Veering to the more sympathetic audience, Wiley looked at Maggi. “She drowned?”
“Someone would like to have us believe that,” Patrick interjected, his eyes never leaving the man’s face.
Confusion returned. “Then she didn’t drown? She’s alive?”
“Oh, she’s dead all right,” Patrick confirmed emotionlessly. “But she didn’t die in the river. She died sometime before that.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do we. For the moment.” Patrick pinned him with a look. “Where were you last night, Congressman, if you don’t mind my asking?”
The congressman’s friendly expression faded. “If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, I do mind your asking.”
“Just doing our job, Congressman,” Maggi interjected smoothly, her manner respectful. “Pulling together pieces of a puzzle. It might help us find Ms. Styles’s killer if we could reconstruct the evening.”
“Yes, of course. Sorry,” he apologized to Patrick. “This has me a little rattled. I never knew anyone who was a murder victim before. I was at a political fund-raiser at the Hyatt Hotel.” He looked at Patrick and added, “With several hundred other people.”
“Was Ms. Styles there?” Maggi prodded gently.
“I imagine so, although I really couldn’t say for certain. All of my staff was invited,” he explained.
“Looks like those several hundred people certainly didn’t help keep her alive, did they?” Patrick asked.
“If we could get a guest list, that would be very helpful. Could you tell us who was in charge of putting the fund-raiser together?” Maggi felt as if she was tap-dancing madly to exercise damage control.
“Of course. That would be Leticia Babcock.” Picking up a pen, Wiley wrote down the name of the organization the woman worked for. Finished, he handed the paper to Maggi. He glanced at Patrick, but his words were directed to the woman before him. “Anything I can do, you only have to ask.”
Patrick took the slip of paper from Maggi and tucked it into his pocket. His eyes never left the congressman’s face. “Count on it.”
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