“The intern,” Austin said immediately. “Kind of a nosy, nondescript fellow. He took good pictures as I recall.”
“So you do remember him!”
“Austin remembers everyone,” Nick said. “He’s the Rainman of people-watching. Me on the other hand? I don’t even remember there being a wedding photographer.”
Austin launched into a detailed description of the photo shoot by the swimming pool the afternoon of the bachelor party, but Nick’s face was still blank.
“Did you notice anything unusual about him?” Laurie asked.
“Are you thinking he might be a suspect?” Austin asked, his voice tense. “We’ve been telling people all these years that there’s no way Jeff would hurt Amanda. Henry said from the beginning she probably went for a walk and ran into a dangerous creep. Is it possible this intern’s the one?”
“At this point, we’re just trying to make sure we have a complete list of people Amanda would have encountered down here.”
“Come to think of it, the guy did seem very interested in everyone,” Austin said. “I thought he was just too eager, the way interns can be.”
“Did he seem especially interested in Amanda?”
“Yes, I think so.” His voice was deeply concerned now. “That seemed normal at the time. After all, she was the bride. Maybe someone should have mentioned it to the police.”
“It’s a big leap from being overly interested in your job to hurting someone.” She saw no reason to mention Jeremy’s more recent problems with the law.
Nick downed the rest of his scotch and signaled for the bill. “Is that all we can help you with for now, Laurie?” They were clearly eager to move on to more fun conversations with more available women.
“Just one more question while I have you here: We were trying to clarify who had access to rental cars that week. Jeff and Amanda rented a car; did either of you have one?”
“No, only Jeff had one. On this trip we’re yacht people,” Nick said with a smirk at his own joke. Austin began to tell Laurie in agonizing detail about their newfound love for boats and putting their Ladies First and Lonesome Dove nameplates on their charters.
“So is that it?” Nick asked. Laurie had the impression that he either needed to leave right now or would be ordering another drink.
“Yes, and, please, let me get this,” she said, reaching for the tab. “It’s the least I can do.”
Nick placed a gentle hand on her forearm. He certainly was a flirt. “I hate to break this to you, Laurie, but you’ve been picking up more tabs than that one. We’ve put everything on our rooms.”
Brett Young will be so thrilled, Laurie thought.
38
“How’d that go?” Alex asked when she returned to the table.
She related the new information to him.
As usual, he processed it quickly. “So that’s one more person saying Jeremy Carroll is a little off.”
Jeff, Austin, and Nick had all given the same timeline to police. According to the three friends, after dinner, they went to Jeff’s room for a nightcap. Around eleven o’clock they said good night and Nick and Austin went to their own rooms and to bed.
“Alex, think about this. All four men supposedly were in their hotel rooms alone by eleven o’clock. Henry claims that he went to bed earlier, close to ten o’clock. That means that nobody can confirm the whereabouts of those four after eleven the night Amanda disappeared.”
“Yes, it does,” Alex agreed.
“And it was about eleven o’clock when Amanda stepped back from getting on the elevator.”
“Do you think she was meeting one of the four?”
“I don’t know. And the question is, was Jeremy hanging around the hotel at that time? If so, he could have seen Amanda and followed her again.”
“I know your father found Jeremy’s address and it’s not far from here.”
“That’s where my mind was going. After the shoot tomorrow, I want to pay a visit to Mr. Carroll.”
“Laurie, please don’t tell me you’re planning to go alone.”
“Don’t worry. Armed Commissioner Leo will be going with me.”
“That makes me feel better. Switching to another subject, can you and I have dinner tomorrow night? There’s a new gourmet restaurant in town that I hear is wonderful.”
“Really? Just the two of us?”
“Over a romantic dinner you can tell me all about your meeting with Jeremy Carroll.”
Laurie laughed and said, “What could possibly be more romantic? You’re on.”
Half an hour later they were walking to the elevator. Laurie found herself thinking about Jeremy Carroll. Her gaze drifted to the now dark atrium outside the bar. She could picture Carroll lurking there, his camera strapped across one shoulder. She imagined Amanda walking past him that night, never noticing that the young photographer was watching her. And following her.
39
Jeremy Carroll’s neighborhood, a mix of ranch-style and bungalow homes, was modest but well maintained. The one exception was his address. The split-level ranch was in dire need of both a paint job and a lawn mowing. According to his neighbors’ application for a restraining order, Jeremy had inherited the home three years earlier from his great-aunt.
Laurie paused on the sidewalk. “Now that we’re here, I’m worried that we should have called the local police instead.”
“I was on the job three decades, Laurie. I know police work. If we took our suspicions to the police department here, they’d spend the entire day mulling things over. They’d probably even call in an Assistant District Attorney for advice. Jeremy would lawyer up the second they started asking questions about Amanda. But we’re just a couple of civilians from a New York City television show. We can use that to get him talking.”
“Is it safe to just walk up there and knock on the door?”
“While I’m around, we’re fine.”
Laurie saw Leo’s hand reach inside his jacket to where he kept his gun. After all those years with the department, he felt unnatural without it.
Laurie felt her heart start to race as her father rang the doorbell. Were they about to look into the face of Amanda’s killer?
As the door slowly opened she immediately recognized Jeremy from his booking photo. He even had the same trapped, fearful expression.
“What are you doing here?”
On instinct, Laurie looked at his hands and clothing to see if he might be armed. His hands were empty, and he was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants, not ideal for concealing a weapon. She felt her pulse begin to return to normal.
But then her gaze moved past Jeremy, into his home. A worn brown sofa and an old television were the only furniture in the living room. Past that, she saw a small table and two chairs in what was meant to be a dining room. