Salvation in death

“Let’s just take a moment.” Luke lifted his hands. Though his voice was soft, Eve recognized the command under it. “We’re all on edge. Lieutenant, would you and the other officer like to use the parlor? Could we get you anything? Tea? Water?” He stopped, shut his eyes a moment. “Will I ever be able to pour a glass of water again and not think of it?”

“The parlor’s fine,” Peabody told him. “We don’t need anything, thanks.”

“There’s an office on the second floor. I’ll be working there, if you need me for anything. Billy, Sam, I’ll continue with the arrangements until you’re done. Lieutenant.” Luke offered his hand again. “Mama Jo has put her faith in you. So will I.”

Not just head of the family, Eve thought as he left them. She’d lay odds she’d just shaken hands with the new head of the Church of Eternal Light.

Furniture, statuary, memorabilia, and photographs fought for position in a parlor of deep colors. Privacy screens shielded the window that afforded twin shafts of morning light.

A number of cups, glasses, and memo cubes scattered over tables.

“Please excuse the mess,” Billy began. “We’d been making plans and arrangements, discussing the memorial when you arrived.” He cleared his throat. “The media hasn’t as yet learned the address or the direct number for this house. We hope to keep it that way.”

“They won’t get it from me, or any member of my investigative team.”

“Reporters have managed to unearth my ’link number. I haven’t given any comments. I thought that best, for now. But I will have to make a statement. Or rather, Luke will. Very soon. As soon as possible.”

“If Mr. Goodwin wants or requires any cleared data from my department for a statement, I’ll be happy to discuss it with him. Meanwhile.” Eve took out her recorder. “Since your representative wants to keep this formal, I’m informing you that I’m recording this interview. You have the right to remain silent.”

As she recited the Revised Miranda, Billy lost another two tones of color.

“Is that necessary?”

“It’s for your protection, as your representative will tell you.”

“It’s best, Billy. It’s best if we keep everything to the letter of the law.”

“Do you understand your rights kd y ofand obligations in this matter, Mr. Crocker?”

His hand fussed with the knot of his tie. “Yes, of course.”

“And you have chosen Samuel Wright, also present, as your representative during this interview?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. Dallas, Lieutenant Eve, Peabody, Detective Delia, in interview with Crocker, Billy, regarding the investigation into the murder of one Jimmy Jay Jenkins. Mr. Crocker, we have the statement you gave to me last night, at the scene, on record. Is there anything you wish to change regarding same at this time?”

“No. Nothing I can think of.”

“You stated that you saw the victim approximately five minutes before his stage entrance, in his dressing room.”

“Yes. I gave him his five-minute cue, then we spoke for a moment. I walked with him to the wings, stage right.”

“What was his mood?”

“He was very energized.”

Eve smiled at the term. “At the time you walked with him to the wings, the table and the bottles of water were already onstage?”

“Yes. As always. Behind the drop. At the cue, the curtain comes up, the singers exit-stage right, and Jimmy Jay and Jolene enter from stage right and left, respectively.”

“Josie Jenkins Carter has confirmed that she placed the water bottles onstage. That she opened them, and replaced about an ounce of spring water in each with vodka.”

“That has nothing to do with this interview,” Samuel interrupted, with some heat. “And if you think you can insinuate that Josie had anything to do with what happened-”

“Are you also legal rep for your sister-in-law?”

His jaw tightened. “If need be.”

“Fine, I’ll let you know if need be and if I require a follow-up with Mrs. Carter. You were aware, were you not, Mr. Crocker, that alcoholic additives were routinely used in the victim’s stage water?”

“Yes.” Billy sighed. “Lieutenant, as that isn’t what killed him, I don’t want to see that made public.”

“You also stated you were busy during the opening performance by the singers, checking details. You’d have been traveling behind that drop, from one wing to the other, correct?”

“At various points in time, yes.”

“And did you see anyone approach the water bottles, see anyone out of place, see anyone behaving in a nervous or suspicious ma

“I’m sorry, no. The singers and musicians were onstage. Others were in their dressing rooms, some in the little canteen. I do think I saw Merna there, briefly, with some of the children. Techs would have been moving about, but for the most part, at least in th kat Meose last few minutes, everyone should have been in place. No one should have been behind the drop. I didn’t see anyone there.”

“Okay. As manager, did you keep Mr. Jenkins’s schedule? Arrange his appointments.”

“Yes, those were my duties.”

“You’d have his ’link numbers, be able to reach him at any time.”

“Absolutely.”

“And would, as his manager, know his whereabouts? Particularly when touring like this.”

“That would be essential,” Billy agreed. “If something came up, Jimmy Jay wanted to know. He wasn’t just a figurehead, Lieutenant. He was the head of the church. He worked very hard, and was involved in every aspect, every area.”

“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 stu

“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?”