said, jumping right in. “As I told you earlier, I’m not sure how much help I can be. But I’m here to try. What do you want to know?”
“Where were you last night between three and four in the morning?” Karen asked, launching straight in.
He sat there for a moment with a look of contemplation on his face.
“I couldn’t tell you for certain,” he said. “I was a bit of a social butterfly, moving from group to group, chatting, making sure everyone was having a good time. There was a period where I went off for a little private time with a lady friend in the pool house. But I think that was earlier, closer to two-ish.”
“Would you be willing to let us check your phone so we can verify your movements using GPS?” Karen asked.
He smiled warmly at her.
“I’d be willing but it won’t help much. You see, I’m an investor in a company that has developed a new kind of dampening technology. It was so promising that I became an early adopter. It prevents location data from getting delivered. I think it’s going to change the world of privacy. Eventually everyone will be able to turn their dampener on or off, depending on whether they want their location known or not. The ability to add it to individual phones isn’t there yet. But I had them set up a digital dampening net that covers my entire property. So there’s no GPS data to reference.”
Jessie seethed silently, unable to believe her ears. The GPS signals didn’t work. Neither did some cameras. The crime scene had been interfered with. This guy had guilty written all over him and yet he seemed nothing but cool and calm.
“You do realize that while that may be an exciting technology,” Karen said with more diplomacy than Jessie was currently capable of mustering, “it makes it much more challenging to eliminate you as a person of interest.”
“An irony I’m now aware of,” he noted. “Still, I’m sure that between guest interviews and security footage, you’ll find it’s easy to keep tabs on me. I was in public spaces for most of the night.”
“We’ll need the name of your lady friend,” Karen said.
“You see, Detective Bray,” he said remorsefully, “that’s why Matilda asked you to sign the NDA. It wasn’t for any nefarious reason, just so no one goes blabbing about my sex life to a competitor. If that’s going to get out, I want it to be on Blabber.”
Jessie immediately tensed up at the reference.
“What’s Blabber?” Purcell asked, speaking for the first time.
Jasper Otis smiled broadly, exposing his brilliant white teeth.
“Normally I’d be offended, Detective,” he said. “But considering that you’re way outside our preferred demographic, I suppose I should be relieved. Blabber is the highest-trafficked gossip site on the web.”
Jessie couldn’t help but butt in.
“It’s also the website that just recently had scumbags making harassing phone calls to me and showing up to take photos of me entering the building where I used to live.”
Otis smiled at her without a hint of remorse.
“The people’s right to know cannot be abridged, Ms. Hunt,” he said. “Maybe that’s why more people visit Blabber on a daily basis than the sites for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN combined. But setting all that aside, you can see why I’m disinclined to reveal the name of my companion.”
“Mr. Otis,” Purcell said, “I can assure you that as law enforcement, it’s a violation of our oath to reveal information like that, with or without an NDA. Doing so could result in the loss of our jobs.”
“And yet you signed yours, Detective,” Otis noted.
“I did,” Purcell admitted, turning slightly pink. “But my point is that sensitive information is safe with us. It would only come out in a court proceeding under specified circumstances. But if you think it can help establish your alibi, I’d highly recommend you provide the name. It could help exonerate you.”
“Besides,” Jessie added, “I assume this companion signed an NDA, yes?”
“She did.”
“Then, unless there were others with you at the time, the only people who would know about your lady friend are her and the people in this room. If something leaks, it’ll be easy to know who to go after. And if we’re all being honest here, Mr. Otis, we both know that you’re going to leak her name anyway if it helps your image. So there’s no real downside.”
“Ms. Hunt, how dare you defame my gentlemanly good name,” he said in