CHAPTER FOUR
A few hours later, Lacey slid onto the high stool at The Anchor as Jack grabbed the seat to her right. They were the only two spots left in the little pub at lunchtime. Helping other customers, the bartender pointed at the menu just out of Lacey’s reach. Jack nodded at him and stretched to grab it.
It’d been a long morning of patiently listening to Terry interview guests and employees at The Pacific Inn. She was glad the chief had asked them to stay. He was stretched thin with just two cops in his department on duty. At least she and Jack were able to offer experienced eyes and ears.
Jack studied the menu. “What do you want?”
“A beer and a big greasy burger. Extra bacon.”
He grinned. “Hungry?”
“Long morning. My brain is tired. At least we got to leave. I don’t think Terry is going to take more than five minutes to get something to eat.”
“Terry takes a case like this personally. He sees it as his responsibility to find the killer, and he won’t rest until he’s exhausted every possibility. Some of the guys used to call him ‘Bull,’ because he never stopped charging forward.”
“Didn’t he play college football? Were they the ones that called him Bull or did the Lakeview police?” Lacey asked.
“Both,” grinned Jack.
The bartender took their orders and pulled them drafts of a local microbrew he claimed was his best seller. Lacey held her beer below her nose and inhaled. Wheaty. Fruity. Maybe some honey. She had a healthy appreciation for Northwest brews. She sipped and smiled. It was terrific. Glancing at Jack, she saw that his was a third gone already. Had he even tasted it?
The noon newscast on the TV above the bar caught her attention. The murder had made the Portland stations. The bar suddenly grew quiet as everyone listened. Several patrons lifted their drinks in toast to the screen when the victim’s picture appeared.
“I hope they hang the guy that did that to Patty,” said the man next to Lacey. He was a skinny guy in weathered jeans and a black T-shirt. He had the tan and squint lines of someone who spent a lot of time on the water. Not on a surfboard, but more likely on a fishing boat. He had workingman hands with dirt under the nails and several fine white scars. Fish hooks? According to the patch on his shirt, his name was Saul.
“Did you know her?” Lacey asked. Beside her she felt Jack’s radar tune in on the conversation.
“Yep. Everybody knew Patty. As sweet as could be. She tended bar here five nights a week. Was she supposed to be here tonight, Rick?” he asked the bartender. The other man nodded, his gaze still on the TV screen as he mechanically dried a glass.
“That’s really sad,” said Lacey. “We’re staying at the hotel where it happened. It was quite a shock to wake up to all the police this morning.” If Terry didn’t know the locals yet, she’d see what she could find out.
Saul looked at her with interest. “Did you see what happened?” His eyes crinkled in curiosity. The man on his other side leaned forward to listen. He looked like he’d hopped off the same fishing boat, but he wore a hat that said “Deere.” Both men appeared to be in their early thirties and in need of haircuts.
“Not really,” answered Lacey. “We just saw them wheeling the body out in one of those bags.”
“They said on the news she was wearing a wedding dress. Is that true?” Deere asked.
Lacey widened her eyes. “I heard that. I don’t know. Was she getting married?”
Saul snorted. “No, I think she was done with that. She was married once, and it didn’t go so well. Most of us have known her and Will forever. I coulda told them it wasn’t going to last. She was way too independent for him. Will was a bit too controlling. He’s an okay guy, but those two together were like oil and water.”
Deere nodded in grave agreement.
“Then why do you think she was in a wedding dress?” Lacey asked.
The two men exchanged glances and then looked at Lacey. “No freaking idea,” said Saul.
“Maybe she had a secret boyfriend and was running off with him, but he changed his mind at the last minute. She seeing anybody?” Lacey asked, giving her sweetest smile. She felt Jack squeeze her upper thigh, warning her to tread carefully. What was the harm in a few questions?
“Patty’s not the type to run off with a guy. She would date a bit here and there, but I suspect that’s kind of hard when you already know every person in town and you live with your ex-husband,” said Deere.
“What?” Lacey feigned surprise. “She lived with her ex-husband? So they were still good friends?”
Both men laughed. “Hell, no,” said Deere. “Will and her could barely be in the same room together. They tried to sell that house, but they’re upside down in the mortgage. Neither could afford to pay that and go live with a roommate, so they were stuck.”
