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With a full belly and a cup of coffee in her hand, Dela sat at a monitor watching and listening to Quinn interview Van. The maintenance man had been shut down, until Quinn told him his daughter was free to go and he’d pulled strings to get the charges of murder dropped from his convictions if he could help them catch the man who had shot the bank employees.
After Van had told Quinn all he knew about the two men he’d helped with the bank robbery, Quinn started asking the questions they needed answered for the casino murder investigation.
“You ran into Paula Pomroy on the stairs that night, didn’t you?” Quinn asked.
“I didn’t know who she was until she made a comment about if I wanted to stay out of jail to keep my mouth shut.” Van ran a hand over his beard. “I couldn’t think of any other reason she would know I didn’t want trouble with the law unless she knew my past.”
“Did you see the corkscrew in the stairway?” Quinn asked.
Van nodded. “The woman shoved the door open fast and charged onto the landing like the place was on fire. She ran into me. The corkscrew dropped. I snatched it up and handed it to her. Then she made the threat. When I saw the same one in the water feature, I wondered if she was trying to frame me for her husband’s death.”
“You can place the corkscrew in her hands before the murder took place?” Quinn asked.
“I don’t know if it was before or after.”
Quinn stared at him. “Which floor were you on when she came out of the door?”
“Ten.”
“Then it was after.” Quinn studied him some more. “How did you pick up the corkscrew?”
“By the handle.” The man’s face dropped. “They’re going to find my prints on there aren’t they?”
“If they do, you can be ruled out as the person who found the corkscrew in the water feature but it is pretty clear, she hoped to incriminate you by tossing the weapon where she hoped it would be found by a cleaning crew.”
Van ran a hand over his face. “I can’t believe my bad luck. First the bank robbery and now this.”
“Is there anything else you need to tell us about either Tristan or Paula Pomroy? Or perhaps Ronald Edmond?”
Dela sat in the booth. “Or Jeff Twigg.” She knew Quinn couldn’t hear her but she hoped he’d think to ask that question.
“Edmond said if I gave him the money from the bank heist, he’d forget he saw me. I told him, if I had the money, I wouldn’t be working as a maintenance man.”
“How did he take that?” Quinn asked.
“He didn’t believe me. Said I had until noon the next day to get him the money. I didn’t have it and figured he’d turn me in so I told Verna she could stay here, she really liked her job, or she could be ready to head somewhere else. Then after you pulled her in again for questioning, she decided to go with me.”
“This was after the murder?”
“Yeah. A couple days after.” Van snapped his fingers. “The day I found the corkscrew. It was like, damn he knows I’m wanted and now I’ve touched something you thought was important.”
Quinn looked at the camera. Dela felt as if he were searching for her to add some enlightenment. He stood. “I’ll be right back.”
Within a minute of exiting the room he showed up where Dela sat.
“What do you make of Edmond still being here after Paula disappeared?” Quinn asked.
“Either he killed for her and then she cut him out or he killed for her, then was planning to make a little more money and stayed behind to collect.” She studied Van. “But why didn’t he come back to collect?”
“That’s what I’m wondering. He told us he was going back to Portland. I need to make some calls.” Quinn pulled out his phone.
Dela stared at the man on the monitor. She believed he was a good man. She’d felt a good aura about him. He was running rather than hurting people.
But what about Paula, little Alfie, and Ronald? Were they all going to live the good life in the Cayman Islands?
♠ ♣ ♥ ♦
Dela stood, wondering if she should go look for Quinn. He’d been gone over fifteen minutes and there was only so much she could do sitting in a room alone watching a man in a room alone.
Her phone buzzed. It was Travis texting to ask questions about the fence he was installing. She replied as Quinn walked in.
“Edmond is running. None of his colleagues or neighbors have heard or seen from him since he left for Pendleton last week.”
“Can you stop him from leaving the country?” Dela asked, shoving her phone into her purse.
“We have his name and photo at all the places to get out of the country.” He shook his head. “More information came in on the bank account in Tristan’s name. It was emptied Friday morning by a man with Tristan’s ID.”
Dela stared at Quinn. “Then the male accomplice can’t be Ronald. We know he was still in Pendelton then.”
“There is one person who has been missing since we first interviewed him. And he’d been seen at the Pomroy house.”
“Jeff Twigg. He is a little bigger build than Tristan, but if his photo is on all of Tristan’s ID and Paula would know the answers to all the questions...” Dela growled. “Why didn’t someone catch onto his stealing sooner?”
“He is good at it, and since Robin was his accomplice, I’m sure she figured out the angles to make sure the people watching the monitors didn’t see her do the same thing twice to keep from being seen. You just have good eyes.” He smiled at her. “Let’s head back to Pendleton and see if Robin knows she’s been played.”
Dela followed him to the door. “Do you think Ronald figured it out and that’s why he disappeared? We know he had to have killed Tristan. The video is hard to deny. When Paula ran off leaving him here, to take the fall for the murder, he had to have panicked.”
“We’ll catch him.” Quinn poked the button to the elevator as HQ Supervisor Prescott walked down the hall.
