Blood Loss (8 page)

‘Mrs Whaley – what happened back there with Cathy Merritt?’ said Ren.

‘I know that didn’t look good,’ said Erica, ‘and you’re probably thinking all kinds of things about Mark … but it’s just not how it seemed. I think that was a rant from somewhere in Cathy’s past. I met Mark when he was in recovery. I guess I see him how Cathy did when she first met him. He’s a wonderful guy. So I understand, to a point, how she could be so bitter that he left. I think she’s still hurt. She sees it that he cleaned up his act for me, even though he was doing it for himself. Mark’s been through a lot. Yes, he was an alcoholic, but he’s in recovery – he’s been sober for six years. And even still, Cathy didn’t want him having access to Laurie.’

Ren nodded.

‘Mark is a good person,’ said Erica. ‘I’ve never seen anything other than that. He told me all about his past, he’s always been honest about it. He was a different person back then.’

‘OK,’ said Ren. She stood up and thanked her.

Bob was with a detective in the hallway when she walked out. The detective nodded at Ren and took her place in the room.

‘Well, Mrs Whaley’s still drunk,’ said Ren.

‘I thought she might be,’ said Bob.

‘Do you know what’s sad?’ said Ren. ‘Millions of women will hear about this on the news, about the mother who was down in the restaurant getting drunk while her children were upstairs. And, really, there are lots of people everywhere who could just as easily be in the same position. Guilty, Your Honor. Of socializing.’

The Safe Streets team had made a command center out of the same office they had used for the Jean Transom investigation.

‘It’s like we never left,’ said Ren. She glanced at Colin. ‘Except you’re not at cat lady’s desk.’

‘Cat lady appears to be gone,’ said Cliff. ‘There’s no sign of any kitty pictures anywhere.’

‘She’s probably lying dead on her apartment floor and they’re chewing on her remains,’ said Ren.

‘So …’ said Gary. ‘Erica Whaley?’

‘Well, I’m not convinced of the whole notion of being scared sober,’ said Ren.

One look at myself at 3 a.m. in a bar-room mirror would solve all my problems if that were the case.

‘I think she’s telling the truth in as much as she can,’ said Ren, ‘but attention to detail won’t be her strong suit, and that’s really agitating her. Not to mention the showdown with her husband’s ex.’

‘Which lady is telling the truth about Mark Whaley?’ said Gary.

‘I’m guessing they both are,’ said Ren. ‘But despite her big defense of him, Erica Whaley still suspected him of having an affair.’

‘What’s your reading?’ said Gary.

‘I’m not sure about the affair,’ said Ren, ‘but I am sure that he is lying.’

‘What makes you say that?’ said Colin.

‘My gut,’ said Ren. ‘And a few other things.’ She read from the statement she had taken. ‘Exhibit A, when I asked him what time he left the table, and what happened, he said “I guess … eleven thirty? And then I came back down to Erica.”’

‘And?’ said Colin.

‘Think about it,’ said Ren. ‘The sitter has possibly taken your child. Wouldn’t you analyze every single second of your last encounter with her, then recount the entire thing? Mark Whaley fast-forwarded to getting back to his wife. He skipped the entire time he was in the room i.e. the last time he saw the sitter,
and
his daughter. That usually means that someone has edited out their bad behavior in some way.’

‘You don’t think it was just that he’s a nervous wreck?’ said Bob.

‘No,’ said Ren. ‘I also asked him was there anything out of place in the kids’ room. He answered: “Absolutely not. Nothing.” Who is absolutely sure of what is or isn’t out of place in a hotel room they’ve just been in a couple of hours?’ said Ren.

Bob nodded. ‘Hmm.’

‘It was like he wanted me to get out of that room, figuratively,’ said Ren. ‘Also, twice he answered my question with questions, as if he was stalling for time. Literally. Stalling for the time it took to come up with a time. Another weird thing was that twice he mentioned the sitter was wearing sweats. It’s kind of random. Oh, and then there was his pause after suggesting fifteen minutes, then quickly giving twenty as an option, which, I would venture is because he figured his wife would be in the other room telling a version that wouldn’t have added up. My conclusion is … there are two gaps in his story. At least.’

‘What do you think is at the root of them?’ said Gary.

‘That I don’t know,’ said Ren. ‘Maybe his wife is right – maybe he is having an affair. I don’t know …’

‘Maybe he stashed the mistress in another room,’ said Bob.

‘Is there a Mrs Smith on the guest list?’ said Ren.

‘Did you ask him to take a polygraph?’ said Gary.

