Why had that particular word taken up residence in her thoughts? Sheseemed to recall hearing it said by someone in just the last twelve hours,which meant it wasn’t used in the context of Hannah. It was almost certainly spokenwhile she was on the island. And that’s when it hit her.
Maura the bartender had used the word to describe how Steve Crewe andRich Ferro sometimes got with the bar waitresses and with her, until she shutthem down. While it was still unseemly, the behavior made more sense in thecontext of the lifestyle she now knew they embraced. At least it did for Crewe.
But now that she thought about it, it didn’t make a lot of sense forRichard Ferro, a gay man who had reached an understanding of sorts with hiswife. Why would he be making passes at waitresses? It was possible that he wasdoing it for Crewe’s benefit. He’d admitted that he wasn’t out to his friends.Maybe he felt he needed to engage in some kind of public performance tomaintain the image.
But this group didn’t seem like the type to care about that sort ofthing. After all, the Landers hadn’t tried to keep their threesome with Theo asecret because it involved two men. They’d done so because the hookup violatedtheir rule against intermingling within the friend group. The idea that SteveCrewe would have balked if Rich Ferro had pinched a waiter’s butt instead of awaitress’s seemed unlikely. So why do it?
That’s when she remembered another moment from earlier in the evening,when she and Detective Peters were interviewing Ferro in the Paragon HotelHarbor Room. Leena from the front desk had come in with a message for thedetective. As she walked over to him, Richard Ferro’s eyes had followed herwith curiosity. In retrospect, Jessie thought they were filled with somethingcloser to desire.
At the time, he hadn’t known Jessie was watching him so there was noreason to play at being straight. It was something he’d done without thinkingabout it, instinctively. Simply put: he was attracted to the cute front deskgirl, which meant that he was at the very least bisexual. It also meant that he’dmisled her, which made her wonder what else had he lied about.
She suddenly sat up in the bed. It occurred to her that neither she norPeters had ever actually contacted County Supervisor Philip Blake to confirmFerro’s version of events. They had just accepted it based on what he said and onMaura the bartender’s partial alibi saying she’d seen them leave the bartogether.
Whether they had let it slide because neither of them wanted to upendthe complicated family dynamics of a man who supposedly wasn’t out yet orbecause they were hesitant to question—and potentially alienate— a politicianwho might run for mayor, it was a huge mistake. And it was mostly her fault.
Peters was sheriff’s detective, yes. But he worked for a tinydepartment and had a boss who wanted this whole case to go away. This wasn’t onhim. Jessie was supposed to be a highly regarded criminal profiler. No amountof lack of sleep could excuse the oversight. She silently castigated herself,noting that this was one of the major downsides of only consulting for thedepartment from time to time. She risked losing her edge.
She texted Jamil, knowing he’d be able to get Supervisor Blake’s personalcontact information far quicker than she could. While she waited for him tofind it, she thought again about Ariana Aldridge, forcing her brain to shakeoff the cobwebs that had allowed her to leave the woman in Peters’s custody, simplyhoping it would all work out.
The more she reconsidered it, the harder it was to buy that the womanwould have left that hotel hallway only to coldly return later to kill GabbyCrewe. Seeing her in Theo’s office with a baby in her arms, her eyes flashing, itwas clear that Ariana was one to get passionate in the moment. But once theanger subsided, she at least appeared to be a sane, reasonable person.
After having dealt with her, Jessie thought there were two far morelikely scenarios. She could imagine Ariana banging on the door and confrontingwhat she thought was Gabby and Theo together right then and there. Or she couldalso have done exactly what she claimed: run off in distress to lick herwounds.
But the idea that she ran away upset, only to return later to confrontGabby, without knowing for certain that Theo was the person in her room, didn’tsit right. It wasn’t impossible that it went down that way. She’d helped catch killerswho were more than capable of gutting people without batting an eye. But ArianaAldridge didn’t strike her as one of them.
Beyond that, how would such a scenario even play out? Did Gabby Crewe,completely naked, invite her in for a chat that escalated into a stabbing witha steak knife? Maybe that’s exactly how it played out. Certainly, no theoryshould be taken off the table. But one thing was clear: the situation was notas straightforward as Jessie had initially thought—perhaps even hoped—it was.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a text from Jamil, who delivered as usual.He responded to her request with all of Blake’s contact numbers, including theman’s personal cell. She decided to use that.
She got his voicemail and debated whether or not to leave a message.Ultimately she decided that caution was what had gotten her in this predicamentin the first place and laid it out there, if in slightly veiled language.
“Supervisor Blake. This Jessie Hunt. I’m a criminal profilingconsultant for the LAPD. I’m investigating a murder that took place last nightat the Paragon Hotel on Catalina Island. During the course of our interviews,one person mentioned that you could verify his whereabouts from about tenthirty to ten forty-five that evening. Richard Ferro said that he helped you toyour room and remained in your company for a period of time thereafter. If youcould get back to me as soon as possible to confirm the accuracy of hisstatement, I would greatly appreciate it.”
She gave her number and hung up, satisfied that she’d been at leastsomewhat diplomatic. Standing up, she hurried out of
