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The woman sat with her hands clenched in her lap.
“Do you know why we wanted to talk to you?” Dela asked the surveillance member.
“Marty mentioned something about the feed I watched last night.” Verna Pyles hadn’t been hired as just a surveillance monitor. She’d been hired because of her technology skills with the hope of using her as Marty’s backup. But she had to learn all the ins and outs of the surveillance and the casino before they would start her helping Marty.
“Yes. Tenth floor surveillance cameras near the storage room were blank. Why didn’t you notice?” Dela asked.
The woman, in her thirties, ducked her head. “I did notice, but I wanted to impress Marty. I tried to get them back up by myself. I thought I’d accomplished it when it came back on.”
Dela stared at the woman. “You were hired to learn about surveillance and how it worked with our security so when you are ready for promotion you will understand how we all work together. What is the protocol for when a monitor goes blank?”
Verna mumbled, “Call Marty and ask another person to try and bring up the camera on their monitor.”
Della sighed loudly. “You didn’t follow protocol. I’ll have to report this to Marty and Human Resources. It will be up to them to discuss whether you continue as you are or leave.”
She hadn’t thought the woman’s expression could get any sadder, but tears welled in her eyes and her chin dropped to her chest.
“When you were trying to get the monitor back up and running did you noticed anything about the system?” Quinn asked.
Verna raised her head and shoved her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “It responded as if there wasn’t any power to the camera.”
Dela knew where he was going with this. It wouldn’t take security personnel or a computer person to take out a camera if the person knew how to cut power to the camera.
“Thank you, Verna. Go back to work.” Dela waited for the woman to walk out of the deli before standing. Her stump burned like fire when she put pressure on it.
“We have all we need tonight, go to your room and sleep,” Quinn said, putting a hand on her elbow.
“I need to tell Marty what we found out and go over the tapes of Jeff dealing. Not to mention the video of Paula’s arrival and the man who met Tristan right here.” She put weight on her prosthesis and hissed.
“What’s wrong?’ Quinn asked, moving to block her way.
“Nothing that would concern you. I will go to my room. Can you tell Marty I’ll be in surveillance early in the morning to check out the tapes?” Her leg needed to be soaked and rested.
“Yes. Get some rest so you’re ready to tackle this tomorrow.” Quinn peered into her eyes. “You and I both saw what happens when people are sleep deprived. If you want to keep this job, you need to rest.”
That was the phrase that made her forget trying to be super woman. She did want this job. “Fine. But call me if you learn anything that I need to know. And tell Marty to do the same.” She slowly walked over to the guest elevators. He followed, making it hard for her to hide the pain shooting up what remained of her leg.
“I’m giving you lead on this investigation. I’d hate to get someone in here that I can’t work with.” He grinned and headed across the casino floor. As much as she hated to say he was right, Dela knew she wouldn’t be any good to anyone, including finding the killer, unless she rested her leg and got some sleep.
♠ ♣ ♥ ♦
Being at the casino, Dela rose early, showered, put on her prosthesis, and dressed. She started to cross the gaming floor when her stomach growled. The twenty-four-hour coffee shop was the best place to get a cup of coffee and something to eat at 5:30 in the morning.
She sat sipping her coffee after finishing the last bite of toast when her phone buzzed. A glance at the name and her lips started to curve into a grin, but she stilled them.
“What are you doing up so early?” she answered.
“I’m at the casino. I have something to show you,” Quinn said.
“I’m in the coffee shop having breakfast.” She sipped her coffee as the FBI Special Agent walked into the establishment.
As soon as he sat, the waitress arrived with a cup of coffee. He ordered breakfast. When the waitress walked away, he slid a folder toward her. “This is what happens when we sleep. These reports were on my computer when I woke this morning.” Quinn picked up his cup of coffee.
Dela opened the file. On top was a list of how many times Tristan Pomroy called the FBI stating he had found someone on their most wanted list. “Wow, he was really trying to make money by finding people on your list.” She scanned. “But it doesn’t appear that any of his accusations held up.”
