The Golden Gate: A Novel

Sullivan’s team creates a comprehensive timeline of the Wilkinson murder, revealing contradictions in the evidence: Juanita Juárez claimed that she saw Wilkinson and one of the Bainbridge girls entering his room at around midnight, but two hotel guests report that they heard the gunshot that killed him at around 11:45 pm. Recognizing that Juanita must have lied initially, Sullivan confronts her in the hotel laundry room. When she refuses to divulge anything more and even mocks Sullivan for assuming that she would talk to him just because he speaks to her in Spanish, he threatens her that he can have her children taken away from her unless she tells him the truth. Under pressure, Juanita recants her original story: She claims that she saw a Bainbridge girl fleeing Wilkinson’s room with blood on her skirt; after this, Juanita saw Wilkinson’s body through the open door with his pants down and flowers stuffed in his mouth.

Afterward, Sullivan feels guilty for threatening Juanita, reflecting on his troubled past, including his Mexican father’s deportation and his mother’s subsequent decline. He then reports his new findings to Chief Greening, who once again proves obstructionist and forbids him from pursuing the wealthy Bainbridge family without more evidence.