The Longer The Fall by Aviva Gat (best new books to read txt) 📗

the device, OK? That’s a typical scenario we see. These photos are often taken from strange angles, catching people in mirrors, or having parts of the picture covered by something else in the room. This picture is from above, making it look like someone planned on taking the picture, either by holding a phone or device above you, or by sticking a camera on the ceiling. So I ask again, is there anyone who could have taken a picture of you like this?”

“No!” Madeline responded, her annoyance simmering into anger.

“Because if there is, that’s a lead, a hot lead,” the agent said. “It could be the person who took the photo, or someone who has access to their phone or photo storage.”

“Listen,” Madeline said. “I am a US Senator and I have been living my life knowing that I am going into politics and that I plan to go far. From when I was young, I knew this was my path. That means that I have constantly thought about ensuring there are no skeletons in my closet. You will not find any pictures of me drinking, underage or not, in college. No one can honestly tell you I cut corners somewhere or took advantage of them. I never smoked, did anything illegal, and I certainly would never have naked pictures taken of me, by my husband or anyone else. That would be careless and detrimental to my life goals, you understand?”

“So you’re saying this picture was taken without your knowledge?” Agent Murray responded. “That’s the other option.”

“If it’s a fact that it wasn’t photoshopped then I guess that must be the case,” Madeline said.

“And you don’t recognize it?”

“No, I don’t recognize how I look in this picture. I can’t remember every set of sheets I’ve slept on in the last eight years, since this was obviously taken after Adam was born. I can’t remember every sexual experience I’ve had in that time either.”

“Every sexual experience with Brandon,” the agent questioned.

“With Brandon,” Madeline confirmed. The conversation was starting to feel like an interrogation to Madeline. As though this blackmail was somehow her fault or that she had in some way put herself in this position. It was time for Madeline to turn this conversation around, put blame where it belonged. “Agent Murray, from this conversation and our previous ones, I understand that you and your team have made absolutely no progress in this investigation. I am not saying you’re incompetent, since I am sure you have solved many cases prior to this—”

“Mrs. Thomas—” the agent cut in. But Madeline did not let him speak.

“But I’m beginning to lose confidence. It’s been weeks now and it seems like I am your only suspect. I’m not sure what you suspect me of, but I haven’t heard you accusing anyone but me. If necessary, I’m ready to speak with your superiors and see if another team could more adequately handle this situation.”

“Ma’am—”

Again, Madeline did not let the agent speak. “As you know, my reelection campaign launch is fast approaching. That is when the perpetrator wants to release this information to the media, I shouldn’t need to remind you of that. This needs to be resolved by then. There are no reasons it shouldn’t be, even if we need to get a new team involved.”

“Ma’am, we are doing the best we can,” Agent Murray responded, this time without being cut off. “It may seem like little progress to you, but we’ve ruled out a lot of possibilities and have narrowed down the long list of potential leads that you provided us. In our work, checking suspects or possibilities off the list is significant. It takes a lot of legwork, interviews and analysis that our team has been conducting furiously over the last few weeks. In fact, we’ve been working so hard that we’re pretty sure there is something big we are missing here and that’s why I’m back, asking you these questions. As someone who has been doing this for twenty years, I know when there is something that someone is not saying. I know when a case follows the regular trajectory and when something is off. In this case, something is off. Someone is lying, some big piece is missing.”

“And I assume it is your job to figure out who that is or what’s missing, correct? Agent?” Madeline responded, again ensuring blame was placed where it belonged.

The agent sighed. “Correct.”

“I think you are focusing on the wrong thing,” Madeline said, now leading the conversation. “You came in here accusing me of something because of this picture. But your focus is wrong. The focus is not why I was naked on a bed, the focus is who is using this to blackmail me.”

“It’s connected.”

“Of course, but we’ve established that I don’t allow naked pictures of myself. We’ve established that I am a married woman who likely has a sexual relationship with her husband. So you need to focus on who is blackmailing me.” Madeline paused as her words sunk in. “So what are the next steps?”

The agent’s tone changed. It now had less confidence and a slight hint of defeat. “I’m going to speak with Brandon after this conversation. I want to confirm his story and see if anything else has come up for him.”

“Well it seems like you have a lot to do, so you might as well get to it,” Madeline said, ending this inquisition. The agent raised his eyebrows and stood up from his chair, closing his notebook, which he still had not written on. As he left the office, he hesitated slightly at the door as though there was something else he wanted to say, but he remained silent. He left, but his presence still very much seemed to hover in the doorway.

Madeline sat quietly at her desk for a moment as she contemplated what she should do. She