“Statistically, it’s a small number,” Beth explained, “But so far, I find seven employees who spent some time in the juvenile system. Because those records are sealed, I don’t know what they were in for.”
“She’s right,” Jessie added, “Technically that’s barely over one percent of the staff. But for a place like this, it seems high. I wonder what that’s about. Are you able to prioritize all the workers with juvenile records and check to see if anything comes back once they became adults?”
“Working on it now,” Beth told her.
While they waited for a response, Jessie and Ryan both scarfed down the last of their sandwiches. Jessie followed hers up with a glug of bottled iced tea. Before they got any answers, Ryan’s phone rang.
“It’s Chief Laird,” he said. “Jamil, Beth, we’re going to put you guys on hold while we take this call. We’ll be back on after.”
“Not a probl—,” Jamil started to say before Ryan cut him off.
He grimaced in momentary embarrassment before answering the call.
“Hello, Chief,” he said, putting the call on speaker. “I’m here with Jessie Hunt. How can we help you?”
“I thought you were going to keep me in the loop, Hernandez?” Laird launched in sternly. “But I haven’t gotten a call. It’s been a few hours now and I’m in a holding pattern. Do we know if this was foul play or suicide? Am I able to call Bridget Newhouse yet? I had Decker put you two on this thing because you’re supposed to be the best and here I am in the dark.”
“Sorry, Chief,” Ryan said, though Jessie noted that he didn’t look especially apologetic. “We’ve been grinding hard on this and figured you’d rather we be working to solve the case than wasting your time with inconclusive updates.”
“Are they inconclusive?” Laird demanded. “You don’t know anything yet?”
“Nothing definitive,” Ryan said. “We’re waiting on the medical examiner’s preliminary report as to whether the death was a result of strangulation. Until then, we don’t even know for sure if he died some other way and was placed in the steam room afterward.”
“Does that mean you’re leaning away from suicide?” Laird asked.
“We can’t be sure, Chief,” Jessie said. “The angle of his body in relation to the ribbon around his neck seemed odd if he did it himself, but ‘odd’ isn’t enough to rule it out. And everyone we’ve spoken to who knows him acknowledged his struggles with depression.”
Laird was quiet for a moment. Jessie wondered how much the chief knew about those struggles and whether he was feeling any guilt about not doing more to help.
“Assuming this wasn’t his doing,” Laird asked, “do you have any credible suspects?”
“We’re still looking at Mrs. Newhouse,” Ryan told him, “as well as two other couples that joined them here for the weekend. None of them have iron-clad alibis and we’re exploring potential motives for each of them. We’re also looking into staff at the resort. Our research team is checking for criminal histories among them. There’s been a rash of thefts in recent weeks and while they may not be connected, we’re checking on that as well.”
“How realistic do you think that possibility is?”Laird asked skeptically.
“We don’t want to rule anything out, Chief,” Ryan said noncommittally.
“So to be clear,” Laird pressed, “you’re telling me that it’s still not advisable for me to reach out to Bridget?”
Ryan looked over at Jessie to get her thoughts. She responded carefully.
“I don’t think there’s any harm in offering your condolences,” she said. “But maybe don’t do it directly. You could have your assistant call on your behalf and tell her that you’ve personally assigned us to the case, or maybe you could send flowers through the resort. I would just avoid any direct communication where she could ask you about the case or request any special treatment. If she is somehow involved, you don’t want it to look like you compromised the case or your credibility.”
“Do you think my credibility is in question, Hunt?” he demanded haughtily.
“Of course not, Chief,” she answered immediately, “But you never how the press will spin it. Once we’ve cleared her, we’ll let you know right away and you can smooth things over. But until then, I’d avoid any personal contact.”
“Fine,” Laird said, sounding more like a petulant child than a police chief. “But if I wait too much longer and she’s not a part of this, the damage will be done. I don’t want her telling the media that the police chief was insensitive to her loss. So move fast. Maybe put a little pressure on that M.E.”
“Yes, Chief,” Ryan promised.
Jessie observed that he chose not to mention that he’d called the medical examiner’s office not fifteen minutes earlier and been told they didn’t have anything yet. It also occurred to her that there might be another way to show Laird that they were pursuing all angles.
“One more thing, Chief,” she said quickly. “Peninsula hired a private detective named Katherine Gentry to investigate those thefts that Detective Hernandez mentioned. We know her well. If you authorize it, we could make her a temporary consultant and she could assist on our case. It would give us an additional resource without drawing unwanted attention.”
“I suppose that’s alright,” Laird said reluctantly. “Captain Decker can make it happen. Just have her keep a low profile.”
It was several seconds before they realized that they been unceremoniously hung up on. Neither of them commented on that as Ryan took Jamil and Beth off hold.
“We’re back,” he told them.
“Good, Jamil said excitedly, “because I think I may have a lead for you.”
“Shoot,” Ryan told him.
“It’s one of the employees with a sealed juvie record,” Jamil explained. “But he’s also got two adult convictions.”
“What for?” Jessie asked, trying to control her anticipation.
“One was for assault. The other was for theft.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
As they hurried down the hall to the main laundry room, Jessie noticed Ryan adjust the holster on his gun. She did the same.
Jamil had given them a name—Ronnie Nance--as well as a mug shot. When they passed Ronnie’s name along to Hugo, the head of security checked with staff services and found the guy was on laundry duty today. When they got to the door of the laundry room, they found Hugo waiting for them.
“Resort management wants me present for your interview,” he explained apologetically. “I’ll try not to get in the way. Do you want me to make the introduction?”
“Sure,” Ryan said. Jessie agreed that it was good move. Maybe if Ronnie saw a familiar face first, he he’d be more likely to talk.
Hugo opened the door and they entered the massive laundry room. Jessie knew she shouldn’t have been surprised that a resort as big as this had what amounted to a gym-sized facility to launder thousands of guest towels, not to mention clothes. She saw one large machine that she couldn’t identify with steam coming out of the top. It looked like something from the nineteenth century.