Page 10 of Go First
‘You really can’t think of anyone?’she asked.
“Not one,” Anne repeated.“Jonathan lived for others.He was a giving man.Everything he had, he wanted to pass forward.He was the embodiment of selflessness, and humility, and modesty.”
Kate let silence hang for a few beats, watching the way Anne twisted the handkerchief tighter.“And yet,” she said at last, “this house, the cars, the church headquarters… none of it exactlylooksmodest.”
A flicker crossed Anne’s face, a genuine emotion, there and gone before it could be interpreted.Her voice, when she answered, was steady, but cool.“Jonathan believed that humility lived in the heart, not in bricks and wood.He never placed himself above anyone else.If God chose to bless him with means, he used them to bless others.This house has welcomed hundreds, perhaps thousands, over the years.Congregants, donors, families in need.Was that wrong?”
Kate studied her carefully.She could almost see the seams of the speech, lines stitched together with certainty, but not necessarily faith.
“I don’t mean to suggest wrongdoing of any kind,” Kate said carefully.“I just want to understand the man.”
Anne’s gaze softened, a brief flicker of warmth.“He was a man who believed love should be shared.When Jonathan was young, he was helped by others.He never forgot it.Everything he did was to pay that forward.”
Her words hung in the air, polished and complete, the kind of narrative a publicist might spin.Not exactly false, but crafted nonetheless.
Kate scribbled in her notebook, though she already knew she had little to follow up on.Anne was either too careful or too committed to the story.Maybe both.
“Was Jonathan ever threatened?”she asked.“Any letters, calls, confrontations?”
Anne shook her head.“Never.People adored him.They respected him.”
Kate noted the quick denial, the same certainty as before.Too much of it.
“And his work with the Prosperity Fund?The financial side of the ministry—did he ever speak of difficulties?”
Another headshake.“Jonathan managed those things with complete integrity.He saw every dollar entrusted to him as sacred.”
Kate almost smiled.The answer was too neat.She thought of Marcus right now at HQ, digging into Whitfield’s books.If there was rot beneath the polish, he would find it.
“Can you tell me about the party last night?”
“Up to a point.I retired to bed at nine, due to a migraine.”
Could explain the weird mannerKate thought; Mrs Whitfield might be in great pain, or coping with its aftermath.
“And did you sleep right through, or…?”
“I wasn’t expecting my husband to come to bed, which I assume is the prurient detail you’re trying to find out.”
Kate felt herself redden slightly; Mrs Whitfield’s tone took her straight back to grade school.
“My husband and I sleep separately, and have done for several years,” Anne went on.“I noticed nothing untoward during the time I was present, except…” She paused, blinking quickly; it was like watching the cogs and wheels turning.“It’s not important.”
“Say it anyway.You never know.”
Mrs Whitfield attempted a smile.It was more like a baring of teeth.Odd woman.
“It’s nothing, I’m sure, but I didn’t recognise one of the waiting staff.”
Kate leant closer, her heartrate kicking up a notch.
“Would you expect to?”
“For an event of that size, yes.I knew all seven members of the congregation.The five young people from Willington High had all worked for us before, and are, in any case, also members of our Young Faith Cohort.And of course, I know Miguel Hernandez, who is part of the security team.”
“But you saw someone else?”
“I don’t drink champagne or any other alcohol, and the only other choices were fruit juice and sparkling water.I simply couldn’t have abided either of those, what with my migraine coming on, so I asked… this person in black for a glass of still water.”