“Remember that message you sent me for Burke, the one about the photos Samuel supposedly took of the girl?” Bahe wasn’t as jovial as usual.
“Sure. What do you need?”
“Burke found the pictures, still on that phone, along with quite a few more. Similar poses of other women, and maybe some minors, too. Since that teenager was the only one we had a name for, Burke tried to reach Isenberg to talk to him and his daughter. No luck.”
“The only phone number I have is the sister’s cell phone. I’ll give him that. The family is at Goulding’s.”
“They left yesterday. Burke thinks that’s suspicious. Burke doesn’t have any suspects in the murder at this point except Delahart, and maybe this girl’s father.”
“Did he find the gun?”
“No. It wasn’t in the room.” Bahe paused. “He asked if we could give him a hand. Burke wants us to review the security recordings from the hotel.”
“Us? Why? It’s a federal case.”
“I owe the guy a favor. So look at the tape and see if you spot Isenberg or anyone you recognize from being out on the movie set.”
Chee thought about it. “You know, the camera only captured people leaving the elevator and walking down the hall. Other movie people might have rooms on that same floor.”
“So check that out too.” Bahe tapped the flat end of his pencil on the tape. “Monica can set up the player. She’s good at that stuff.”
Bahe pushed the pile of papers, the exit forms, toward Chee. “I know you’re ready to get home. It’s been exciting having you here, to say the least. Just leave these on my desk before you head on back to Shiprock.”
Monica dealt with the technology smoothly, showing Chee the necessary buttons on the remote to run the TV monitor and the DVD player. Why was every one of these things just different enough to make life complicated?
“Any questions? And no, I won’t bring you popcorn.” She walked to the door and then came back. “I forgot to tell you to check your voice mail. You know that upset girl who came in yesterday? She called while you were talking to Bahe. I put her through to leave a message. And your wife called. She sounds nice over the phone.”
“She’s nice in person, too. I’ll introduce you when I’m back here for the sing.” She would know he meant the healing ceremony with the hataalii.
“Good. I’m looking forward to that.” Monica smiled at him. “If you have any trouble with the machine, give it a slap on the top with the palm of your hand.”
Chee pushed play and saw the elevator door and an empty hallway. Then came Samuel, walking toward Delahart’s room. More empty shots, and then he watched a man in a hotel uniform roll the room-service cart down the hall. Erdman’s assessment had been correct. People struggling with suitcases, a couple of older women holding little dogs, dry kids in swimsuits getting into the elevator, wet kids in swimsuits getting out of the elevator. The hallway was busier than he’d expected. After some serious boredom, Chee realized he could listen to his phone messages and watch the procession of people at the same time.
Courtney’s voicemail thanked him for yesterday. Then she changed the subject. “Hey, I’ve been on the movie’s fan page, and they had a story that said a policeman found a grave out where they’ve been filming, and now everyone is investigating. Do you know about that? Way bad!”
Delahart’s back at work, Chee thought. Would he use Samuel’s murder as a promotional tool too? He was surprised that Courtney’s message didn’t mention human bones.
He slowed the tape a few times and made note of a person or two whose body language seemed suspicious, and then fast-forwarded through a section with no people as he listened to Bernie’s message: “I miss you. Hope you’re OK and not working too hard. Call me.”
He was ready to punch in her number when something on the TV monitor caught his eye. He put the phone down and hit rewind. Someone who looked like Greg Robinson left the elevator and walked down the hallway toward Delahart’s door. Chee hit rewind and watched again. As Delahart’s assistant producer, Robinson probably had a million things to talk to him about. Chee decided he shouldn’t have been surprised to see him on the tape.
All in all, not much to go on. Of course, whoever shot Samuel could have entered and left by the open back door, but he hadn’t noticed any sand on the balcony’s floor or on the carpet. And there didn’t seem to be enough footprints in the sand for both coming and going. Chee focused on the images, waiting for Isenberg to appear and for Robinson to walk back to the elevator. He watched until he came to the footage of himself and Brenda heading for the room. No more Robinson. And no Isenberg.
The emergency exit staircase was at the end of the hall, he remembered, out of view of the hallway camera. Robinson could have left that way. And perhaps Isenberg, if he had been there at all, had come and gone on the back stairs, too. Erdman had mentioned other surveillance cameras that showed all the exits. Chee called her and left a message, asking her to have someone bring that tape over as soon as possible and deliver it to Bahe.
Bahe had left before Chee finished, so he wrote a note about Robinson and his request for the second tape, along with the paperwork to get a paycheck. Since he had to drive out to the movie set to serve the citation, he decided to do Burke a favor and ask Robinson face-to-face what he was doing at the hotel, clear up that loose end. It wasn’t his case, but he was curious.
Without Gerald’s oversight, the movie production parking situation had disintegrated into total chaos. He’d mention this to Robinson, too. The operation needed the parking attendant, budget crisis or not.
When Chee opened the door to the office trailer, the air-conditioned breeze bordered on too chilly. BJ looked up from her desk. “Hi. You’re back.”
“Yes, looking for Robinson again.”
“Good timing. His meeting broke up ten minutes ago.”
Bad timing, Chee thought. He’d hoped to arrive before the meeting started.
“Did you hear any more buzz about the murder?”
“No. I didn’t hear any more news about that. But—” She hesitated. “What the heck, you’ll hear this anyway. A lot more people are having their hours cut. Everyone’s upset.”
“Too bad.”
“It’s sad for the people who thought they’d have work for the next month or so.”
“And for the locals, too.” Chee heard something that sounded like a gunshot. “What was that?”
“Must be the special effects guys. You hear all kinds of things out here in zombie land. Don’t let it spook you, Officer. Robinson ought to be in the tent still—a lot of people had questions for him. If he’s not there, check his trailer. You know where it is.”