He looked at Chapman, and then back to me.
'Mike Chapman,' I said to Hoyt. 'Homicide. He stays.'
'I'm in the middle of a difficult situation,' Hoyt said, with some hesitation. 'Peter Robelon doesn't know I'm here. I think he-and Andrew Tripping-would take my head off if they thought I was talking to you about Dulles. But I think you and I ought to find a way to agree on some kind of solution that would be in the best interest of the child.'
'I smell a setup here, Mr. Hoyt.' I walked to the elevator and pressed the button. 'Aren't you the same guy who told the court just yesterday that Dulles's injuries came from playing lacrosse? I don't think we're likely to agree on anything.'
'You've got the detective here as a witness. What if I told you I think I can find a way for the boy to talk to you?'
I turned to face him.
'I'm very willing to do that, Ms. Cooper.'
'Then why the hell did you say that to Judge Moffett about his bruises?'
'Because I was standing in court next to Peter Robelon and Andrew Tripping. That's been the party line, the defense to that portion of the case. You knew that.'
'First things first. Do you know anything about where the boy is right this minute?' I pointed to the window that faced my colleagues' offices in the Child Abuse Unit. 'There's a massive man-hunt to find the child. If there's something you know, that's our first obligation.'
'I'm well aware of that. I haven't a clue at the moment, but I'm here to see you because I believe that
'Because you're the legal guardian?' I asked.
'Because we've known him since he was born.'
'What's the connection?'
'Andrew, Peter, and I all were at Yale together. I met Peter first, freshman year. We were both in a lot of the same classes all the way through, we were both heading for law school.'
'And Andrew?'
Hoyt was quite direct. 'I never liked Andrew very much. I was madly in love with the woman he married. Dulles's mother, Sally Tripping. I dated her for a couple of years. She was also a classmate of ours. Sally left me for Andrew.'
'Doesn't say much for you, pal,' Chapman said.
'Andrew's illness wasn't really in evidence then. He's quite smart. Brilliant, maybe. He didn't spin out of control until after we left school. I think he was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was in the military.'
'Were you still in touch with Sally until her death-I mean, when she killed herself?' I asked.
'No, sad to say. That's one of the reasons I wanted to involve myself in helping the boy. It's a bit of guilt, that perhaps she'd be alive today if I had been a better friend. Of course,' Hoyt said, 'I still don't believe she took her own life. Maybe things would have been different if you were on that investigation, Mr. Chapman.'
I was interested in Hoyt's relationship with Dulles. 'Maybe we should arrange for you to talk to the Major Case detectives. Would you mind if we put a recording device on your home phone, in case the boy calls?'
'Not at all.'
'Can you take him over to the guys in Child Abuse?' I asked Mike.
'Sure.'
'I probably have more sophisticated caller ID equipment than the NYPD, but do what you can.'
'What's in it for you?' I asked, puzzled by this offer to help. 'I mean, trying to arrange a meeting with me and Dulles.'
'I want a good life for this child, Ms. Cooper. I want him to have a life without his father, to be absolutely honest with you. Now that puts me in a sticky situation legally, which is why I hope this visit can be off-the-record. I've made a lot of money in the last ten years.'
'Practicing law?' Chapman asked. 'All Coop gets is a city paycheck every two weeks and a shitload of aggravation.'
'Investments. Clients who've put me into lucrative deals. A bit of good advice and a lot of luck. Bottom line? I've got a wife I adore, an apartment on Central Park West, a beach house on Nantucket, and a ninety-two-foot yacht to sail me there. What I don't have,' Graham Hoyt said to both of us, 'is a child. My wife and I would like to adopt Dulles Tripping. We can give him a good life, a stable one-maybe even a joyous one.'
'And Andrew knows this?'
'Of course not. It's why I'd be thrilled to see you put his ass in jail. The best that happens is that he might step out of the way and clear a path for us to file for adoption. The worst would be that he's out of the child's life, behind bars, until Dulles reaches his majority and can make decisions for himself.'
'How about Peter Robelon?' Battaglia didn't trust him, but I assumed part of that stemmed from Robelon's plans to run against him in the next primary. 'Does he have any idea what you're interested in doing?'
'Look, Ms. Cooper. Why don't both of you sit down with me for an hour or two tomorrow? I'll lay out everything for you. Hopefully, by then, Dulles will have come to his senses and returned to Mrs. Wykoff-or called me. You tell me exactly what it is you want to get from the child, and I'll give you all the family history I can muster. We have the same basic goal, after all. Fair?'
The day was shot anyway. 'In the afternoon?' I asked. 'Want to come here?'
'I'll tell you what. Meet me at my club at two o'clock. It's right in Midtown. We can have lunch and figure out a plan.'
He reached for another business card and wrote out the address.
'I was asking you about Robelon. Don't you think he'd have something to say about this? Tripping must be paying him a good piece of change to defend him.'
'Tripping's got no money,' Hoyt said.
'But,' I answered, 'I thought he inherited some when his mother died last fall.'
'He inherited a run-down cottage on a half-acre of land in Tonawanda County, a pantry full of his mother's homemade preserves, and his late father's gene for madness.'
'And his business?'
'There are enough legitimate former feds to do all the security consulting the government or private enterprises need. Nobody wants to hire someone with Andrew's psych background. He pulls in next to nothing from that. We all throw him some odd jobs now and then, and help him with money to live-and make bail.'
'So what's in it for Robelon?'
'Tell Paul Battaglia not to lean on me until after the adoption procedure is completed, and he'll be thrilled to know that Tripping can give him whatever he wants on Robelon. That's the real reason I stopped in to see Jack Kliger tonight. Tripping claims he's got information on several insider trading deals that Peter Robelon engineered.'
I was incredulous. 'He's blackmailed Peter into representing him for this trial?'
Hoyt picked up his briefcase and walked me to the elevator. 'Peter Robelon would kill to keep Andrew Tripping out of jail.'
14
Mike put me into a Yellow Cab and said good night, turning back from well-trafficked Centre Street onto Hogan Place, to take Graham Hoyt up to meet the detectives investigating Dulles's disappearance.
The ride uptown took more than half an hour, city streets clogged with bridge-and-tunnel suburbanites who made the Friday-night drive into Manhattan for restaurants, theaters, clubs, and bars.
I put my key in the lock and opened my apartment door. It was good to be home, and I felt happy with the anticipation of an intimate evening. I removed the jacket of my suit, slipped out of my heels, and tiptoed into the
