Page 109 of High Society

Aaron takes a slow breath, warding off his sudden sense of claustrophobia. “I did, yes,” he says, realizing it would only be worse to deny it.

“Were you acquainted with Ms. Jang?”

“No, I was not.”

The detective’s expression doesn’t change. “Where did this conversation take place?”

“At the Laguna Art Museum. There was an event there that afternoon. The Jang family had donated two major works to the gallery.”

“And you were a guest at the event?”

Aaron wavers. He had not even attended the event. Something that Rivers could easily verify. “No, I ran into JJ outside the museum.”

Rivers raises an eyebrow. “Ran into her?”

“I…” He clears his throat. “I went to the museum to see her. I thought she might be in attendance.”

“Why did you want to speak to her?”

Aaron studies the cop’s inscrutable expression, searching in vain for nonverbal clues. “I have no problem telling you, Detective. But I’m not sure how much, ethically speaking, I can divulge. You see, Ms. Jang was a client of my wife’s. And, as a colleague of Holly’s, I was privy to certain confidential details about her.”

“Like, for example, that she had discovered your wife vaping DMT inside her own office?”

Aaron is unable to mask his surprise. “You heard?”

Rivers nods. “How did Ms. Jang seem that afternoon? In your professional opinion.”

Aaron considers his answer carefully. “Distracted. Flustered, maybe.”

“Because of your interaction?”

“No, no. She was like that from the moment I approached her. Signs of anxiety and low mood. Poor eye contact. Tentative replies. Soft voice. Her overall body language gave me the impression of… angst.”

“Did you think she might’ve been drinking, too?”

“That didn’t occur to me, no.”

“Thank you, that’s helpful,” Rivers says. “But what exactly did you hope to accomplish by confronting her, Dr. Laing?”

Aaron can feel his pulse pounding in his ears. “I didn’t ‘confront’ her. We had a conversation.”

“OK, then. What was the purpose of your conversation with her?”

Aaron does the calculation in his head. If Rivers is aware of the DMT, then he must already know why Aaron went to see JJ. “I wanted to convince her that it would not be advisable to disclose that she had seen my wife vaping.”

“Because of the damage it would do to your wife’s reputation?”

“Obviously, yes.” Aaron clears his throat again. “But also, as I understood it, her group was in crisis after Elaine’s overdose. I tried to make JJ see how counterproductive it would be to go public about my wife’s DMT use in her office.”

The detective’s gaze locks onto his. “You went there to warn Ms. Jang? To intimidate her?”

“Not intimidate, persuade. To make her see the obvious.”

Rivers frowns. “You didn’t tell Ms. Jang that bad things would happen to her if she were to speak out?”

Aaron’s chest is thudding now, but somehow he conjures a smile. “I’m not sure where you’re getting your information from, Detective, but it’s inaccurate. I told JJ that it would not be good for the group—and I suppose, by extension, her, too—if she did go public. Which was the truth. Nothing more.”

“And you never saw Ms. Jang again?” Rivers asks pointedly. “After you left the museum?”