Judgment in Paradise, page 7
“It would have taken a lot of force to drive it all the way into his body.”
“I bet any of the Veiled would have the strength to do it.”
“Ash said there should have been a blood pool wherever it happened. We need to find the real crime scene.”
“If we’re going to be interviewing suspects in controlled spaces, I’m going to just bring a concealed weapon and leave the rest of the gear in the room. I want our suspects to let down their guard and that won’t happen if I’m in raid gear.”
“Good idea. I’ll let you start the interviews while I do a search for the actual crime scene.”
***
Mizuki looked over at Kenji. “What did you do?”
“I should be asking you that question.”
“I didn’t kill him. The situation with Rolf was under control.”
Kenji’s eyes were cold. “I could hear you with him from my room!”
“I’m not sure what you heard with those dog ears of yours, but I… nothing went on last night. With your jumping to conclusions, I bet you butted in and took care of him.”
“It wasn’t me. What did you mean you had him under control?”
“I had a mission to pump him for information. We needed to understand how much he knew, before acting.”
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“You didn’t need to know and I don’t report to you.”
Kenji looked down. “I understand.”
“We need to find his laptop and discover what he knew.”
“If I find it, I will bring it straight to you.”
“You better.”
***
A few tables away, Niamh poked Fiona. She whispered, “Was it you? I thought the plan was to steal back your pelt and run. You were really angry with him last night.”
Fiona shook her head. “I didn’t kill him. I wouldn’t dream that I could overpower him, or I would’ve done it before.”
“I heard he was drunk and would be easy for you to kill.”
“Who told you that? It can’t be true. He can drink people under the table and not have any affect on him. He said werewolves can’t get drunk.”
Niamh nodded in Tyra’s direction. “You think she did it?”
“I really don’t know much about the others. He had a lot of enemies, and it could be anybody. It’s best to not speculate or offer ideas to the Marshals.”
“Now you have your pelt back, what are you going to do once we can leave here? You can move in with me.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I need to get Rolf’s laptop back and take care of his affairs.”
“Why? He was evil and you’re finally free. Why go back into his world?”
“I’m owed a lot of money and want it before deciding what I want next.”
“Fiona, listen to yourself. ‘Want want want.’ Why does money matter? It can’t buy you happiness. The sea can provide what we need most in life.”
“Grow up Mermaid, we’re not kids any more. There is a world of adventure out there and it runs on money. Will you help me or not?”
“I came all this way to help you, I’m not going to stop now.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll pay for your stay here and the plane ticket once I have access to my money.”
“Thank you, I used most of my savings to help you.”
Fiona grabbed Niamh’s hand. “Help me get what’s mine and you’ll be rewarded.”
“I didn’t do this for any reward. I honor what we had.”
“You came to help restore what was mine, and you can still do that.”
“I’ll help.”
***
Tyra checked her phone. She had a message asking a single question. “Did you recover the data?”
“The subject is no more. Have not determined if there’s a failsafe. I will try and find out. Trapped here and can’t continue work order, use alternate contractor if failsafe is triggered.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No. Send payment for time spent.”
The body wasn’t even cold and her employer knew and was wanting an update. She hadn’t had a chance to report in. How did they know? Did they have a spy watching her? A micromanaging employer pissed her off to no end. She was also mad at herself for not accessing the information yet and didn’t need anyone trying to rush her. That’s how mistakes are made. It was good she closed the contract. Whatever she found will be her little bonus.
Looking around the room, the others were situated into their little clusters and the finger pointing has already started as to who was guilty and none of them are innocent.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Monday 11am-1pm HST
The meeting room Ali’i had for them was nice, but it wasn’t much of a way to spend a honeymoon. The first person they had brought in for an interview was Fiona Murphy.
Abby smiled and said, “Miss Murphy, please take a seat.”
“Please call me Fiona.”
“Fiona, I know you have already talked to David, but we had a couple more questions before moving on to the next person. When did you find out Rolf had been killed?”
“When David told me after I tried to take a swim in the ocean.”
“If you didn’t know Rolf was dead, how come you broke into the room safe in a panic?”
Fiona bit her lip. “Rolf stole my pelt and had been using it to control me. I saw him sneaking off to see Mizuki, so I figured it was my chance to get the pelt and get away.”
“He must have left you alone a number of times. Why did you choose this time to get it back and run for it?”
“He wanted me to force my best friend to sleep with him and he put a time limit on it. I wasn’t going to do it and nether was she, so I took the first chance I got. I couldn’t let him hold the pelt and force me to do it.”
“How long did he have your pelt?”
“He has forced me to serve him for several years.”
“Why now?”
“Normally the places he takes me are far from the sea.”
“What does he normally make you do?”
“Besides making me sleep with him, he uses me to seduce people as part of his cons.”
