“Female?” Kristin guessed. “Yes.” Pausing, she turned toward the two of them, giving them her full attention. “As near as I can tell, the fourteen were killed by someone fairly strong. When we finally put all the pieces together, I found that all the necks had been snapped.”
“And the other five?” Brianna asked.
“They were strangled.”
“But not by the same person who killed the other fourteen,” Brianna guessed.
“It’s highly doubtful,” Kristin answered. “It’s fifty years from the first murder to the last one. Even if it’s the same killer, he’s not as young or as strong as he once was.”
“So we are looking for two killers,” Jackson concluded.
Kristin lowered her visor. “That would be my guess.”
Chapter 15
The construction company that had originally built the Old Aurora Hotel was no longer in business and hadn’t been for at least a decade. However, Brianna discovered, the three companies that were on record for building additions on the initial hotel and making subsequent renovations were still around and doing business.
Or, at least, Brianna and Jackson found, versions of the original three companies were still around. As it turned out, all the present owners were out in the field, working.
Pulling together what information they could on the companies, Brianna and Jackson lost no time getting to all three.
First up was Matthews & Son, a company that’d had at least three changes of address since the initial owner had first been contracted to add on to the original Old Aurora Hotel, nearly doubling it in size.
A call to the number on the website sent the detectives to a construction site. Parking as close as they could, they made their way over newly graded ground to John Matthews, a genial, athletic blond man who looked as if he could carry two-by-fours on his shoulders without any effort whatsoever.
“Actually,” Matthews said after introductions had been made and Brianna explained why they were there, “I wasn’t part of the company when the additions to the Old Aurora Hotel were made.” He laughed almost apologetically. “I wasn’t even born. My dad and granddad ran the business back then. Granddad was the original Matthews on the logo. Dad was the and Son,” Matthews told them with a touch of pride.
“Did either one of them ever talk about working on the hotel, or have any stories they like to tell?” Brianna asked.
Pausing, Matthews thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No. Only thing my dad ever said was that old George was a hard taskmaster and that he tried to stiff him and Granddad every chance he got. He also made a point of overseeing the work, even insisting on doing some of it. Supposedly old George got his start in construction before he ever moved out here. I got the feeling my dad didn’t much like the man, and my dad could get along with the devil himself if he had to.”
“Are you talking about George Aurora?” Jackson asked the contractor, just to be sure.
“Yeah. According to Dad, the old hotel was George Aurora’s baby. He had it modeled after some Southern mansion he lusted after, growing up dirt-poor in North Carolina.”
“Anything else you can tell us?” Brianna pressed.
Because it seemed important, Matthews did his best to recall. “If I remember right, my dad said that the old man was never satisfied. Every so often Aurora wanted another wing added on. Which meant more rooms. Not all at once, mind you,” he told them. “But every so often, in waves. I think if George Aurora hadn’t finally died, that hotel would be as big as half the city by now.”
“Has your company done any work on the hotel since you took over?” Jackson asked.
Matthews shook his head. “The Aurora family never called. And if they had,” Matthews went on to confide, “I would have turned them down. I hear that the grandsons take after the old man. Who needs to work with fussy prima donnas?” the contractor asked. “Not me. The city’s always coming up with a whole bunch of new rules and regulations for contractors. Those are hard enough to deal with without working for the likes of the Aurora family.”
Brianna and Jackson asked a few more questions, but that seemed to be the extent of the information Matthews could provide.
Thanking him, they went in search of the second construction company on the list.
* * *
The owner of Laurence & Suarez Builders Inc. took some tracking down. They finally found him working just outside the city, rebuilding a house from the ground up. The previous house that had been there had been completely gutted down to the foundation slab.
JD Laurence was shouting orders at his men. The wiry man was apparently one of those bosses who tried to be everywhere at once.
Several attempts to get the man’s attention failed. Taking out his badge and identification, Jackson took the lead, practically getting into Laurence’s face before the contractor stopped long enough to listen to him and Brianna.
But before anything could be asked, Laurence snapped, “I’ve got permits for everything.” He spared Jackson only one quick glance. “And if I fall behind, I’m going to wind up having to pay a penalty. I’ve got no time to chitchat. Whatever you want to talk about, call my assistant. Jenny’ll answer all your questions for you.”
Moving around Jackson, Laurence shouted out an order to one of his crew. Jackson raised his voice. “It’s about the work you did on the Old Aurora Hotel,” he told the contractor.
That caught the gruff man’s attention.
As he turned around, Laurence’s eyes were blazing. He was apparently prepared for a fight.
“Everything was done according to spec. There was no pleasing those people. I even cut my fee for the work that was already done just to get out of the contract.” Frowning, he made his case. “I hear they went with Samuel Brothers. Good riddance, if you ask me.” Unable to resist getting in
