Chương 9
Priya rotated her laptop.
“I found our banquet server.”
His name was Miguel Alvarez. He worked full-time in hotel maintenance and accepted banquet shifts through an internal staffing pool. He had requested three days off after the gala and had not returned calls from the hotel or police.
“Address?” Mara asked.
“Chen has it.”
“Interview?”
“Scheduled for tomorrow.”
“What was in his hand?”
“Hotel says linen tags are yellow, not white. Catering receipts are pink. Pharmacy labels are white.”
Mara leaned closer.
“Does he have hospital access?”
“Maintenance does work in the connected tower. Limited badge, broad physical access if someone lets him through.”
“Connection to Graves?”
“Graves approved invoices for emergency repairs performed by Miguel’s department.”
“Connection to Wynn?”
“None known.”
“Vale?”
“Nothing yet.”
Priya lowered her voice. “Chen wants you in the interview.”
“Ross does not.”
“Chen thinks Miguel might recognize you from the ballroom.”
“That is an argument for keeping me out.”
“He thinks Miguel saw Vale restraining you.”
“That is an argument for body cameras.”
Priya ate one of Mara’s crackers and immediately regretted it.
“Those are terrible.”
“I warned you.”
“No, you judged them privately.”
“Some warnings are spiritual.”
Priya brushed crumbs from her keyboard.
“Lily asked about you.”
Mara looked up.
“How do you know?”
“Elena told Reyes. Lily wants to know whether detectives get assigned homework when they’re in trouble.”
“What did Reyes say?”
“That she couldn’t discuss personnel matters.”
“Excellent answer for a seven-year-old.”
“Elena’s sister says Lily is having trouble sleeping.”
Mara turned back to the courier file.
She was not allowed contact.
Rules existed because frightened children did not need detectives inserting themselves into families to soothe their own guilt. Mara knew that. She had attended the training. She had signed the acknowledgment.
That evening, she bought a package of glow-in-the-dark ceiling stars from the pharmacy beneath the blue neon sign. She left them unopened on her kitchen table.
She did not know Lily’s address.
She did not ask.
Miguel Alvarez arrived for his interview with a union representative and an attorney supplied by the hotel.
Mara watched remotely from the observation room despite Ross’s instruction that she remain in archival review. Priya had forgotten to log out of the video system. Mara did not point out the oversight.
Miguel was twenty-six, narrow-shouldered, and visibly exhausted. He twisted a plain wedding band around his finger while Chen explained that he was not under arrest.
“I didn’t touch the girl,” Miguel said.
“No one said you did.”
“The news says people watched.”
“Did you?”
Miguel looked at his lawyer.
The lawyer said, “Answer only what you personally observed.”
Miguel swallowed. “I saw her come out.”
“From the service corridor?”
“Yes.”
“What was she doing?”
“Holding something.”
“What?”
“A little bottle.”
“Did you see where she got it?”
“No.”
“Was anyone behind her?”
“Mr. Vale.”
“What did he do?”
“He told her to stop.”
“Did he touch her?”
“Not where I could see.”
“What were you holding?”
Miguel’s fingers stopped turning the ring.
“Nothing.”
Chen placed a still image on the table.
The enlarged frame was grainy, but the pale rectangle in Miguel’s hand was visible.
His attorney studied it.
Miguel said, “Trash.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know.”
“You picked something up from the corridor floor.”
“Maybe.”
“What happened to it?”
“I threw it away.”
“Which bin?”
“The service cart.”
“Why didn’t you tell investigators?”
“No one asked.”
“We called you four times.”
“I was off.”
“Your supervisor left messages.”
“I don’t answer work when I’m off.”
“What was on the paper?”
Miguel looked down.
His attorney said, “He already stated he does not know.”
Miguel whispered, “A name.”
Chen waited.
“What name?”
Miguel’s mouth opened, then closed.
His attorney touched his sleeve.
Miguel pulled away from him.
“My wife cleans offices in the hospital tower,” he said. “She doesn’t have papers. Not the right ones. Martin knew.”
Chen’s posture changed.
“How did Martin know?”
“He asked for copies when she started. The contractor told him.”
“What did he want from you?”
“Small things. Throw away boxes. Move carts. Open a door after hours.”
“Did he pay you?”
“No. He said he could make trouble for my wife.”
“What was on the paper?”
Miguel’s eyes filled with anger before fear pushed it down.
“A patient name. A room number.”
“At the hotel?”
“No. At the hospital.”
“Do you remember the name?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
Miguel said, “Rose Calder.”
Priya typed it into the hospital database.
No current patient appeared.
An archived record did.
Rose Calder had been eight years old when she died fourteen months earlier, three days after the severe infusion reaction Elena had described.
The same month, BrightPath billed the Vale foundation for six doses of medication provided to Rose.
Hospital records showed she had received two.
The revelation changed the case.
It also made Elena Hart look worse.
She had told investigators the child recovered.
When confronted, Elena requested her lawyer.
Mara learned this from Ross after returning from the laundromat with a basket of damp clothes.
“Maybe she didn’t know Rose died,” Mara said.
“She was the nurse on duty.”
“Maybe she was protecting the family.”
“From what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then stop inventing answers because you like her daughter.”
Mara placed the laundry basket on her desk.
“I don’t like most children.”
“That defense needs work.”
Ross tossed a copy of Rose Calder’s chart onto the desk.
“Read the medication administration times.”
Mara did.
The first dose had been charted at 3:10 p.m. The second at 11:40 p.m. A third dose was entered the next morning, then deleted. The audit trail showed Elena’s credentials.
The attending physician noted a severe reaction at 11:52 p.m.
Rose was transferred to intensive care before midnight. She died three days later from complications documented as related to her underlying illness.
“Does the chart say the medication caused her death?” Mara asked.
“No.”
“Can anyone establish that now?”
“Medical review pending.”
“Did Elena create the third entry?”
May you like
“Her credentials did.”
Mara kept reading.