“A lot of people are struggling with that these days,” Lacey said with sympathy. “I guess we might never know what happened to her.”
Once again the men exchanged looks and then both took swigs of their beer.
“What?” asked Lacey. “Do you know something?” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jack had his head turned to the TV, but she was certain he was listening to every word of their conversation.
Saul leaned in. “Everyone believes her husband did it. No one is surprised she’s dead. And I heard they can’t find Will. So where is he? He doesn’t go on vacation. I can only figure he’s hiding out somewhere.”
Deere nodded solemnly.
Lacey stared at the men. They were totally serious. “You really think he did it?”
More nods.
“Well, they say the police always look at the closest family members first. They won’t have to look too far if he’s the one,” she said. Her heart sank. Had Patty been killed by her ex-husband? What kind of miserable life had the woman led?
“Did they close the hotel?” Deere asked.
“No. Well, I don’t know,” Lacey said. “I know they’re questioning everyone and checking the entire place for evidence. I don’t know if they’re taking new reservations or not.”
“Can’t be good publicity for a place like that,” added Saul. “No rich people want to go to a hotel where people are killed. It doesn’t say much for their security.”
“I hope it doesn’t affect its business. It’s a nice place.” Lacey watched a look of disgust cross Deere’s face. “What?” she asked.
“It’s a parasite. Nothing was wrong with the old hotel. Lots of people worked up there. Then this new owner comes in and does a clean sweep. Brings in people to work who don’t even live around here. How many people lost their jobs?” he asked Saul.
He shrugged. “Lots.”
“That’s right,” said Deere. “Mary Lou’s family owned that place for years. It seemed like nothing could be done to get tourists to come to Seaport, and her business went down every year, but she tried to keep it open so people would have a place to work. She finally sold it for a fraction of what that land had to be worth, trying to get out from under the burden.”
“Sounds like the new buyer did her a favor,” commented Lacey. What was Deere getting at?
“No, he took advantage of her. Look how successful that place is. He should have paid a lot more than he did.”
Lacey frowned. How could this be the buyer’s fault? “Did he pay what she was asking?”
“Yeah, I think he worked her down a little bit. But she didn’t know he was gonna make such a success out of it.” Deere looked down into his beer as if realizing his argument was a bit weak.
Lacey tried not to laugh into her own beer. The buyer was expected to fail? And didn’t? And now some of the townspeople were annoyed that he’d been successful? Ouch. “Someone sank a lot of money into that property. He could have lost everything he spent trying to get it into shape. That’s a pretty big risk. I have to imagine that the people who come to the hotel spend some money in Seaport at the local businesses, yes? Like charter-boat fishing? Or even in here to eat? I bet a lot of them eat in the restaurant.”
Both men looked around the room with glum faces. “There’s that book guy,” said Deere, jerking his head toward a man reading a book at a table in the back. “He’s in here a lot. Stays up at the hotel all the time. Some big author. But I’ve never heard of him.”
Lacey cast a quick glance at the man in the corner. He had a receding hairline and glasses and seemed utterly focused on his book. She hadn’t recognized the author’s name when Paul had mentioned it earlier. Maybe he wrote under a pen name. “See? I bet he’d never eat here if he didn’t come out to stay at the hotel. I wouldn’t be here, either.”
“Well, it’d help if the hotel would hire locally.” Deere wasn’t ready to give up his complaints about The Pacific Inn. “That bald manager is a jerk. Told everyone they didn’t know how to clean or even do the repairs right. Will was a darned good handyman. He shouldn’t have been fired.”
“Wait. You’re saying Patty’s ex-husband was fired from the hotel? When?” Lacey’s brain started spinning. Why hadn’t Paul Lott mentioned that today? Did Terry know?
“Right away. That bald ass hadn’t been running the show for a month when he let most of the employees go. Said they were slackers.” He rubbed at his nose with his forearm. Lacey suspected he was more offended by the word slackers than by the fact that so many people lost their jobs.
From what she’d seen of Paul, he didn’t take flak from anyone. He had high expectations, and she suspected that the old employees hadn’t embraced his expectations with open arms. Not many people like a management shake-up.
Did Paul and Will have a falling-out?
