“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jay said.
Jesse nodded. Maybe Jay Wade had never slept with Jenn. Or maybe he had. He could feel the muscles in his shoulders and neck tighten.
H I G H P R O F I L E
“Jenn thinks you can tell me about Walton Weeks,” Jesse said.
Jay Wade nodded and leaned back in his chair with his hands clasped behind his head.
“Actually,” Jay said, “I knew Walton a little. I was political editor for a station in Maryland when he was doing weather.”
“Tell me about him,” Jesse said.
Jay smiled.
“Well,” he said. “Walton always had a good voice. People liked his voice. It projected well. He sounded like a guy from your neighborhood, but smarter. Walton always sounded smart.”
“Was he?”
“You know,” Wade said, “I don’t know. When I knew him he was a damn weatherman, you know. I never thought much about him being smart or dumb. After I left Maryland, and he got to be a national figure—I mean, who knows who wrote that column or the little editorial set pieces on his TV
show. He seemed quick enough on the call-ins and guest interviews.”
“So he has some staff support in all of this.”
“Sure.”
“You wouldn’t know any names?” Jesse said.
“No. I don’t want to mislead you. I once knew Weeks in a casual workplace way twenty years ago.”
7 5
R O B E R T B . P A R K E R
Jesse nodded.
“Did he ruffle a lot of feathers?” Jesse said.
“You mean back when I knew him or in his national celebrity phase?”
“Either way.”
“When I knew him everybody liked him. He was pleasant,” Wade said. “Now that he is, or was, a national figure, yeah, he ruffled a lot of feathers.”
“Conservative or liberal?” Jesse said.
“God, didn’t you ever listen to him?” Wade said.
“No.”
“My God, what do you do with yourself.”
“Mostly I’m a cop,” Jesse said. “When I have free time I follow baseball.”
“Jenn told me you used to play,” Wade said.
“Yep.”
