Dooley thought about it for a few seconds, but eventually shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t know for sure. All I could tell you is that it would have been sometime after midnight.”
“And during the time you wereactuallyawake, did you see anyone wandering around out front?” Pawlowski asked.
“No. Nobody.”
Pawlowski sighed, shook her head, and turned away. Ava was taken aback at the almost unprofessional manner in which the woman carried herself, but she also understood it. She’d felt equally frustrated with people while on a case, but she’d always managed to swallow down her true feelings and present a professional face.
“Thank you for your time,” Ava said.
Dooley nodded and seemed to be very happy that was where the line of questioning came to an end. He went back behind the fence to continue his work as Ava hurried to catch up with Officer Pawlowski.
“That was a little rude, wasn’t it?” Ava said as she caught up with her partner.
“Was it? I just didn’t see the point in questioning a man that proved within the first few seconds that he has no problem lying—also a man that doesn’t do his job well.”
Ava agreed, but maybe not quite as angrily. She then realized that they had left the scene of the crime, as well as the only possible source for information. And here she was, playing catch-up with a cop that seemed not to care all that much about her job.
“So then what’s your next step?” Ava asked. “Leaving potential leads behind so quickly, what do you think we should do next?”
“Get more information on him other than ‘he may have committed suicide.’ We have his name in the records. I say we dive deep down into who he was and see what answers we find there.”
“No one has done that yet?” Ava asked, surprised.
“Not to my knowledge. After all…most everyone involved in this was more concerned about the potential black mark against the building. No one really seemed to care much about the man himself.”
It was sound logic, so Ava didn’t argue. She was still trying to figure out Pawlowski and figured a confrontation this early in their partnership would spell disaster. And because Ava knew lots of eyes would be on her, she was going to do her very best to stay in line. With that thought in her head she turned back to watch the Chrysler Building as it grew slightly smaller as they walked away from it, realizing that this case was going to be more than just solving a potential murder—but making sure she represented herself well in a new precinct, with a new partner.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Some of the officers had cleared out of the precinct by the time Ava and Pawlowski returned. Still, Ava noticed a few quick glares pointed in their direction as they headed back to their desks.
“You need some coffee?” Pawlowski asked.
“That would be great, actually,” Ava said.
“One second.” She then slid the case notes over to Ava’s desk and said: “Help yourself.”
As Pawlowski stalked away to what Ava assumed was the break room, Ava started to look over the notes again. She did much more than skim them this time. Now that she’d seen the place where the man had allegedly jumped from, she felt she had a better lens to view the details through.
The victim’s name was Alfred Perkins, a detail that was not provided to the public until about five hours after the body was discovered because it had been in such terrible shape. It was sad that it came as no surprise to Ava when she saw that he had worked as an investor at a bank over on Wall Street. Ava noted the address as 40 Wall Street—an address that stuck out in her mind because she’d read in the headlines just three or four days ago that many investors and financial-types working at that address had lost monstrous amounts of money in the crash. Putting two-and-two together, Ava thought it was a logical assumption to assume that Alfred Perkins had been among them.
She made a mental note to try to find that article because she knew that there were several banks and firms that were in hot water; they’d lost not only their own money, but the money of many clients as well. It was an interesting dichotomy because it opened the door to two possibilities: first, that the loss of all thatmoney could have easily driven Perkins to suicide; second, that he could have potentially lost the money of his clients, creating a list of people that might want to do him harm.
She had just gotten to the details of the very brief bit of information about the first officer on the case that had spoken to the wife when Pawlowski came back over with a two cups of coffee.
“Thoughts?” she asked.
“I think it looks like a perfect copy of so many other suicides as of late,” Ava said. “Rich banker loses everything, and maybe even the money of his clients, and can’t handle it.”
“Any idea how long we’ll be expected to work on this before Miller will take our word that it was a suicide?”
“I’m not sure it was,” Ava said. “Not yet. If it had occurred at any other building, I might buy it. But I go back to there being some symbolism of some kind to this. Speaking of which…do you know where I could get a paper from a few days ago?”
“Back in archives,” Pawlowski said. Then, with a smile, she added: “You’re looking to see if he was one of those poor saps that lost the money of his clients, aren’t you?”
“I am. Did you already look into it?”
“I did. And he was. I’m still waiting on one of the guys in Records to get back to me on it.”