‘I thought I’d wait a little while,’ said Ren. ‘I didn’t want to freak him out right away, but if anything else shows up …’

‘Let’s go to the hotel,’ said Gary.

He nodded toward Colin, Robbie and Cliff.

Robbie picked up his camera.

‘You do the room,’ said Ren. ‘I’ll follow you. I want to go talk to the desk clerk first. The statement he made earlier is … a little odd.’

Jared Labati was slouched in a chair in the office behind reception at The Merlin. He was staring at the floor, stretching a rubber band between his thumb and forefinger.

‘I already gave a statement,’ he said.

‘Not to me you didn’t,’ said Ren. ‘So, Jared, did you see anyone come in or out of the hotel after the Whaleys checked in?’

‘Just guests,’ said Jared, ‘and whoever they were meeting up with, I guess.’

‘Did you see Mr Whaley leave the hotel at any point?’ said Ren.

‘The Sheriff took the tape,’ said Jared.

‘I’m not talking about a tape right now,’ said Ren. ‘I’m asking you what you saw.’

You petulant prick.

‘Then, no,’ said Jared. ‘I didn’t see him leave the hotel. But I saw him leave the restaurant. Out of the corner of my eye. He headed for the elevator.’

‘Where were you?’ said Ren.

‘At the desk,’ said Jared.

‘Did you notice anything about him?’ said Ren.

‘It was only out of the corner of my eye,’ said Jared. ‘He was walking fast. It’s not like I was staring at him. He looked fine to me …’

‘And did you see him come back to the restaurant?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Jared.

‘Were you anywhere other than in the lobby area last night?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Jared.

‘What did Mr Whaley say when he phoned you from the room?’ said Ren.

Jared shrugged. ‘I think, like, “help, my daughter’s gone”, something like that. And he asked me to shut down the hotel. He kind of hung up, he was in a panic. So, I just went over and locked the front door. Then I called 911.’

‘How does it work if I’m a guest here and I want to book a sitter?’ said Ren.

‘Well, you call down or request a sitter at check-in and we put in a call to the agency.’

‘What agency do you use?’ said Ren, glancing at the notes.

‘It’s right there,’ he said, ‘Breck Sitters.’

‘I just want to hear you say it,’ said Ren. Her voice was flat. ‘So Shelby Royce was sent by Breck Sitters …’

‘Uh … yes.’

‘You seem a little hesitant,’ said Ren.

‘I just … I have to answer all these questions …’ said Jared.

‘Has she been to The Merlin before to babysit?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Jared.

‘Can you tell me anything else about Shelby?’ said Ren. ‘Do you know her well?’

‘Yeah,’ said Jared. ‘She lives on the same street, we went to the same high school. She was a couple years behind. But … we’re friends.’

‘And what kind of girl is she?’ said Ren.

‘Cr—, fun,’ said Jared.

‘What were you going to say?’ said Ren. ‘“Cr—”?’

‘Crazy?’ said Jared. ‘But, like, you would probably just take that the wrong way.’

‘Do you think?’ said Ren. ‘I had a few crazy friends back in the day …’ She glanced at her notebook. ‘Does Shelby have a best friend?’

‘Yes,’ said Jared. ‘Jane Allen, I guess.’

‘Do you have a number for her?’ said Ren.

‘No.’

‘Don’t worry, we’ll get a hold of her,’ said Ren. ‘Do you have any thoughts on where Shelby and Mr Whaley’s daughter might be?’

‘I only just saw the Whaley girl last night …’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t have a clue.’

‘Did any of your friends stop by the hotel last night to say hi to you?’ said Ren.

‘On a Saturday night?’ He snorted.

‘What about the staff?’ said Ren. ‘Did you notice anything different?’

‘No.’

‘Were any of the contractors here?’ said Ren.

‘Uh … four of them were here for dinner,’ said Jared, ‘but they left, like, at ten.’

‘They weren’t working …’ said Ren.

‘No.’

‘Do you know their names?’ said Ren.

‘No, but I can find out.’ He looked away. ‘I can’t think of anything else I can help you with.’

‘That’s not really your call,’ said Ren.

‘Look, it’s Sunday morning,’ said Jared, pointing to the reception desk, ‘people are trying to check out. I need to be there.’

‘It’s nine a.m.,’ said Ren. She looked at her notes. ‘Didn’t your shift end hours ago?’

‘Oh, yeah,’ said Jared. ‘I guess with all the commotion …’

‘Well, thank you for your time,’ said Ren, standing up, shaking his sweaty palm.

Ew.