Burgers were set in front of her and Jack. Lacey’s stomach rumbled, and she dug in, momentarily forgetting about the dead bride and her difficult ex-husband.
“We need to talk to Terry,” Jack said quietly beside her, his burger disappearing at a rapid rate. Lacey nodded with a full mouth.
Lacey and Jack stood quietly by as Paul stared at Terry. The manager seemed caught off guard by the chief’s question.
“Patty is Will Marino’s ex-wife?” Paul asked. “I didn’t put two and two together. Yes, I know Patty from the bar in town. She’s worked there as long as I can remember. And I heard you mention that you were looking for her ex-husband. But I didn’t realize she was Will’s ex-wife. I didn’t work with him very long. It wasn’t until you said his name specifically that I remembered him.”
Lacey studied Paul’s face, uncertain whether to believe him. She couldn’t tell if he truly didn’t know that Patty and Will had been married. This was the most distraught she’d seen the manager. Before, he’d always been calm and thoroughly in control.
“What happened with Will Marino?” Terry asked. “How long ago did you fire him?”
Paul sat down in a chair in the hotel conference room. Lacey, Jack, and Terry followed suit. They’d rushed back from lunch to ask Terry about Will Marino’s connection to the hotel. Terry had immediately grabbed Paul for another talk.
Paul ran a hand over his forehead. “I think Will was in the first group I let go. I’d have to check the records, but I let most of the maintenance men go almost immediately. Once I saw how little they cared about the upkeep of the old hotel, I knew they weren’t the type of people I needed for the new one.”
“Was it a bad scene?” Terry asked. “Did he get angry?”
Paul screwed up his face in thought. “I’ve fired a lot of people in this business. There’s nothing that stands out about that one. I laid out my expectations for these guys and asked if anyone had a problem with my rules. No one complained. I mean, if you walk down a hallway, you look at the flooring and walls, right? If something is dirty, you clean it up. If it’s broken, you fix it. What’s so hard about that? It was like these people couldn’t see what was right in front of them. They were so used to looking at dirty, stained carpet that they couldn’t see that anything needed to be done about it.
“I gave them several opportunities to improve their performance, and they all consistently missed the mark. It was a group dismissal. There were three men, and I informed all of them on the same day.”
“That could have turned ugly,” commented Jack. He sat beside Lacey, listening carefully to Paul’s story. Jack knew about holding employees to expectations. And firing. He dealt with contractors and executives all day long, and he’d experienced nastiness from both groups of workers.
“It didn’t. They all looked at each other and laughed, and said they didn’t want to work for me anyway. A face-saving response, I believe. I didn’t hear from any of them again. Actually, I haven’t heard about anyone I’ve let go.
“I haven’t fired anyone since the first two months I was here. All my hires have worked out great,” Paul said matter-of-factly.
Lacey was impressed. That said good things about the environment Paul had created for his employees.
“I’ll need a list of the employees who’ve been let go since you started.” Terry scribbled something on the second sheet of his notebook. “But first I want to have a talk with Will Marino.” Mathews strode into the room without knocking. Terry looked annoyed for a split second until he saw the excitement on Mathews’s face. “What is it?” Terry asked.
“I talked to Will Marino’s mother in Idaho. She hasn’t heard from her son in a few weeks, which is normal behavior for him. But she says he has a fishing cabin a few miles out of town that he shares with a few people. She didn’t know exactly where, but she said he spends a lot of time there.”
“This is a place he owns? Like his name’s on the title?” Terry asked.
“No, his mother says someone else owns it. Sounds like he goes up there with a group of guys pretty often.”
“You know who he goes up there with?” Terry asked.
Lacey could see that the chief was frustrated to not automatically have that information. If this had happened in Lakeview, Terry would have instantly known the victim and all the haunts where her ex-husband could be found.
Mathews shook his head. “I’m going to hunt down some of Will’s friends. See if any of them know about it.”
Jack spoke up. “Mathews, everyone in town knew Patty because she worked at The Anchor, right? Did they also all know her living situation?”
The cop paused, looking from Terry to Jack a few times. Terry’s face said he was interested in the question, too.
