it,” he said. “Going right up to his ass and ask him what the hell he’s doing and who the hell he is. I don’t get some answers, maybe it gets ugly.”
I went inside and a minute later, after clearing the doorman and being announced, I was again knocking on the door to the Steele apartment on the tenth floor.
Robbie greeted me and a minute later we were at the table just outside the kitchen.
“What have you found?” she asked before I could speak.
I took out my reporter’s pad and opened to the page with notes from my interviews.
“I found everyone I spoke to has a strong opinion about you,” I said.
“I’m that type of woman,” she said. “Jack’s inner circle was threatened by me.”
“Their opinions weren’t all favorable,” I said.
“I’d expect nothing less from them. Care to tell me who you saw?”
“Dr. Alan Webber.”
“A sleaze. He actually hit on me once.”
“Marty Glover.”
“A buffoon who wouldn’t last a minute in a job other than the one Jack gave him as executive producer. Incompetent and inept.”
“Jerry Drake.”
“A talentless clown,” she said.
“And Ronald Marshall.”
“A nasty, nasty man. A piranha.”
“Was Jack going to dump him?”
“Who told you that?”
“Jerry mentioned he was considered a change awhile back,” I said.
“Jack thought about it from time to time. Thought maybe it was time for some fresh thinking about his career,” she said. “They all needed to be tossed as far as I was concerned.”
“I’m glad I only got to four of them,” I said.
“I don’t know if you realize it, but all of those men made a lot of money off of Jack,” she said. “They were all part of this little universe of parasites that benefited from his success, and generosity.”
“The Jack Steele gravy train,” I said.
“Do you think any of these four men are involved in Jack’s death?” she asked.
I took a few seconds, then answered with my best unequivocally maybe response.
“I don’t know. It’s really too early to say.”
“I thought you were checking all of this out,” she said.
“I have been.”
“And you haven’t found out much of anything,” she said.
“Didn’t give me a lot to work with.”
“I gave you everything,” she said. “I called you and handed you the biggest story you’ll ever see.”
“No, you handed me a hunch you had.”
“Have,” she said.
“Okay, a hunch you have .”
“I was hoping you’d be able to put it together by now,” she said.
“A lot of questions to ask,” I said.
She went quiet and looked at me and it was bit unnerving.
“I know you think I’m crazy,” she said, after a moment.
“No, I don’t.”
“I don’t give a damn what you, or any of the others, think,” she said. “If all these men think I’m crazy, I couldn’t care less. They all thought I was some evil bitch for falling in love with Jack, and for him falling in love with me.”
I said nothing for a moment, trying to gauge if it was safe to move on. Then I flipped to the next page of my notebook and looked at the three things I had wanted to ask about.
“Jerry Drake showed me e-mails Jack got when he started going after companies. Any chance you have copies of others? Even the ones from run-of-the-mill lunatics?”
“Yes. He called it his Wacko file. Most of them were shown to Chet Dixon, in Liberty’s security office, and some were shown to the police. But Jack kept copies around just in case. Nothing ever came of them.”
“It would help to take a look. See if there’s anything in there worth following up on.”
“I can give you those,” she said.
“I read the police report,” I said. “I’m going to need to talk to his driver, Manny Torres.”
“I can take care of that,” she said.
“What happened with Webber that night? Why’d Jack cancel?”
“He said he was exhausted,” she said.
“But you don’t buy it?”
“No. At the time I did, I mean, I had no reason to think
I went inside and a minute later, after clearing the doorman and being announced, I was again knocking on the door to the Steele apartment on the tenth floor.
Robbie greeted me and a minute later we were at the table just outside the kitchen.
“What have you found?” she asked before I could speak.
I took out my reporter’s pad and opened to the page with notes from my interviews.
“I found everyone I spoke to has a strong opinion about you,” I said.
“I’m that type of woman,” she said. “Jack’s inner circle was threatened by me.”
“Their opinions weren’t all favorable,” I said.
“I’d expect nothing less from them. Care to tell me who you saw?”
“Dr. Alan Webber.”
“A sleaze. He actually hit on me once.”
“Marty Glover.”
“A buffoon who wouldn’t last a minute in a job other than the one Jack gave him as executive producer. Incompetent and inept.”
“Jerry Drake.”
“A talentless clown,” she said.
“And Ronald Marshall.”
“A nasty, nasty man. A piranha.”
“Was Jack going to dump him?”
“Who told you that?”
“Jerry mentioned he was considered a change awhile back,” I said.
“Jack thought about it from time to time. Thought maybe it was time for some fresh thinking about his career,” she said. “They all needed to be tossed as far as I was concerned.”
“I’m glad I only got to four of them,” I said.
“I don’t know if you realize it, but all of those men made a lot of money off of Jack,” she said. “They were all part of this little universe of parasites that benefited from his success, and generosity.”
“The Jack Steele gravy train,” I said.
“Do you think any of these four men are involved in Jack’s death?” she asked.
I took a few seconds, then answered with my best unequivocally maybe response.
“I don’t know. It’s really too early to say.”
“I thought you were checking all of this out,” she said.
“I have been.”
“And you haven’t found out much of anything,” she said.
“Didn’t give me a lot to work with.”
“I gave you everything,” she said. “I called you and handed you the biggest story you’ll ever see.”
“No, you handed me a hunch you had.”
“Have,” she said.
“Okay, a hunch you have .”
“I was hoping you’d be able to put it together by now,” she said.
“A lot of questions to ask,” I said.
She went quiet and looked at me and it was bit unnerving.
“I know you think I’m crazy,” she said, after a moment.
“No, I don’t.”
“I don’t give a damn what you, or any of the others, think,” she said. “If all these men think I’m crazy, I couldn’t care less. They all thought I was some evil bitch for falling in love with Jack, and for him falling in love with me.”
I said nothing for a moment, trying to gauge if it was safe to move on. Then I flipped to the next page of my notebook and looked at the three things I had wanted to ask about.
“Jerry Drake showed me e-mails Jack got when he started going after companies. Any chance you have copies of others? Even the ones from run-of-the-mill lunatics?”
“Yes. He called it his Wacko file. Most of them were shown to Chet Dixon, in Liberty’s security office, and some were shown to the police. But Jack kept copies around just in case. Nothing ever came of them.”
“It would help to take a look. See if there’s anything in there worth following up on.”
“I can give you those,” she said.
“I read the police report,” I said. “I’m going to need to talk to his driver, Manny Torres.”
“I can take care of that,” she said.
“What happened with Webber that night? Why’d Jack cancel?”
“He said he was exhausted,” she said.
“But you don’t buy it?”
“No. At the time I did, I mean, I had no reason to think
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