She hesitated, and the pause filled me with anticipation. Anytime someone hangs back during a casual interview, pay attention for a spill of something interesting.
Finally, Reggie said, “She was spending a lot of time with other people.”
I said, “One of the advantages of me doing part of the investigation is that it is completely confidential. I won’t even make notes of our conversation. I’ve spoken to her family, and I know about some of her relationships. I don’t want you to worry about repercussions.”
Reggie visibly relaxed. “You probably heard she was close with Robert and Rhea Steinberg.”
I nodded.
“Emily was really committed to them. To their relationship.”
“Both of them?” I tried to keep my surprise hidden. I don’t think I did a very good job.
Reggie smiled. “Yes, Detective, both of them. Might sound shocking to you. I assume you’re married with children. And that kind of multiple-partner relationship can be hard to get your head around. I know that Emily loved the Steinbergs. Maybe Rhea more than her husband. And to tell you the truth, I have no idea what she saw in that entitled little brat.”
“You know the Steinbergs personally?”
“I would say I know them personally but not socially. The justice is a little bit of a loner, and his wife believes most people are beneath her. I guess that’s the best way to describe it. I never saw Emily around them. I don’t know how they interacted. But I’ve talked with Rhea plenty of times. I’ve had to put up with her long soliloquies about her ‘art.’” The air quotes around art told me what she thought of Rhea Wellmy-Steinberg’s talent.
Reggie’s confirmation of what Justice Steinberg had tipped to, that Emily and both the Steinbergs were in a relationship, changed my thinking a little bit.
“It doesn’t sound like you’re a fan of Rhea.”
“She’s not an enemy. She just never impressed me. I know she’s got a law degree from Columbia. Not something an idiot can achieve. But her interpersonal interactions are usually all about her. I never understood what a smart woman like Emily saw in an empty bottle like Rhea.” Reggie shrugged. “I guess the heart wants what the heart wants.”
That’s when I started thinking about the possibility of Justice Steinberg’s sister, Beth Banks, being jealous of their relationship with Emily.
Chapter 70
I did have some access to databases. Bobby had given me a password to get into a state police site that showed tolls someone might pick up driving on several of the paid highways. There was a chance I could get lucky and run one of my suspects’ license plates and find a hit. But it would have to be a hit on the day Michelle Luna was murdered in Baltimore.
There were also my regular NYPD access databases, generally public records aggregators. Nothing too fancy. Who pays the light bill at a certain address? Does someone have a specific professional license? That kind of thing. Information that comes in handy when trying to piece together an investigation.
Bobby also had given me access to an aggregate of security cameras, including the Whole Foods where Emily had parked, located within the city limits of Washington. The missing footage from the Whole Foods still hadn’t turned up. There were hundreds of other feeds I could tap into if I needed to. Useful if I had a team to help me. A little overwhelming by myself.
I searched for the license plates I had collected both during surveillance and after digging through public records for vehicle registrations in the last two years. The first plate I plugged in was Beth Banks’s. There was nothing.
Just for fun, I ran both Justice Steinberg’s and Rhea Wellmy-Steinberg’s. They had lots of tolls but nothing to or from Baltimore other than one trip about a month ago.
I was about to move on to another website when I decided to look up Jeremy Pugh’s vehicles. At the time of Michelle Luna’s murder, Pugh was driving a three-year-old Ford F-150 pickup truck. I knew he’d lived in the Northern Virginia area.
I was surprised to see Pugh had been close to Baltimore the day before and two days after Michelle Luna’s murder. If he lived in the area, that wouldn’t be unusual. Still, it made me think. I hadn’t heard much from the boisterous Burning Land extremist lately.
I went back to the security surveillance website and checked the Whole Foods on the day Emily Parker made her last run. After more than an hour of poring over different video feeds, the best I could find was a Ford F-150 parked in the lot of the Whole Foods. It was in a cluster with several other vehicles. I would bet it was one of the managers who had arrived early to get some work done.