“Patty kept things pretty quiet, but word gets around. She was an attractive woman.” Mathews swallowed hard. “People liked to talk to pretty girls, especially when they’re serving you beer. It was a well-known fact that Will was an ass to her.”
“So people are thinking that it’s Will who killed her?” Jack asked. “Is that what people are guessing?”
Mathews shifted his weight. “I’ve had a few people ask me if that’s what happened. I’ve told them we don’t know.”
“Keep telling them that,” insisted Terry. “And find out where this fishing cabin is.”
“Yes, Chief.” Mathews vanished out the door.
“Mathews, wait!”
The young cop popped back inside. “Yes, Chief?”
“Did you find out what Will was doing yesterday?”
“Garcia requested his cell phone records. I’ll check with him. And from what I’ve heard, Will hasn’t worked anywhere in months and was pretty sour about it.”
“Thanks. Go.” Terry waved a hand to dismiss him.
“Are you done with me too for now?” Paul asked.
“Yes. Did you pull the video from your front-desk camera?”
Paul nodded. “It’s digital. I can create some stills from all the checkins if you like.”
“That’d save me some time,” Terry said.
Paul left, and Terry reached up his arms to stretch his back. “How long before we hear anything from the medical examiner?” he asked Lacey.
“It depends what else is on his docket,” said Lacey. “I can touch base with him if you’d like. See if he has anything preliminary. We have her ID established. We need her cause of death and a better time frame. And anything unusual he might have found.”
“Do you mind?”
She pulled out her cell phone in answer. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She stepped out of the room and moved down the hall. The clock was ticking on the case. The sooner they had a firm lead on the killer, the better.
She Googled the phone number for the county medical examiner’s office and got Dr. Pillai on the phone within a minute by using her credentials.
“Dr. Campbell. Now you’re helping out with the investigation?” Dr. Pillai asked. “I’d offer whatever help I could if a murder happened at my hotel on vacation,” he joked.
“Let’s just say I’m here to translate the medical findings for the police department. Unofficially. You can send your formal report once you’re done, but if you already have a tighter time of death, it’d help us hunt down who did this.”
“I’ve changed my time frame a bit. I believe her death happened between ten and midnight last night. The heat of the tub sped up the lividity. And cause of death is strangulation. Unless the toxicology comes back with any other indicators, but those would probably be secondary factors. Her hyoid bone is broken, and using alternative light sources, the finger marks around her neck are clear as day. She also has petechiae in the whites of her eyes and scratch marks around her neck, indicating that she struggled while someone was applying pressure. I removed the tissue from under her nails. I’m sure some will be hers, but there’s a good chance she scratched him, too.”
“The bruises on the neck were pretty clear to start with,” Lacey said, remembering the colors on Patty’s neck.
“I can see every fingertip,” Dr. Pillai stated quietly. “There’s no other evidence of violence to her body. No other broken bones or bruising. No sexual activity.”
Lacey closed her eyes. She hadn’t considered that aspect of the kill. Sometimes her view of the world was a bit na?ve. She liked it that way. “That’s good.”
“I’ve removed the wedding dress and will send it back to the police. I looked it over but didn’t find anything unusual. There’s a good chance it was hers. The size was a good fit.”
“I’ll see if she has any old wedding photos with the dress.” Lacey made a mental note to pass on the request to Terry. “Thank you for your help. Let us know if anything else turns up.”
“Will do,” said Dr. Pillai.
She stepped back in the room to find that Garcia had joined them.
“I got Will Marino’s cell records from the last few days,” he was saying to Terry, handing over a sheet of paper. “There are only three calls from yesterday. As you can see, two are to Patty’s cell phone and one is to The Anchor.
“All the calls are in the evening. He called Patty twice, back-to-back. Then an hour later he calls the bar.”
“What time are the calls to Patty?” Lacey asked.
Terry squinted at the sheet. “The first is at seven forty-three for three minutes. Then there’s another ten minutes later.”
Lacey nodded. “Dr. Pillai is estimating her time of death between ten p.m. and midnight. And he’s convinced she was strangled. He hasn’t found indications of anything else. He’s waiting on tox reports. You should have an official report tomorrow morning.”
“He must have called Patty at the bar. What do you think they discussed?” Terry wondered.
Lacey doubted it was pleasant.