“They didn’t. And the next page are the shows he might have watched that caused him to be antsy.”
She flipped the page and found a list of shows and the mug shots of the people that were wanted. The second from the bottom looked familiar. It was the eyes, but she couldn’t place him. Dela tapped a finger on him. “Does he look familiar to you?”
Quinn grinned. “I had the same reaction. He’s wanted for an armed robbery in California. Two bank tellers ended up dead, and they didn’t catch any of the people involved in the crime.”
Dela pulled the page out of the folder. The next page was a full dossier on Paula Pomroy. It read pretty much as she’d figured. “She stands to gain more from her husband’s death than when he was alive.”
“That’s a hefty life insurance claim on him. It’s through the casino insurance group. Thought I’d let you make that call.” Quinn leaned back as the waitress arrived with his breakfast. “Thanks.”
She smiled, refilled their coffee cups, and sashayed away.
Dela raised her coffee cup to her mouth to hide the smile watching Quinn’s disinterest in the woman’s outward flirting. She figured he got it all the time being single and good looking.
“Any other reasons she might want her husband gone?” She scanned the rest of the page.
“Like a lover? Not that the team could come up with. But we haven’t been following her.” Quinn raised a forkful of food to his mouth.
“We need to talk to her neighbors.” Dela shoved her finished plate to the end of the table.
She flipped the page and saw a report on Mattie Collier. The report was short. She was eighteen, dropped out of school two years earlier, and lived with a cousin in Pendleton. “We need to check on Mattie. See if she found the book.”
Quinn nodded as he ate.
Dela moved to the next page and found information on the dealer, Jeff Twigg. “Interesting.”
Reading down the page and flipping to the next, it appeared the dealer had been living larger than he should as an Indian Casino dealer. Until three months ago. At which time the large sums of money going into his bank ceased.
“Did you get a warrant for Tristan’s bank records?”
Quinn nodded, finished chewing, and said, “I have them in my car. We can go get the records when the bank opens.”
“Good. That will give me enough time to go over the videos I had Marty pull yesterday.” She shoved to the end of the bench to stand.
“Not going to keep me company while I eat?” Quinn asked.
She peered into his eyes. Was that hurt she saw? “You served me lunch yesterday. I guess the least I can do is sit here.”
His eyes lit up.
“And I also need a favor. On the way to Pendleton, I need dropped off at my mom’s to get my car.”
“I can drop you off on the way back. Save two of us driving to the same place.” He studied her more intently than this conversation needed.
“I need to go by the vet clinic after the bank and didn’t want you to have to waste your time on something personal.” And she preferred not having him chauffer her around. She liked it too much.
“It makes more sense to leave here via the freeway, go to the bank, and come back through town and by the clinic to go fetch your car.” He’d finished eating while she’d been trying to find a way out of riding with him. Quinn tossed money on the table and moved to slide out of the booth.
She stood and stepped away from the table. “I guess I lost that battle.”
He stared at her. “You think that was a battle?”
A nervous giggle bubbled in her throat. She swallowed. “Only in my head.” She strode as quickly as her fake foot would allow out of the café, across the quiet gaming floor, and to the surveillance offices door. Her leg was feeling better this morning after being off of it a good six hours. She tapped her ID on the lock and the door swung open. Four sets of eyes peered at her entrance. “Anything new happen overnight?” she asked, walking to the backroom where Marty did his wizardry with the videos.
“Nothing like the night before,” Russ said, stretching his arms and returning his attention to his monitors.
“That’s good.” Dela continued into the backroom with Quinn on her heels.
She found a note on the keyboard. Marty had instructed her where to find the footage she wanted to see. Because the idea of a dealer being dirty bothered her, she started with the camera aimed at Jeff’s table.
“We’re starting with the dealer?” Quinn asked.
“Unless you want me to start one of the other videos up for you?” She glanced sideways at him but didn’t move to allow him to look at anything other than what she was looking at.
