he said. is going to start off with the photographs to give him the idea we may have been following him for months.”
MacNeil thumbed through the photographs he and Childress had taken, and selected a close-up of Wyatt and Donovan kissing on the balcony at the Enclave. ’s work backward toward the day of your brother’s murder, shall we?”
Wyatt quirked a brow at him and said nothing.
you explain this for me?” MacNeil said, and casually tossed the photograph on the table.
Wyatt leaned slightly forward, looked at it, and then at MacNeil. ’t you a little old to need an explanation?”
MacNeil slapped another, similar photograph on the table, but this one was taken the night before at the villa, and Wyatt’s hand was on Donovan’s breast. this.”
Wyatt barely flicked a glance at it. part of it don’t you understand?”
’s interesting,” Gray said. didn’t think it would be this easy to get a reaction out of him.”
looks completely unperturbed,” Lily argued.
, he clenched his jaw, but just for an instant there. He’s angry, and he’s also very adept at hiding it. Remember that at trial.”
MacNeil took his time putting the photos back into the right folder, letting Wyatt see that there were many folders of photographs in the stack of files. we should start from the beginning, instead,” MacNeil announced. “Where were you on the day William Wyatt disappeared?”
don’t know what day that was,” Wyatt replied calmly. was gone for several days before his wife and son realized he wasn’t at the farm and reported him missing.”
you ever been to the Wyatt farm?”
.”
’re sure about that?”
.”
Detective Torello took over. Reaching into an envelope, he removed a clear plastic evidence bag containing a leather button with a pattern and insignia on the front. you recognize this?” Torello asked.
Pearson and Levinson tensed. don’t have to answer that,” Levinson said quickly.
Wyatt ignored the warning. looks like the missing button from one of my overcoats.”
you know where we found this button, Mr. Wyatt?” When Wyatt didn’t reply, Torello said, found it wedged under the cover on the well where your brother’s body was found. That well is located a few feet from the property line of the Wyatt farm, which you say you’ve never been near. Do you want to rethink that answer?”