Blood Loss

‘What is happening here exactly?’ said Cathy. ‘I thought the investigation was closed.’

‘No,’ said Ren. ‘No it is not.’

Ren went back to the office and took out all the statements from everyone who was in the hotel that night. She had read through them before — who was there around seven, who was there between eleven and twelve- thirty. There were enough people to look at the inbetween times. But she was rattled by Joshua Merritt, the fact that there was someone there that nobody knew about. He may not have been the only one.

She stopped at a couple, the Obermanns, Bill and Stella. They checked in at 9.30 and their statement said that they were alone checking in. There was no-one else in reception.

What about behind the desk?

Ren dialed Bill Obermann and asked him to confirm his statement.

‘Yes, that’s correct,’ said Bill. ‘We didn’t see anyone else in reception.’

‘And was the desk clerk there when you arrived?’ said Ren.

He paused. ‘Yes,’ said Bill. ‘He was. He was on a call, but he took care of us right away afterward.’

‘OK,’ said Ren. ‘Well, thank you for your time.’

‘My pleasure,’ said Bill.

‘Could I speak with your wife, please?’ said Ren.

‘Sure,’ said Bill. ‘Let me go get her.’

‘Hello, this is Stella Obermann.’

‘Hello,’ said Ren. ‘I’m following up on your earlier interview about the night you checked into The Merlin.’

‘Yes,’ said Mrs Obermann.

‘Were you at the check-in desk with your husband?’ said Ren. ‘Or did you sit it out?’

‘I was with him,’ said Mrs Obermann. ‘Although I had a mind to sit down. The desk clerk took his time to attend to us.’

‘But he was there when you arrived?’ said Ren.

‘Yes, he was,’ said Mrs Obermann. ‘But he was on a call. A personal call.’

Why am I not surprised?

‘Bill was not very happy about that,’ said Mrs Obermann, ‘but the poor boy was consoling a friend — I could allow for that.’

‘Consoling a friend …?’ said Ren. Indulge me. ‘Can you remember any of the details?’

‘I think he was talking to a friend who had broken up with someone. He said something like “chill, she’ll be back” or “I’m sure she’ll be back”.’

Okaay.

‘And could you hear the other side of the conversation?’ said Ren.

‘No, I couldn’t,’ said Mrs Obermann. ‘But I got the impression it was a male, because it sounded like another boy was trying to move in on the girlfriend, because the desk clerk said, “you have got to watch him. He’s like Superman.”’

Oh. My. God. ‘Mrs Obermann, could he by any chance have said “Spiderman”?’

Mrs Obermann paused. ‘Oh, yes, yes,’ she said. ‘Yes. You’re right. I knew it was a superhero. And, sorry, yes — it was Spiderman, because I remember thinking about this other boy catching this girl, whoever she was, in his web.’

Jared Labati was not talking to a friend about a break up. He was talking to Shelby Royce. And he was telling her that Laurie Whaley would be back. Laurie Whaley was not in the room. Laurie Whaley was gone. By 9.30 p.m.

56

Ren called Gary from her Jeep. ‘Gary, I’m on my way to Breck. Laurie Whaley was gone from the room by 9.30 p.m. Jared Labati was overheard speaking at reception, telling someone to “chill, she’ll be back”, which had to have been a reference to Laurie. He also made a reference to Spiderman, which we know has to be Leo.’

The sign for Golden flashed by. She was half an hour from Breck.

‘Jared Labati definitely knows what happened in that room,’ said Ren. ‘He was telling Shelby Royce to chill, but still, he was telling her that Laurie would be back. You wouldn’t say that if a child had been abducted. Why would he say that?’

‘Go talk to this kid with Bob,’ said Gary. ‘Do not talk to him alone.’

Jared Labati was on a day off. He was dressed in his regular clothes — oversized jeans, navy hoodie. He listened to Bob Gage tell him what they knew.

‘Why were you so relaxed about it?’ said Ren. ‘Why were you telling Shelby Royce to chill when an eleven- year-old girl went missing?’

He stared at the ground. ‘Because I didn’t think it was a big deal.’

‘HOW?’ said Ren. ‘How could you not have thought that it was a big deal?’

‘Because …’ He shrugged. ‘Because she was with family.’

You are insane. ‘She was gone, Jared! Her family were in the restaurant! She was not with her family!’

‘I meant her brother,’ said Jared. ‘Her brother, stepbrother, whatever …’

‘Her brother?’ said Ren. WTF?

She glanced at Bob.

Jared nodded. ‘All I know is what Shelby told me. He showed up at the room, he went nuts at the little girl, he pushed her and she hurt her head. He freaked out, and told Shelby to stay where she was and shut her mouth. He took his stepsister away. He said they’d be back before eleven. When they didn’t show by eleven thirty, Shelby was flipping out. The only thing she could think of to do was be naked — she knew that the dad wouldn’t come in to the room any further. It happened to her once when she was babysitting, by accident — the dad walked in when she was getting changed, and she said he ran from the room like he was on fire. So she knew that this guy would do the same. Except, he waited outside the room, then knocked and came back in when she said she was dressed. Shelby said he was looking for something in his suitcase. The miracle was he didn’t check on the kids.’

‘And when Laurie didn’t come back, Shelby just left?’ said Ren. ‘She left a three-year-old boy alone-’

‘No,’ said Jared. ‘That’s not fair. I called her when I saw the Whaleys leave the restaurant, and she waited a minute or two, so she was only out of the room, like, one minute, and she knew they’d be back.’

‘So Shelby Royce was not abducted. She ran.’

Jared nodded.

‘And you gave her somewhere to stay …’ said Ren.

His eyes went wide. ‘Uh …’

‘You gave her the keys to one of the houses on Wildcard Drive, didn’t you?’ said Ren.

He nodded again. ‘I screwed up. I know I did. I screwed up really bad. I liked Shelby. I cared about her …’

‘Did you?’ said Ren.

Jared paused. ‘I … I did. Why?’

‘Did you look for anything in return for helping Shelby out?’ said Ren.

He stared at the ground. ‘I don’t know what you mean …’

‘I think you do.’

‘I don’t.’

‘Jared. I can get a warrant for a DNA sample.’

‘She wanted to do it,’ said Jared. ‘She was the one who wanted it.’

Take a look at yourself. Inside and out. And say that again.

Ren sat in Bob’s office with Gary on speaker.