He leaned back, stretched his long legs out under the table, and watched.
Dela did the same thing, only propping her fake foot up on the box kept under the table just for her. As she watched, she noticed a pattern. Leaning forward, she rewound and then started the video again.
“Watch when that brunette walks up to the table and hands her money over.” Dela pointed to the woman at the right who handed Jeff what looked like two fifties. He then stacked up chips and slid them over to her. She messed with the chips during the first hand—stacking and unstacking them. “See there? She has two less chips.” She tapped keys, rewinding and then zooming in on the stack as it is slid across to her. “See that? He has two one-hundred-dollar chips under that stack.”
Keeping the video zoomed in, the brunette played with the stack of chips and then deftly slid the two hundred-dollar chips into her purse.
“Double frickin’ shit! He is stealing from the casino!” Dela slapped a hand down on the table, making Quinn jump.
She yanked her phone out of her pocket and hit Kenny’s number. It rang, but her second in command didn’t answer. He wasn’t due in until later in the day. After the beep, she said, “Kenny on your way into work today, grab Jeff Twigg. He’s been stealing from the casino.” She ended the call and moved on to the next video.
“You sure after last night he hasn’t left town?” Quinn asked. “I can have Shaffer or the Pendleton Police go by Twigg’s house and pick him up.”
“We’ll deal with this in house, unless he ran.” Dela knew the Board of Trustees liked to deal with the problems at the casino before handing anyone over to the tribal or local police.
She found the footage of Paula Pomroy entering the casino. The monitor flashed from camera to camera as the woman went into the gift shop, then over to the elevators. A couple entered the elevator with her and the doors closed. The footage blipped and the next shot showed the victim’s wife getting out of the elevator on eight. Paula studied the signage and turned left. She hung whatever she’d purchased in the gift shop on a door and walked back to the elevator.
The video caught up with her as she exited the elevator and made her way across to the Sports Bar. In the bar she sat in a corner, drinking and watching the door. Dela fast-forwarded and thirty minutes later a man walked in, kissed her cheek, moved a chair next to her, and sat down. Dela backed up the video, stopped at a good view of the man’s face, and tapped the printer to life.
“Did you see the number on the room she visited?” Quinn asked.
“Yeah, eight-thirty-four.” She rose, plucked the frame from the printer, and said, “This must be Ronald Edmond. Think it’s a coincidence?”
“No. All the more reason to have a talk with Mrs. Pomroy.” Quinn pushed to his feet.
Dela reached for one more flash drive. “Let’s see who Tristan met with at the deli first.”
Quinn dropped back into the chair.
She shoved the flash drive into the USB drive and clicked to start it. A view of the deli came up on the monitor. Dela fast-forwarded until Tristan entered the deli and sat down. They watched him sip his soup, look at things on his phone, and write in the little book they needed to ask Mattie about. As he finished off his soup, shoving the empty bowl to the center of the small table, a man walked in. Unfortunately, his back was to the camera as he walked up, sat down, and then began a discussion with Tristan. The accountant became agitated.
“Whoever that is, said something Pomroy didn’t like.” Quinn leaned closer.
“He has to face the camera when he leaves,” Dela said, willing the man to get up and leave.
He did stand. With a parting shot that angered Tristan even more, the man spun and headed out of the deli. It was the same guy who met Paula in the sports bar.
Dela fell back against the back of her chair. “Do you think he told Tristan he was having an affair with his wife?”
“No. It was something else. He would have looked devastated not angry,” Quinn said, quietly as if musing to himself.
“You have experience with losing a wife?” she asked, making a joke. A glance at his face and she wished she’d kept the thought to herself.
“As a matter of fact, yeah.” He slapped his hand on his legs and stood. “Come on. Let’s go have a talk with Mrs. Pomroy after we gather her husband’s bank records.”
Dela turned off the monitors and followed Quinn through the next room and across the casino floor. She didn’t say anything, waiting to see if he brought it up.