Malevolence

The three men continue toward the hallway where the alcove and the men’s room are located. The camera in the alcove follows them out the exit door, where presumably Maria is taking a smoking break.

“It’s unfortunate that there were no cameras covering the door and the dumpsters.”

“Management says they’re going to fix that. A little late.”

“I guess the two goons had already scoped that out. Any video of them checking it out earlier in the weekend?”

“Who knows? They hide from the camera very well. We’re looking at videos.”

“So that’s it?”

“Most of the politicians didn’t stay at the hotel. Way too pricey for even them. Maybe it’s some sort of violation of the law to use campaign contributions for ultra-luxury hotels. The donors stayed at the Island all weekend. Some politicians had their rooms directly paid for by donors. I guess that’s legal. All the others stayed in cheaper hotels or with rich friends. No one so far admits to staying at the Harland. The room Maryanne went to was paid for by an offshore corporation that Waite managed to follow to an account in Qatar.”

“Good luck trying to trace that. So, you just have to talk to a few hundred conference attendees and try to find someone who acts guilty.”

“You forget that there were plenty of people who gate-crashed the party to network and glad-hand. They wouldn’t be registered or have any record of them being there.”

“I take it most of the politicians and their aides have left town by now. How are you going to interview hundreds of people by phone and Skype without them leaking it to the feds?”

“We’ll have to narrow down the field quite a bit before that’s necessary.”

“This might take a while, even for brilliant minds such as my former colleagues in the greatest police department in the country.”

Osborne’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going to interfere, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely not. I’m shocked that you would even suggest such a thing. I’m up to my eyeballs in work at the courthouse.”

“Just keep it to a minimum, okay? I’ll share what I can, but if the lieutenant gets wind of you sniffing around, he’ll blame me.”

Rosemaria showed him her best innocent expression.

“Just so you know,” Osborne added, “Maria has an uncle on her mother’s side, Malcomb Curtis. She obviously had parents who never gave a damn, and we were not able to track them down. Curtis said he has no idea where they are either. He’ll be coming next week to claim the body and bury her.”

“I’d love to meet him, if that’s okay.”

Osborne sighed. “All right. I’ll arrange it. And we need to talk to Maryanne. Can you bring her in next week?”

“Your wish is my command.”

“If only that were true.”