“You can’t leave. You have to write up a report about your interview with Vladimer Chernoff.” The woman stopped in front of Quinn and crossed her arms. The top of her head came to his shoulder but she looked tough as a warrior.
“I can make phones calls if you need to finish up here before we head back,” Dela said, showing the woman she wasn’t the reason he was taking off without finishing his paperwork.
“Chernoff’s interview was taped. You can hand him over to legal. They are cutting him a deal to help them capture who really killed the bank employees.” Quinn stuck a hand out when the elevator doors that had opened during the conversation started to close. “Come on, Dela.”
She shrugged and entered the elevator behind Quinn.
When the door shut, the noncompliant special agent blew out a breath as he rubbed a hand over his face while staring at the decreasing numbers above the door.
“It appears you and HQ Supervisor Prescott have history,” Dela said, remaining behind him in the elevator.
“You could say that.”
The elevator stopped and the door opened. Quinn stepped out and she followed. After all, he was her ride home.
When they were in the SUV and headed out of Seattle, Dela asked, “Do you have history with every woman who crosses your path?”
He glanced at her and grimaced. “Low blow, Alvaro.”
She shrugged. Not that she was heartless but it was nice having him feeling uncomfortable rather than her. “Any chance we can grab snacks and do a non-stop back to Pendleton?”
“Sure.”
Quinn pulled in line at a fast food restaurant and within fifteen minutes they were back on the road.
After they’d finished off the burgers and fries, Dela said, “We know Ronald and Paula killed Tristan. What do we do to bring them to justice?”
“I asked legal to draw up extradition papers on Paula to get her back over here to face the charges of manslaughter. I also put into action a warrant for the arrest of Ronald Edmond. The video we have is enough proof to bring charges against both of them. That and the fact Paula was seen after the murder with the corkscrew.”
“Okay, that takes care of Tristan’s death. What about Mattie’s?”
“I’m hoping a visit with Robin Everly will reveal more about her, and Jeff’s, part in the whole scheme.” He glanced over at Dela. “I asked Shaffer to keep an eye on Robin so we know where she is when we get back to Pendleton and can talk to her.”
“Good idea. The people we need to talk to keep disappearing.” Dela leaned her head back and replayed all that they knew through her mind. “When I talked to Verna, she didn’t seem to like Robin. I wonder if Verna had caught her doing shady things?”
Quinn slipped his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Look into the document Shaffer sent me on Robin. See if anything sends up a red flag.”
Dela slid her finger across the screen. “I need your print to access.”
She held it to him and he placed his pointer finger on the screen. The phone came to life and she entered his email and found the document.
“When you asked me about how would I know what it felt like to learn my wife was having an affair...I came home a day early from an assignment and found Jin, my wife, in bed with someone I’d respected.” He didn’t take his gaze off the road ahead. “It’s like catching a fist the size of Hulk in your gut. You can’t breathe and you want to vomit.”
That was his history with the woman. And yet, she was the one who fooled around and acted like he had done her wrong.
“I see. Does it also bother you that she is farther up the ladder than you?” Dela asked, wondering if that didn’t also eat at him.
“You’ve heard of sleeping your way to the top. The man she was in bed with made sure she moved up and I stayed down.” The anger and disgust in his voice, drew her gaze to him.
The corner of his mouth tipped down, his eyes were dull, and his jaw twitched. She wasn’t sure if he wanted her sympathy or scorn for the woman he’d married. They weren’t really friends, just colleagues. And yet, the pain on his face and in his voice as he spoke, bonded them in a way.
“Not all women climb the ladder by bed hopping. And not all women trounce on a man’s heart and ego to get what they want.” That was all she had. Nothing profound or personal.
He glanced over at her. “Always one for the direct reply.” The corner of his lips raised a little. “That’s what I’ve always liked about you. A person knows where they stand with you and what you stand for.”
She took that as a compliment and went back to reading the longer than she’d expected document on Robin Everly. When she finished, she pulled her phone out of her purse and dialed Kenny.
“Hey, Dela. I heard you and the special agent went on a road trip today.” The mirth in his tone made her realize everyone at the casino would know and think she and Special Agent Pierce were doing more than finding a murderer.
“We were talking to potential suspects and are headed back right now.” She knew that wouldn’t even be heard, considering the man had his mind in the gutter. She’d been in the army long enough to know exactly how most men thought. “Do me a favor and pull up all the information Robin Everly gave HR and Marty about her credentials and past, and email them to me.”
“Is she a suspect?” This had tugged his mind out of the gutter.
“An accomplice at this time. Thanks.” She ended the call.
“What did you see in the documents?” Quinn asked.
“Red flags that should have prevented her from getting a job with the surveillance team. She must have lied on her resume. I want to check before we talk to her.”
She leaned her head back on the head rest. “If I fall asleep, will you stay awake?”
“Take a nap. I’ll be fine.”
Not contemplating that he’d had about as much or less sleep than her since the first murder, she dropped off, knowing he would stay awake.