The door to Room 304 was open, and Sheriff’s Office detectives were in the hallway outside, talking loud enough for Ren to follow the sound when she got off the elevator. She nodded to the men, flashed her badge to the officer at the door, and went in. She pulled on her gloves.

The room was more European capital city than Breckenridge ski resort, except that it was spacious. It had modern lines, but was decorated in warm shades of cream and beige.

A crime scene tech was sliding a cotton swab across the edge of the low walnut headboard. Ren recognized it from the photo of Laurie Whaley. The tech looked up at Ren. The tip of the swab he was holding was reddish brown.

Oh, no.

‘We found a blood-stained pillow and a wet blood-stained towel in a plastic hotel laundry bag at the back of the wardrobe,’ he said. ‘Looks like someone used the towel to wipe blood away.’

Ren looked at the lamp shade on the nightstand beside him.

‘There’s an indentation there,’ said Ren. ‘Looks like it fell, and was put back up.’ She turned it around. ‘Yup – there are bloody prints here.’

The technician nodded.

Ren walked through the door into the adjoining room. The bathroom door was to her left. She could see another technician in there, swabbing the tiles.

‘Looks like someone’s head was bashed against the headboard,’ said Gary.

‘Yes,’ said Ren. ‘And someone tried to clean it up.’

Gary handed her an evidence bag.

‘What’s this?’ said Ren. There was a small, torn string of blue and brown beads in it, with more loose beads at the bottom.

‘They were found right here by the door,’ said Gary. ‘It’s some kind of bracelet, could belong to either of the females, or a cleaner, or an unsub, or anyone else who could have been in the room.’

‘They’re ghost beads,’ said Ren.

‘So the girls were taken by spirits …’ said Colin. ‘Case closed.’

‘Actually, ghost beads are meant to ward off evil spirits,’ said Ren. ‘They’re Native American.’

‘Your people,’ said Colin.

Somewhere in Ren’s past, there was Iroquois blood.

‘Is there a dance you could do that would make an unsub rain down?’ said Colin.

‘Keep ’em coming …’ said Ren.

She studied the bag. ‘Laurie Whaley was wearing the bracelet in the photo. It’s hers.’

‘So she could have been pulled out of the room by the wrist,’ said Gary.

‘Or chased into it from the parents’ room,’ said Ren. ‘I’m wondering how, assuming there was an unsub, he could have subdued Shelby out in the other room if she was close to the main door? Wouldn’t she have just run?’

‘Two unsubs?’ said Gary.

‘A planned operation, then,’ said Ren.

‘Two unsubs could have been planning a robbery …’ said Gary. ‘Got the wrong room, or got the right room, but thought it was going to be empty …’

‘They could have been taking advantage of the fact that the hotel wasn’t quite on its feet yet,’ said Ren. ‘They knew security was lax.’

‘The contractors would know that,’ said Colin.

Ren looked around the room. ‘Anything else in here?’

‘Nothing that jumps out,’ said Gary.

‘Which bed is whose?’ said Ren.

‘Leo Whaley’s is the one by the window,’ said Gary.

There was a portable DVD player on top of the rumpled bed clothes. Ren put on gloves and went over to open it. ‘“
Dora
”,’ said Ren. ‘Not something Laurie would watch. Could Leo have been watching this in bed? Headphones on, which is why he didn’t hear anything? Or he could have fallen asleep with the headphones on …’

Gary nodded. ‘The child forensic gal – Sylvie Ross is her name – should be hitting Breck round about now. She’s part of the CARD team.’

Gal …

‘And then we can benefit from the wisdom of Leo Whaley’s three years,’ said Colin.

‘Three-year-olds can surprise you,’ said Gary.

‘Even traumatized, pajama-wetting ones?’ said Ren.

‘Well, I’m not holding my breath,’ said Gary.

‘Ren will do a little rain dance,’ said Colin.

‘Yes,’ said Ren. ‘Then I could shove my peace pipe up your—’

‘Ren – did you speak with the desk clerk?’ said Gary.

‘Yes,’ said Ren. ‘He’s another candidate for my peace pipe.’

‘Why?’

‘Just – he’s a dick. Probable stoner. Isn’t remotely alarmed by the situation. Thinks he should hate the Feds because he saw it in a movie once …’

‘Has anyone spoken to the owner of the hotel?’ said Gary.

‘He’s not here yet,’ said Ren. ‘I’ll go down and see if we’ve got an ETA.’

‘I’ll meet with the Royces,’ said Gary.

Bob Gage was walking away from a couple who were sitting on a sofa in the foyer, the husband with a protective arm around his crying wife.

‘The Royces,’ said Bob when Ren came over to him.