People, some grumbling, shuffled through the doors. Jessie poked herhead in and got the attention of Stone the security guard, who was still morefocused on his phone than keeping folks under control.
“Tommy,” she said to the bellboy, “can you please get the guard fromthe other ballroom?”
They left the doors open to keep an eye on the crowd as all the securitypersonnel arrived. She looked around to see what she had. In addition to DetectiveColby Peters, Tommy, and Stone, there was Deputy Heck, who had just jogged downfrom the fifth floor, and another chunky, red-cheeked security guard whose nametag indicated he was called Dooley. She didn’t know if that was his first orlast name and she didn’t care. The time for polite, deferential interactionswas over, as she was determined to make clear.
“Listen up,” she said to the assembled men in a hushed, urgent voice,feeling her cheeks flush with anger. “In case you forgot, a woman was murdered justa few floors above us. I’m here to catch whoever did it. And any one of you whomakes that job more difficult is going to pay a steep price. I’m here on behalfof the Los Angeles Police Department’s Homicide Special Section. We don’t messaround in HSS. And whether you’re a cop, a security guard, or a bellboy, youwill do your part to make sure we get justice for this woman. If you’re lawenforcement and you don’t do your duty, expect sanctions. If you’re a civilian,I’ll find a way to get you charged with something. Do we understand each other?”
Peters looked like he wanted to object but when he saw the fire in hereyes, held his tongue. The others were too stunned to do anything other thannod. She continued.
“That means no more looking at your phone when you’re supposed to behandling crowd control,” she said, boring a hole into Stone with her eyes. “Thatalso means no more letting people wander around, chitchatting, sharing details witheach other that could undermine this investigation. There are twenty people inthat room, including an infant. There are six of us out here. We should be ableto contain a bunch of half-asleep tourists for a few hours.”
“Most of them aren’t sleepy though,” Stone said. “They hyped up.”
“You all have radios,” she reminded him forcefully. “Use yours if youneed backup. Stone—you and Dooley walk around these ballrooms like you give adamn. If someone starts jabbering, firmly remind them that it’s not allowed. Ialso want you to radio the hotel’s night manager that some security folks fromthe day shift need to come in early. If he balks, tell him to take it up withme. In fact, send him my way. I want to have a word with that guy.”
“What do we tell people who want to go back to their rooms?” Dooleyasked.
“I’m about to address that with them in a second,” Jessie said. “Fornow, Detective Peters and I will split up the remainder of the interviews.Deputy Heck will supervise the whole floor. Stone and Dooley will patrol theballrooms, switching back and forth every five minutes. Stay moving. Tommy,just do your best. Stay in the hall. Escort people to interviews when asked.Try to look more pissed than scared.”
She looked around the entire group, glaring at each of them in turn.She was so incensed that she spat the last words more than said them.
“Are we all on the same page?”
Everyone nodded, even Peters. Jessie gave them what she hoped was anencouraging smile and motioned for them to follow her into the larger ballroom,where every eye was on her. A woman near the front tried to soothe her cryingbaby. As Jessie opened her mouth, a man in the back waving his hand started tocall out. She ignored him and launched in as if he didn’t exist.
“Folks, I want to update you on where things are,” she began loudly butwithout the venom she’d used moments earlier. She thought she sounded like atour guide at a historic landmark. “As you all surely know, a woman died heretonight. We’re trying to get to the bottom of that and you are essential tothat process.”
The guy waving his hand again tried to interject and again, Jessie verballyplowed through him, proceeding as if he wasn’t there.
“Some of you knew the victim. Many of you happened to be staying on thesame floor. I understand that spending your night stuck in a sterile ballroominstead of in your bed is not ideal. I get that you’re exhausted and in somecases, drunk; maybe even hung over. I know that some of you just want to leaveCatalina entirely and go home. I recognize all that, and while I sympathizewith your plight, I want to be forthright with you: no one is leaving thisisland until I authorize it.”
There was aloud chorus of dissent with a few distinct phrases emerging,including “who the hell…?” and “…calling my lawyer.” She ignored it all.
“This is a murder investigation,” she declared over the noise, “andyour temporary discomfort will not take precedence over getting justicefor the victim. Anyone who tries to leave Avalon before they have permission todo so will be arrested and end up spending a lot more time here than just a fewextra hours.”
“I have work tomorrow!” someone she couldn’t see shouted out.
She didn’t even bother to look for the source of the comment.
“Now that you understand my priorities, I think we can all work towardsome kind of accommodation that will meet our investigative needs and allow youto get back to some kind of normalcy soon. Would you like that?”
A collection of mostly cowed headed nodded. The crying baby screechedin general rebellion.
“Excellent. Then this is how we’re going to proceed. Everyone willreturn to the table they were at before. We will work with hotel management tofind additional hotel rooms so that people who have already been interviewed canget out of the ballroom, but still be isolated so they don’t interact withother witnesses. For those remaining here, we will expedite your interviews. Now,if you were asleep prior to the incident and came
