Chương 8
“It could.”
“Private dining managers check rooms.”
“Yes.”
Anna turned another page.
Craig’s badge was used again at 7:18.
Then 7:41.
Then 8:06.
“What time did your meeting end?”
“Eight-ten.”
“And he told me he barely knew who Daniel was.”
“Yes.”
Anna stared at the page.
Something bothered her.
She scanned the list again.
“Where’s Luis?”
“Who?”
“The server who carried your plate.”
Vincent checked.
“He isn’t here.”
“He should be. Staff need badges for the west hall.”
“Did he enter?”
“He served water in there.”
Vincent took out his phone.
Anna watched him send a message.
Thirty seconds later, he received a response.
He read it.
Then his expression changed.
“What?”
“Luis wasn’t assigned to the private room.”
“I saw him in there.”
“When?”
“Before your food. Maybe seven-thirty.”
Vincent showed her the message.
Private room service had been assigned to another waiter named Jason.
Anna’s skin prickled.
“Luis told police he only picked up your plate because Jason asked him.”
“Did Jason?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you get restaurant schedules?”
“Not legally.”
“You say that like it’s inconvenient.”
“It is.”
Anna closed the folder.
“Tell Torres.”
“I already did.”
“Then why show me?”
Vincent leaned back.
“Because I wanted to know if anything looked wrong to someone who actually worked there.”
Anna hated that the reasoning made sense.
She hated more that being useful felt good.
“What did Craig say about Luis?”
“I haven’t spoken to Craig.”
“Good.”
“He has spoken to Daniel.”
Anna froze.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“How do you know?”
“Daniel called from a phone on one of my company plans. Craig’s number appears in the call records.”
“Maybe Daniel called him about the investigation.”
“For eleven minutes.”
“Could be.”
“Yes.”
Anna frowned.
“You’re enjoying that word now.”
“No.”
He almost smiled.
She looked through the logs again.
A line near the bottom caught her attention.
TEMP-04.
Multiple entries.
“Whose badge is that?”
“Restaurant temporary credential.”
“Who had it?”
“According to Craig, Daniel.”
Anna looked at the timing.
5:52.
7:18.
7:41.
8:06.
All the entries labeled Craig Henson actually came from a badge assigned by the restaurant’s system under his employee number.
TEMP-04 appeared separately.
Daniel had used the temporary badge twice.
“Then these are definitely Craig.”
“Yes.”
“Why would he need the private room four times?”
“That’s what Torres is asking.”
Anna looked up.
Through the café window, a black car passed slowly.
She watched until it turned.
Vincent noticed.
“Was that the same car?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“No.”
He pulled out his phone.
Anna grabbed his wrist.
Not hard this time.
He looked at her hand.
She let go.
“Don’t summon an army every time I look nervous.”
Vincent put the phone down.
“You have a habit of grabbing me.”
“You have a habit of doing things without asking.”
“Fair.”
The word hung there.
Something had shifted between them.
Not trust.
Trust would have been too generous.
But Anna no longer saw only the man from headlines.
Vincent no longer spoke to her as if safety could be ordered into existence.
They were learning each other’s limits, which was less romantic and more useful.
That evening, Detective Torres called.
Luis had lied.
Jason had never asked him to carry Vincent’s plate.
Luis admitted Craig had.
Anna sat on her couch while Leah fed the cat.
“Why would Craig care who carried it?”
“We’re asking him.”
“Did he answer?”
“He says Vincent requested different service staff because he didn’t want the same waiter hovering.”
“Did Vincent?”
“No.”
Anna closed her eyes.
“Are you arresting Craig?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“We have suspicious behavior. We do not yet have evidence he added the medication.”
“But he lied.”
“So did Daniel.”
Anna almost laughed.
“How many liars before attempted murder becomes illegal?”
“It was illegal at the first one.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes.”
Torres sounded tired.
“Anna, this is the part television skips. Everybody lies about the piece that makes them look bad. Sometimes the murder is inside the lie. Sometimes embarrassment is.”
“What was Craig embarrassed about?”
“We found payments.”
Anna sat up.
“What payments?”
“His personal account received forty-eight thousand dollars over eight months from a consulting company.”
“Whose?”
“That’s being traced.”
“Vincent’s?”
“No known connection.”
“Daniel?”
“Possibly.”
“What does possibly mean?”
“It means I’m not discussing more until we know.”
Anna hated uncertainty.
Torres knew it.
“Don’t call Craig,” she said.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Don’t call Daniel.”
“I definitely wasn’t going to.”
“Don’t post anything online.”
“I barely know how.”
“Good.”
After the call, Leah looked over from the cat bowl.
“You’re going to call somebody.”
“No.”
“You have the face.”
“What face?”
“The one you had before you told Mom our landlord was charging the wrong late fee.”
“I was seventeen.”
“You printed municipal code.”
“He was wrong.”
Leah pointed the food scoop at her.
“Exactly.”
Anna did not call anyone.
She lasted twenty-three minutes.
Then her phone rang.
Daniel.
She stared at the screen until it nearly stopped.
Leah saw the name.
“Absolutely not.”
Anna answered.
“Why are you calling me?”
Daniel’s voice was different without Vincent in the room.
Less controlled.
More tired.
“Because you’re the only person in this mess who saw me before everyone decided what I was.”
“You switched the plate.”
“Yes.”
“You lied about it.”
“Yes.”
“That’s a rough start.”
“I know.”
Anna stood and walked toward the window.
Leah followed.
Anna waved her away.
Leah did not move.
Daniel said, “I saw Craig near Vincent’s original plate.”
“You told police.”
“They think I’m blaming him because I’m cornered.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“How did you know the plate was dangerous?”
“I didn’t.”
“Then why switch it?”
Silence.
Anna waited.
Daniel exhaled.
“Because Craig had been acting wrong all night.”
“That’s not enough.”
“I know him.”
“You barely worked together.”
“I knew what he owed.”
Anna’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“What?”
Daniel was silent again.
“Daniel.”
“He owed money.”
“How much?”
“A lot.”
“To who?”
“People he shouldn’t.”
“Did you tell police?”
May you like
“Yes.”
“Why wasn’t Vincent told?”
