“We all got caught up in it…in that Race to the Sky, you know? We had supervisors and directors sniping investors fromother property managers and construction crews. It was all over the place, trying to convince people where their money would be best spent and which building would prove to be the most successful—would bring the most business to the city. I was asked to…”
He stopped here and Ava watched him struggle with another bout of tears. He managed to hold them back for the most part, but his voice grew thinner as he kept going.
“I was asked to figure out a way to sabotage the final stages of the Chrysler Building. Nothing bad, just a setback that would reach the public’s ears. And when they put that damn spire on, that seemed like a great opportunity. I knew some of the construction guys, so I knew a way to the stairs that would take me behind the security desk inside the building, you know? I had asked Perkins to meet me up there, that I had a job opportunity to for him. I asked if he could get someone to sort of…I don’t know…infiltratethe construction crew…maybe knock that spire loose.”
“And did he agree to it?” Miller asked, speaking up for the first time.
“No. In fact, he seemed insulted that I suggested it. We got into a screaming match at each other and it occurred to me…it occurred to me that the Chrysler Building was such a big deal because it was the single building in the entire Race to the Sky that could boast that not a single person had died while it was being built. And as we were fighting up there, so high up in the sky, I just…I lost it. I stepped outside of my damned mind and…”
“You pushed him,” Ava said.
The bluntness of the comment seemed to rock him and in that moment, she saw any stubborn façade fade from his expression. It made her think that anything they got out of him from this point on would be the truth. And when it came, it came quickly and as if he was almostgladto speak it.
“Well, we started throwing fists first. Things got carried away and I hit him with a board. He stumbled out and fell, but he caught a beam. I tried my best—even went out to see if I could help him, you know. I even went out on the beam he was clinging to but…it was too late. He fell. He fell, and I watched it happen. After that, I ran. I just…I didn’t know what to do.”
The room fell into silence after that. Miller was the one that broke it, asking a question that Ava hadn’t even thought of yet. “Would you be willing to give us the names of the people that had you looking into this sabotage job?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Just…can I get some time alone, please?”
“We can manage that, I think,” Miller said.
Ava gave Fairfax one last glance. She almost felt sorry for him. The pressure of this so-called Race to the Sky had clearly unhinged this man.
Miller opened the door and allowed Ava and Pawlowski to head out first. He waved them on to follow him to his office without saying a word. It was 6:30 in the afternoon now and there weren’t as many people present to stare this time.
Miller didn’t sit down behind his desk. Instead, he chose to sit along the edge of it with his arms crossed against his chest.
“Well, it wasn’t the prettiest case I’ve ever seen but I admire you ladies sticking to your guns.”
“Nah, that was mostly Gold,” Pawlowski said. “I was ready to stop and call it a suicide yesterday afternoon.”
Miller looked directly at Ava and smiled thinly. “I was pretty close to calling Minard and telling him I wanted out of this little experiment. But I’m glad I didn’t. I’d heard about how hard-working you are and this just proved it. You proved a suicide was a murderandmanaged to uncover some shady dealings with this bullshit Race to the Sky.” He nodded, let out a laugh, and then shrugged at them both.
“What is it, sir?” Pawlowski asked.
“Not bad for a first case together,” he said. “I think the two of you may just have to get used to one another for a while. But for now…you’re both welcome to go home. Gold, I know you’ve got a bit of a ride.”
“Actually, sir, I think I’d like to stick around. Just, not for Fairfax.”
“What for, then?”
She thought of the possibility of being partnered with Pawlowski and, in tandem, of possibly needing to move on from Frank and the life she’d started to build with him. The future was ahead of her, all questions, and possibilities. But before she could accept any of it, there was a part of her past she needed to wrap up.
“Could I have some time in your records department? There’s something I’d like to look into.”
“About this case?”
“No, sir. It’s more of a personal matter.”
Miller gave another shrug and said, “Help yourself.”
She nodded her thanks and then looked to Pawlowski. Smiling, she said, “See you tomorrow?”
“If you’re lucky,” Pawlowski replied.
With that, Ava left Miller’s office and went off in search of the records room within the Seventeenth Precinct. Even before she found it, she drew a name to the center of her mind—a peculiar name that had come from the mouth of a goon that had tried getting the best of her at a place where Jim Spurlock had been running an illegal casino.
Ms. Zebra.She recalled thinking in the moment she’d heard it that it would be an easy name to remember. She had that name, and she had a place called the Ash Lodge, a place that had matchbooks with its name on the front.