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“What can I get you?” the bartender asked as Claudia approached. He was a balding man of about forty with a delightful accent she couldn’t quite place.
“Nothing, thanks. But were you working here the night Chad Kemp was killed?”
The bartender’s eyes widened. “Please, keep your voice down!” he hissed. He beckoned for Claudia to come closer. “We aren’t supposed to talk about that,” he whispered. “It’s upsetting for the other passengers.”
“You know who it’s also upsetting for? Chad’s family.”
The bartender softened and hesitantly told Claudia, “I wasn’t working that night, but she was.” He pointed to a young woman who was mixing drinks at the other end of the bar. “She’s the one you want to talk to.”
Claudia approached the young woman with a smile. “Hello! May I speak with you?”
The black-haired woman pushed her stylish, dark-rimmed glasses up. “Sure.”
She had colorful tattoos on both her arms and several piercings in each ear. She finished up what she was doing and wiped the counter down. Then she stepped out from behind the bar, untying her apron as she did so.
“What can I do for you?” she asked.
“I understand you were working the night Chad Kemp was killed. I just wondered if he was here that night?” Claudia asked. “He had short blonde hair, was good looking, he might have been a little dishevelled looking?”
“I remember him,” the bartender confirmed. “He stood out because he had bloodstains on his shirt and it looked like he had been roughed up. He said he had been in a fight and got kicked out of a restaurant. He ranted for a while about his brother and cousin. Some kind of family feud, I guess?”
“What did he say?”
“I don’t remember, exactly. The entire time he was talking, he was staring at my chest,” the bartender recalled with disgust. “It was distracting, you know? I tried to talk him into apologizing to his relatives. I figured whatever had happened, it was probably his fault. He seemed like a jerk.”
“So he left to apologize to his brother and cousin?” Claudia asked eagerly.
“That, I can’t say. All I can tell you is he left. Where he went is anyone’s guess. I was just glad to be rid of him,” the bartender told Claudia. “He was drunk and kept leering. I can’t stand guys like that. I mean, sure, it’s unfortunate that he wound up dead. But...” she trailed off and gave a small shrug.
“Do you remember which way he went when he left?” Claudia asked.
“That way,” the bartender replied, pointing.
“Thanks for your time,” Claudia told her. She tossed a couple dollars in the tip jar before continuing on her way. Now that she had new information, her fascination with who had killed Chad was growing. She knew exactly where she needed to go next.
Claudia spent the next twenty minutes canvassing the area. She stopped at every kiosk and spoke with every crew member she crossed paths with. Most said they hadn’t seen Chad. But eventually, she found someone who had.
“Sure, I remember the guy with blood on his shirt,” a man working at the gift shop said. “He stumbled past here looking pretty wasted. He could barely walk. If you ask me, the bartenders need to do a better job of cutting people off before they reach that point.”
“I suppose it’s difficult to do when a person can just bar hop from floor to floor, huh?”
“Yes. There’s supposed to be a ten drink limit - when a person reaches the maximum, their key card won’t scan. But there are ways around that. Nothing is foolproof and if a person wants to drink themselves into oblivion, who’s going to stop them?”
“Right. So the man with blood on his shirt...he stumbled past here? Where did he go?”
“He stopped right over there,” the worker said, pointing to a bench. “He ran into someone who he seemed to know. The other guy didn’t look too good either, but I don’t think he was drunk. He was sitting there with his head in his hands, looking distraught.”
“Can you tell me what he looked like?”
“As I said, he had his head in his hands. I didn’t see his face. Anyway, the drunk guy went over to him and they exchanged words. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but they both seemed tense. I got the impression they were angry with one another.”
Claudia was hanging on the man’s every word. “Then what?”
“I was keeping an eye on them. I thought I might have to call security if things got any more heated. But then a customer came into the gift shop and I got distracted. When I looked over again, both men were gone.”
“Thank you,” Claudia said. “This has been very helpful.”
It seemed Ashton hadn’t been completely honest with her. He had failed to mention that he had run into his brother after the men had parted ways outside the restaurant. Why omit that detail...unless he was hiding something?
Before she left, Claudia turned back to the gift shop employee. “I have one more question about the man you saw.”
“Which one are you asking about?”
“The one with the long straggly hair.”
The employee looked at Claudia in confusion. “I didn’t see anyone who looked like that.”
“The man who was sitting with his head in his hands, looking distraught? I know you said you didn’t see his face, but didn’t he have long, messy hair? A thin build?”
“No. He was a big guy, muscular. Short blonde hair.”
Claudia’s jaw dropped.
It wasn’t Ashton who Chad had encountered shortly before his untimely death.
It was Kyle.
