Snow Blind

After they left the SUV in the valet parking area outside the entrance, she dutifully followed him into the front lobby. In the course of resort negotiations, she’d seen dozens of photographs of the interior of the Gateway Hotel. The reality was spectacular. The front windows climbed three stories high in the lobby-slash-atrium, showcasing several chandeliers decorated with small crystal snowflakes. A water feature near the check-in desk rippled over a tiered black marble waterfall. The decor and artwork were sleek and modern, except for a life-size marble statue of a toga-clad woman aiming a bow and arrow. Sasha guessed she was supposed to be Artemis, goddess of the hunt.

Occasional Grecian touches paid homage to the name Arcadia, which was an area in Greece ruled in ancient times by Pan the forest god. Sasha was glad the investors hadn’t gone overboard with the gods-and-goddesses theme in the decorating. She stood behind Brady as he talked to a uniformed man behind the check-in counter. They were quickly shown into a back room to meet with the hotel manager, Mark Chandler.

He came out from behind his desk to shake hands with both of them. His gaze fixed on her face. “Why does your name sound familiar?”

“I’m a legal assistant working with Damien Loughlin. I’ll be attending the investors’ meetings this week.”

“Of course.” His professional smile gave the impression of warmth and concern. “I’ve worked with Damien. His help was invaluable when we were setting up our wine lists.”

“Mr. Chandler,” Brady said, “I’d like to talk with your hotel security.”

“Sorry, the man in charge has gone home for the day. We’re still in the process of hiring our full security team.”

“His name?”

“Grant Jacobson. He’s from one of our sister hotels, and he comes highly recommended.”

“Call him,” Brady said. “In the meantime, I need access to all video surveillance as well as to several of the guest rooms on the fifth and sixth floors. There’s reason to believe a violent assault was committed in one of these rooms.”

“First problem,” Chandler said, “most of our video surveillance isn’t operational.”

“We’ll make do with what have.”

“And I’d be happy to show you the vacant rooms,” he said. “But I can’t allow our guests to be disturbed.”

“This is a police investigation.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t—”

“Suit yourself.” When Brady drew himself up to his full height, he made an impressive figure of authority. “If you refuse to help, I’ll knock on the doors myself and announce that I’m from the sheriff’s department.”

Chandler’s smile crumpled. “That would be disruptive.”

Brady pivoted and went toward the office door. “We’re wasting time.”

She followed him to the elevator. His long-legged stride forced her to jog to keep up. Chandler came behind her.

On the fifth floor, Brady turned to her. “It wasn’t the corner room, right?”

She nodded. “Not the corner.”

He went to the next door. His hand rested on the butt of his gun.

Hurriedly, Chandler stepped in front of him and used the master card to unlock the door. “This room is vacant. Can you at least tell me what we’re looking for?”

Without responding, Brady entered the room and switched on the light. The decor was an attractive mix of rust and sky-blue, but the layout of the furniture wasn’t what Sasha had seen through the binoculars. “It wasn’t this room,” she said. “There was a small table near the window. And a ficus tree.”

“You’re describing one of our suites,” Chandler said. “Those units have more living space and two separate bedrooms.”

“I don’t see signs of a disturbance,” Brady said. “Let’s move on.”

“The room next door is a suite,” Chandler said. “It’s occupied, and I would appreciate your discretion.”

“Sure thing.”

Brady’s eyes were cold and hard. It was obvious that he’d do whatever necessary to find what he was looking for, and she liked his determination.

The door to the next room was opened by a teenage girl with pink-and-purple-striped leggings. The rest of the family lounged in front of the TV. Though this didn’t appear to be the place, Brady verified with the family that they’d been here for the past two hours.

“No one is booked in the next suite,” Chandler said.

“Could someone unauthorized have used it?” Brady asked.

“I suppose so.”

“Open up.”

Though the layout was similar to the one she’d seen, Sasha noticed that instead of a ficus there was a small Norfolk pine. Brady made a full search anyway, going from room to room. In the kitchenette, he looked for dishes that had been used. And he paid special attention to the bedrooms, checking to see if the beds were mussed and looking under the duvet at the sheets.

“Why are the beds important?” she asked.

“If he carried a body from the room, he might need to wrap it in something, like a sheet.”

A shudder went through her. She didn’t want to think of that attractive, vivacious woman as a dead body, much less as a dead body that needed to be disposed of. The excitement of acting like a cop took on a sinister edge.

On the sixth floor, they continued their search. As soon as she entered room 621, Sasha knew she was in the right place. There was a table by the window, and she recognized the leafy green ficus that had obscured her view of the man in the turtleneck. The room was empty.

“As you can plainly see,” Chandler said, “there are no plates on the table. According to my records, this room is vacant until Friday night.”

Brady’s in-depth search came up empty. No dishes were missing, the beds appeared untouched, and there wasn’t a smear of blood on the sand-colored carpet. But she was certain this had been the view she’d seen. “This is the right room. I know what I saw.”

“What were they eating?” Brady asked.

She frowned. “I don’t know.”

“Think, Sasha.”

She closed her eyes and concentrated. In her mind’s eye, she saw the dark-haired woman gazing across the table as she set down her glass on the table. She poked at her food and lifted her chopsticks. “Chinese,” she said. “They were eating Chinese food.”

“I believe you,” Brady said. “I can smell it.”

She inhaled a deep breath. He was right. The aroma of stir-fried veggies and ginger lingered in the air.

“That’s ridiculous,” Chandler said. “None of our hotel restaurants serve Chinese food. And I don’t smell anything.”

“It’s faint,” Brady agreed.

“Even if someone was in this room,” the hotel manager said, “they’re gone now. And I see no evidence of wrongdoing. I appreciate your thoroughness, Deputy. But enough is enough.”