“Yep. She’d been working on it for years.”
“Fiction? Nonfiction?”
“Nonfiction. Something about obscure or lost private-detective films. Her agent pitched it to a couple of New York publishing houses, and one showed serious interest, but it turned out another editor had already acquired a similar book for that year’s catalog. I don’t know how it works, but her book wasn’t going to be published.”
“That would be disappointing, but wouldn’t her agent just keep pitching the book?”
“I don’t know. I guess? But according to police interviews with the boyfriend and the girlfriend, Ono was depressed about it.”
“Okay, it’s hearsay, but I agree this goes toward establishing our victim’s state of mind.”
“And, finally, she learned she wasn’t getting tenure, which I guess is a very big deal for college professors.”
“Yes, that would be a big deal.” Jason thought it over, admitted, “It’s a lot of bad news all at once.”
“Yep. That’s my thought.”
“Well, we’re after the truth, so—”
“Are we? My impression is we’re after making a former senator feel better about his granddaughter’s death. Which is, in my opinion, a waste of our time and resources.”
Sure, it sounded callous, but J.J. had a point. Senator Ono was receiving consideration and treatment that most people, equally heartbroken but not rich and politically connected, wouldn’t.
“If we’re not working on this, we’re working on something else, right?”
“That’s right, and it could be something a hell of a lot more important.”
“And you’ll continue to work those cases,” Jason pointed out. “You’ve still got your regular caseload. I’m the one being asked to prioritize this investigation, and, one way or the other, I’ve got to close it within thirty days.”
J.J. muttered something that sounded astonishingly like, “But your cases are more fun.” He seemed to be only half kidding.
Which reminded Jason.
“Hey,” he said awkwardly, “Kapszukiewicz mentioned you phoned her on my behalf. I just wanted to say thanks.”
“It probably did more harm than good,” J.J. admitted with rare self-awareness. “But you’re welcome. I mean, you’re an asshole a lot of the time, but you’re not the worst agent I’ve worked with.”
Jason managed not to laugh. “You flatter me.”
“Probably,” J.J. agreed.