“You’re back,” she said, looking at Van Camp. “Do you know anything? Have you found out who did this? My God, I still can’t believe it!”
She had a glass in her hand, half full of some amber liquid—Scotch, he figured, or bourbon. Aidan had a feeling she’d already knocked back a few. Her eyes were red and swollen. She’d obviously been crying and crying hard for a long time. Even as she looked at them, a trickle of tears started down her cheeks.
Van Camp introduced Aidan. “So we’ve got locals and Feds,” she murmured. “Well, we may need magic police in on this one, because it was, like, poof! Richard just...disappeared.”
“Tell me about your day—and the last time you saw Richard,” Aidan said.
She didn’t offer them anything to drink and didn’t suggest they sit. Her room wasn’t small, although it was a junior suite. Nothing like Branch’s. But she had a desk, sofa, coffee table and small kitchenette.
Voorhaven leaned against the wall. Van Camp didn’t wait for an invitation; he walked across the room and took a seat on the sofa.
Jilli turned, her fingers curled around her drink, and sat on the bed.
“It was a good day. A good travel day that became a good campaign day,” Jilli said.
“Why was he campaigning up here?” Voorhaven asked. “He was a mayoral candidate in the city.”
Jilli smiled. “This is the Hudson Valley! It’s beautiful and it’s about two hours out of the city. People come here for respite. New York City residents buy property up here—time-shares, little cottages, condos—you name it. It’s an escape zone. Richard was from this area and he loved it.”
Yes, he had. He’d loved roaming the forests. His parents might have moved to Florida, but he still felt a strong connection to the place. He’d loved a campfire at night and all the haunted happenings that went on around Halloween. He’d loved Washington Irving and tales of the Revolution and the hardy Dutch settlers who had first farmed the land.
“Okay, so you arrived here with your security detail.”
She nodded, studying her glass. “Richard was good about his security, knew he needed it for practical reasons. But he truly loved people. It wasn’t fake or part of the game with him. He’d shake hands or talk with anyone who wanted a word with him. So, we’d seen people at lunch, and when we came here we were high on the enthusiasm he received. We were in the convention center. There were cops everywhere, plus the center itself had its own security, and we had Muscles, Mischief and Magic. They were just checking the scanners—metal scanners, you know—when Richard disappeared. At first, we thought he’d wandered somewhere to practice his speech. Or gone outside for a breath of fresh air. But...I’m telling you, it was as if he disappeared into thin air.”
“You were testing the audio when that happened?”
“Yes. If they get a level with one person, then they just have to tweak it when Richard comes out,” she said. “That was the idea.”
“But you and Taylor Branch and the convention manager—Bari Macaby—were the last people to see him, correct?” Van Camp said.
Jilli nodded.
“Did Richard ever say anything to you about a strip club?” Aidan asked.
There was shock in her eyes. “A strip club?”
Aidan smiled. “Most men I know—and women, too, for that matter—have been in one at some point. Bachelorette parties, bachelor parties, birthdays.”
“Yeah, but Richard? In the middle of a campaign?”
“Did he have a friend named Lizzie? Or Elizabeth?” Aidan asked.
She shrugged. “He might have. I didn’t know all his friends. Lizzie...or Elizabeth. Not an unusual name. I know several.”
“Thank you,” Aidan said. “I hope you get some sleep.”
She still looked confused by the strip club question. She hadn’t moved when they reached the door. “Come and lock this,” Aidan told her gently.
She rose like a sleepwalker. When they were out in the hallway, Aidan heard the bolt slide home.
“Muscles, Mischief and Magic next?” Van Camp asked.
“No, let’s do Richard’s room,” Aidan said.
Van Camp opened the door to the suite.
It was larger than Branch’s with a huge living area, a conference table that would seat twelve, a good-size kitchenette and a bedroom. Richard had been almost OCD neat; the outer rooms could be described as Spartan. Aidan headed into the bedroom. “See what you find out here,” Aidan told Van Camp and Voorhaven.
Richard’s clothing had been neatly hung and his shoes were lined up in the closet. His computer was gone. Aidan knew it was at the police lab so they could search for anything that might give them a clue.
There was a notepad by the phone. It was blank.
But Aidan picked it up and held it to the light. He could see where a pen had pressed into the paper.
He didn’t have a pencil to run over the slight indentations on the page. But he studied it for a minute, trying to make out the words.
They said Lizzie grave.
Aidan had the strange feeling that Richard had idly written the same words over and over again.
Because they were always at the back of his mind?