“I admit that I used my position to get with women who might otherwise not be interested in me. But I never tied that to landing a role. There are lots of actresses out there who can attest to that. I’ve been rejected by tons of women who later worked for me.”
“But not Callie,” Trembley said.
“No,” he croaked. “And looking back, I can see how she might have mistakenly assumed that was why she lost the role, because she refused my advances. But at the time, it didn’t occur to me. I wasn’t the most evolved guy in the world back then.”
It turned out that Boatwright still wasn’t that evolved. During an overnight search of his office, Detective Bray had discovered a sizable collection of videos of him “rehearsing scenes” and ultimately having sexual liaisons with a variety of actresses at his apartment. Bray noted that the producer’s first stop after leaving the hospital might not be home but rather to a courthouse.
Jessie didn’t look at the videos but Bray indicated that a number of the women were household names. The videos went back at least a dozen years. She wasn’t sure how many of them would come forward to tell their stories when this broke, but at least there was physical evidence to support the claims, should they make them.
Detective Parker from Vice stopped by to tell Jessie and Trembley that after Tech cracked the Bad Boys list, they’d raided the CTA offices and taken multiple agents into custody for pandering. Among them was Jake Morant. Jessie regretted not being there to see that. Parker told her that they’d wait until later this morning to arrest Phil Reinhold so the old guy could get one more decent night’s sleep. Jessie had no illusions that this would suddenly put an end to the Hollywood casting couch but at least it was a start.
Jamil Winslow came over to the bullpen around 3.a.m, looking both tired and wired, to inform them that even if they hadn’t caught Callie Hemphill, Willem Struce would have been exonerated in his wife’s death. Video footage from his boyfriend’s apartment building confirmed that he was there when he said he was.
With the paparazzi surrounding the police station, Jamil had arranged for Struce to be snuck out the back in an unmarked car and taken to Owen Mulaney’s place, where he planned to hole up until the media frenzy settled down. Jamil seemed worried that he’d overstepped his bounds but Jessie assured him that he’d done the right thing. She didn’t mention it but she’d done something similar with Tara Tanner, whose name would not appear in their report.
Trying to push all that out of her head, she closed her eyes, listening to the early morning birds in the courtyard chat each other up. It was still early enough that there was a hint of coolness in the air. In another hour it would be scorching again.
She heard the sound of a door opening and forced her eyelids apart. Trembley was coming her way.
“Looks like most of the paperwork is done,” he told her. “I can finish up the last of it so you can head out if you want, maybe get some sleep.”
“Thanks, Trembley. What are your plans?”
“Hemphill’s being arraigned at nine. I think I might stop by to check out the show.”
“You and every paparazzo in the thirty-mile zone,” she said.
“You know I’m a sucker for that stuff,” he said sheepishly.
“I sure do.”
They were both quiet for a moment before Trembley nervously cleared his throat.
“I meant to tell you, I know I was a little—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Jessie interrupted. “When it mattered, you were right there, doing what had to be done.”
“Thanks,” he said. “It was really great working with you. I feel like I got a new perspective on how to investigate. Maybe we can team up again sometime?”
“Maybe,” she said noncommittally. The idea wasn’t immediately off-putting.
The door opened again and Captain Decker walked over, his shoulders hunched as usual.
“Good work,” he said gruffly.
“Thanks, Captain,” Trembley said. “It was nice working with Hunt. I think she’s got real potential.”
“Speaking of,” Decker said, ignoring the attempt at humor. “You mind if I speak to her privately for a moment?”