“I suppose you both had a lot of enemies from people being conned?”
“I would guess so, but I don’t know anything about that.”
“Why did you think he was seeing Mizuki that night?”
“He booked this trip to see her. I think he was going to extort money from her.”
“Is that why he brought you?”
“He didn’t trust me alone back at the house, for good reason. I wouldn’t have a chance breaking into his safe.”
“One last thing, we saw a laptop bag but no laptop.”
“Normally it’s in the safe or with him in its bag. I don’t remember seeing it when I took my pelt, but I wasn’t looking for it.”
“What was on the laptop?”
“I don’t know. It was encrypted; it might have held blackmail materials to use against the people he conned.”
“The room looked like it had been searched. Was that something you did?”
“All I did was open the safe. I had no reason to search the room, but Rolf was complaining yesterday that he felt it had been searched and he tried to blame me. It could be they came back to look more.”
“They? Do you think it was more than one person?”
“Just a figure of speech, I have no idea. I only know it wasn’t me.”
“Tell me again the events of last night.”
“Rolf and I went to our room about eleven and had sex. I was sleeping when Rolf left. When I woke up, I remembered he was going to be meeting someone and could be out until morning. I knew that was my chance to get my pelt and escape. I think you know the rest.”
“Did you see anyone when you were leaving?”
“No one.”
“So you don’t have an alibi for the time of the murder.”
“I guess I don’t, but it doesn’t change that fact that it wasn’t me. When can I get my things? I also require Rolf’s personal effects including his laptop.”
“We’ll return what we can as soon as we are done with it as part of our investigation.”
“Can I go now?”
Abby nodded. “You can go, but we may have more questions for you later.”
***
As soon as Fiona came out of the interview, Niamh pulled her aside.
Niamh looked into her eyes. “Do they think you did it? Did you?”
The blood rose in Fiona’s face. “How can you think I could do that?”
“I’m not sure what to think any more. The Fiona I knew wouldn’t have treated me this way and given me silver to use against him.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I never gave you any silver.”
“You put it in my purse with a note that said Rolf was dangerous and I should use it against him.”
“I never did such a thing. Did you use it?”
“Of course I didn’t use it. I felt dirty having it.”
“Do you still have it?”
Niamh opened her purse and checked. “It’s gone.”
“Then it’s best not to bring it up when asked. They will think you did it, and with it gone there is nothing to tie you to a death you didn’t commit. Remember we didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Okay, Fiona. I will keep my mouth shut. Do they have the laptop?”
“I’m not sure. They told me they couldn’t return any of Rolf’s stuff until their investigation is over. We should work out where they are keeping the stuff from my room.”
“How do you plan to do that?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have your pelt and Rolf can’t hurt you any more. I thought you’d be happy.”
“I am happy for my freedom, once we can leave and truly be free. In the meantime, let’s find my property.”
***
While Abby was interviewing suspects, David went looking for the primary crime scene with Ali’i.
“Ali’i, I think we should start inside the resort. Tell me about guest rooms. Do any have direct access to the outside?”
“We have guest rooms on the second and third floor. All of the guests are staying on the second floor and other than your suite, the rest of the third floor is currently empty. Are you sure it was a guest?”
“If it wasn’t, I don’t expect we will find the killer. Besides what reason did Rolf have to leave the resort that time of night? I don’t think he was killed where we found the body. Not enough blood for him to have been killed there.”
“Let’s start with the guest rooms.”
“Are any of the second floor rooms currently unoccupied?”
“All of the current guests have rooms facing the ocean and the rooms on the other side of the hallway are empty.”
“Sounds of a struggle might be easier to hide with no one in adjacent rooms.”
Ali‘i shook his head. “Not true. If I had a room up here, I would have heard something. Are you telling me you don’t know of Veiled that have better hearing than humans?”
“Sorry, Ali‘i. I wasn’t thinking it was common for others to have the enhanced senses I do.”
“That can get you killed, cuz.”
Ali’i started to walk to the elevator.
David looked at the door near it. “Why don’t we take the stairs. If someone carried the body out, they wouldn’t want to be caught in the elevator.”
Ali’i held open the stairway door. “After you.”
Stepping into the stairway, David looked around. “I see there is another exit here.”
“It goes to the parking lot for evacuation in case of a fire.”
“Then the body could have been taken out this way if he was killed here. Do you mind if I change?”
“You are welcome in all of your forms. This is supposed to be a safe place.”
“Have you seen the other guests in their natural forms? I suppose it wouldn’t be in good taste for me to ask.”
“Proper decorum would be to wait for them to tell you. To answer your question, I haven’t seen any of the guests in their natural form.”
“I’m going to shift to see if I can smell any blood.”
David thought about it for a moment. Should he change into a coyote or jaguar? A coyote might have better sense of smell, but as a jaguar, he would be able to see any magic trail better.
