Beside her, Maria saw Colin shift in his seat.
“Other than that, I wasn’t able to learn much, so I called Dr. Manning, Lester’s father. I left a message, and surprising me, I got a call back within a few minutes. I identified myself and told Dr. Manning that I was hoping to speak to his son, and I will say that he was entirely cooperative and more forthcoming than I expected. Among other things, toward the end of our second conversation, he gave me permission to disclose the full nature of my call with him to you. Does that surprise you?”
Maria opened her mouth, then closed it again, not sure what to say. “Should I be surprised?” she finally asked.
“I was,” Margolis said, “especially given the way you described him to me. But anyway, when I asked him if he knew where I might be able to find Lester, he asked me the reason, and I told him that it was regarding a police matter. To which he responded, and I quote, ‘Does this have anything to do with Maria Sanchez?’ ”
Margolis let the words hang before going on. “When I asked him why he brought up your name, he said that it’s not the first time you accused Lester of stalking. He said that after his daughter was murdered, you made the same accusation regarding some disturbing notes that had been sent to you. He insisted that his son, Lester, was not responsible then, and that he sincerely doubted that he was responsible for anything you were claiming now. He also said to tell you that while he does feel that you made a mistake by opting for the lesser charges, he’s well aware that Gerald Laws was responsible for Cassie’s death, and neither he nor his son blames you for what happened.”
“He’s lying.”
Margolis ignored her comment. “He told me that he’s not taking patients at the present time, and explained that he’s currently working in Tennessee for the state prison system. He said that he hasn’t spoken to Lester in weeks, but that Lester has a key to the house and occasionally stays in the apartment above the garage. He said that I’d probably be able to find Lester there. When I asked what he meant by ‘occasionally,’ Dr. Manning was quiet for a beat, and when he spoke again, I got the sense that I’d touched a nerve. He told me that ‘Lester is a bit of a nomad’ and there are times when he has no idea where Lester sleeps. I think he was referring to Lester’s habit of staying in vacant houses. When I pressed him, he added that he and his son are somewhat estranged these days, and for the first time, he sounded almost… apologetic. He reminded me that Lester was an adult and made his own decisions and there was only so much he could do as a father. He also added that if Lester wasn’t in the apartment at the house, my best bet was to try to find him at work. A place called Ajax Cleaners. It’s a janitorial service with a lot of commercial clients. He didn’t have the number offhand, but it was easy enough to find, and so my next step was to talk to the owner, a guy named Joe Henderson.”
Margolis looked up from his notes. “Are you following me so far?”
When Maria nodded, Margolis went on.
“When I spoke with Mr. Henderson, he said that Lester wasn’t a full-time or even part-time employee. He worked as an on-call employee – someone who could cover shifts when they were short-staffed or whatever.”