Chapter 54

Aaron has been distracted all morning. At one point, he even wrote the wrong dose on a prescription refill and was mortified when the pharmacist called him to clarify that Aaron didn’t actually intend to triple his patient’s antidepressant dose.

Why did Holly bolt from the restaurant last night? And why has she avoided his calls since?

Holly and her goddamn psychedelics! They have been the source of so much grief. For both of them. All those bad decisions. Not to mention everything he has had to do to support her through the cascade of catastrophes they instigated.

Sitting at his desk, Aaron is about to pick up the phone and try Holly again when his assistant buzzes through. “There’s a detective from Newport Beach here to see you,” Amy tells him in her perpetually upbeat tone. “Can I send him in?”

“Please do,” he says with an ease he doesn’t feel.

Aaron greets the young detective at the door and leads him to the seat across from his desk. After introductions, Detective Rivers says, “Thanks for taking time to see me, Dr. Laing.”

“Of course.”

“I’ve been investigating the death of Justine Jang. I believe you’re familiar with the circumstances?”

“Some of them, yes,” Aaron says with a smile to hide the fact that his stomach has just leapt into his throat.

“You’re also aware that Ms. Jang was a client of your wife’s?”

Aaron leans back in his seat. “I am, yes.”

“As I understand it, Dr. Laing, you were a bit of a… sounding board for your wife during the time of Ms. Jang’s death.”

Did Holly tell you?“Yes, despite our temporary separation, Holly and I are still close. And Holly has been distraught over recent… happenings with her clients.”

Rivers nods. “The deaths of Ms. Golding and Ms. Jang?”

“And the disappearance of Liisa Koskinen,” Aaron adds, realizing that the detective must know about that, too.

“My focus is Ms. Jang.”

“All right.”

“I understand that you spoke to her on the day she died.”

How does he know?

Aaron takes a slow breath, warding off his sudden sense of claustrophobia. “I did, yes,” he says, realizing it would only be worse to deny it.

“Were you acquainted with Ms. Jang?”

“No, I was not.”

The detective’s expression doesn’t change. “Where did this conversation take place?”

“At the Laguna Art Museum. There was an event there that afternoon. The Jang family had donated two major works to the gallery.”

“And you were a guest at the event?”

Aaron wavers. He had not even attended the event. Something that Rivers could easily verify. “No, I ran into JJ outside the museum.”

Rivers raises an eyebrow. “Ran into her?”

“I…” He clears his throat. “I went to the museum to see her. I thought she might be in attendance.”

“Why did you want to speak to her?”

Aaron studies the cop’s inscrutable expression, searching in vain for nonverbal clues. “I have no problem telling you, Detective. But I’m not sure how much, ethically speaking, I can divulge. You see, Ms. Jang was a client of my wife’s. And, as a colleague of Holly’s, I was privy to certain confidential details about her.”

“Like, for example, that she had discovered your wife vaping DMT inside her own office?”

Aaron is unable to mask his surprise. “You heard?”

Rivers nods. “How did Ms. Jang seem that afternoon? In your professional opinion.”

Aaron considers his answer carefully. “Distracted. Flustered, maybe.”

“Because of your interaction?”

“No, no. She was like that from the moment I approached her. Signs of anxiety and low mood. Poor eye contact. Tentative replies. Soft voice. Her overall body language gave me the impression of… angst.”

“Did you think she might’ve been drinking, too?”

“That didn’t occur to me, no.”

“Thank you, that’s helpful,” Rivers says. “But what exactly did you hope to accomplish by confronting her, Dr. Laing?”

Aaron can feel his pulse pounding in his ears. “I didn’t ‘confront’ her. We had a conversation.”

“OK, then. What was the purpose of your conversation with her?”

Aaron does the calculation in his head. If Rivers is aware of the DMT, then he must already know why Aaron went to see JJ. “I wanted to convince her that it would not be advisable to disclose that she had seen my wife vaping.”

“Because of the damage it would do to your wife’s reputation?”

“Obviously, yes.” Aaron clears his throat again. “But also, as I understood it, her group was in crisis after Elaine’s overdose. I tried to make JJ see how counterproductive it would be to go public about my wife’s DMT use in her office.”

The detective’s gaze locks onto his. “You went there to warn Ms. Jang? To intimidate her?”

“Not intimidate, persuade. To make her see the obvious.”

Rivers frowns. “You didn’t tell Ms. Jang that bad things would happen to her if she were to speak out?”

Aaron’s chest is thudding now, but somehow he conjures a smile. “I’m not sure where you’re getting your information from, Detective, but it’s inaccurate. I told JJ that it would not be good for the group—and I suppose, by extension, her, too—if she did go public. Which was the truth. Nothing more.”

“And you never saw Ms. Jang again?” Rivers asks pointedly. “After you left the museum?”

“No.”

“You’ve never been to her home?”

“I only met her the once.”

The detective eyes him steadily. “And where were you later that same evening?”

“At home.”

“Alone?”

“Until Holly came over, yes,” Aaron says, feeling his guts clench. “To wake me up and tell me about JJ.”

“All right.” Rivers stands up from his chair, and Aaron follows suit. “Oh, one last thing, Dr. Laing. You didn’t happen to speak to either Elaine Golding or Dr. Liisa Koskinen, did you?”

“No.” And then, remembering that the detective was the one who originally told Holly about Liisa’s phone call, Aaron volunteers, “Apparently, Dr. Koskinen tried to call my office a few days ago. But I didn’t even know that until Holly told me days later.”

“Why do you think Dr. Koskinen was looking for you?”

Aaron remembers the hypothesis he shared with Holly: how Liisa might have been deliberately trying to create a traceable record back to him, to implicate him in some way. But to recount it now might sound like overcompensation. All he says is “I have no idea whatsoever, Detective. She never did reach me.”

Rivers extends his hand. “Thank you for your time, Dr. Laing.”

Aaron hopes his palm isn’t sweating as he meets the other man’s firm handshake. “Feel free to reach out anytime, if I can be of more help.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Rivers says, turning for the door.

“Detective,” Aaron calls out to his back.

“Yes?” he says without turning around.

“I never told my wife about my conversation with JJ. I thought it would… upset her too much.”

“Hmmm.”

“Does she happen to already know?”

“I’m not at liberty to share that. Ethically speaking, and all.”