Transforming into a jaguar gave him a unique view to see magic. He saw less detail and color during the day than a human, but at night, things changed to be in the jaguar’s favor. But it wasn’t night. So blood trail or magic trail? The high levels of magic have been messing with his abilities, so maybe shifting to coyote would be better.
As a coyote, the first thing he noticed was that Ali’i smelled like a dog. He gave the stairwell a good sniff and was confused by the musty smell. He expected scents of the sea, not this. It was strange. He felt sure he would pick up the scent here that would help find the murder site. He shook his head and slowly went up the stairs to hunt for clues.
When they reached the landing at the second floor, he scratched at the door and Ali’i opened it. Things were now getting interesting. He let out a slow growl when he picked up the scent of wolf blood. Coyotes and wolves normally were in competition for territory and it was hard to ignore instinct.
The blood scent got stronger at the room next to the stairwell.
David transformed back to human. “Ali’i, is this room occupied? I think this was our original crime scene.”
“This is one of the unused guest rooms. Let me open the door.”
David pulled his phone out. “Give me a minute to take pictures with my phone before we disturb any evidence.”
Ali‘i opened the door. “I’ll wait here.”
The room was much like the one Rolf had been staying in, other than looking out on the inland side of the resort. The bed looked to have been used and dried blood stained the sheets. Rolf’s clothes littered the floor. A bottle of rum and a single glass was on the side table next to the bed. The desk, and dresser were all empty. Looking closer at the bed revealed the frame went all the way to the floor to keep guests from putting anything under the bed. Nothing was found between the mattress and the frame.
Moving on to the bathroom, David found it was clean and unused. David took pictures of everything and waved Ali‘i in.
David considered the glass and bottle. If he was to finger print the glass, would they only match Rolf? Fingerprints weren’t reliable with Veiled, so he wasn’t going to waste his time on it. He sniffed the glass.
“Ali‘i, does this smell strange to you?”
Ali‘i took a smell and let out a gagging noise. “That rum has been laced with wolfsbane.”
“Rolf would have smelled that, right?”
“Oh yes, he would have known from the moment he entered the room. He would have felt it in his body as well as smelling it. I don’t know why he would have even stayed in the room, let alone voluntarily drank something like that.”
“Could someone have forced him to drink it?”
“I don’t think anyone can force a Werewolf to do anything they don’t want to do.”
“Then it becomes why did he want to do that? What affect would it have on him?”
“It is used by wolf hunters to confuse a Werewolf. I’ve never heard of anyone drinking the stuff. No idea who would know such a thing.”
David looked around. “By the state of the clothes on the floor, it looks like he was lured here for sex and then got more than he expected.”
“I think the real question is with whom, and did they kill him or was he killed after his partner left?”
“At least now we know it was someone at the resort, not some outside cult that killed him for being a Werewolf. Who would have known this room was empty?”
“I expect anyone on this floor as well as staff would have known.”
David nodded. “Rolf had to think it was someone other than Fiona he was meeting here. Someone wanting to hide what they were doing from others, or they could have gotten together in that person’s room. It also could have been someone he was blackmailing and they made it to look like sex to throw us off the scent. Was Rolf’s room across the hall?”
“Rolf and Fiona were staying in the room across from this one.”
“How would a guest get into this room?”
“There are three master keys. Mine, the one for the cleaning staff, and one locked in the hotel safe. We have several guests keys and I am the only one that issues them. Someone could have picked the lock or maybe has magic to open it.”
David noticed some movement out of the corner of his eye. He pulled the curtains back and noticed the balcony door was ajar.
“Are these doors left open at times to air out the rooms or something?”
“The staff might open them when cleaning but they are always closed and locked afterwards.”
On closer examination, the door didn’t seem to have been broken or pried open. As David opened the door, a white feather blew away in the breeze. A few drops of blood could be seen, but David didn’t find any noticeable footprints and the railing didn’t seem out of the ordinary. There was no sign of a rope being used on the balcony. The killer could have come in this way and then let Rolf in, but he couldn’t see how they would have gotten to the second floor balcony unless they could fly or could jump beyond what a human could do. As a jaguar, David might be able to make the jump and pull himself up, but if they could become a falcon like him, it wouldn’t have been a problem to come in through an open window or door. He looked at the ground below in hopes of seeing a disturbance of someone tossing the body down or climbing up. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary from this vantage point, but he should check again from ground level. He went back inside.
“There is a few blood drops out there, but I can’t be sure the body was moved that way.”
David found a laundry bag in the closet and put each article of clothes in it as he examined them. No signs of blood or puncture holes in the shirt. He must have taken it off before being stabbed. The room had a faint smell of sex and death. That should have been stronger, but with the balcony door open it could have easily aired out. The body must have been moved immediately after the kill.
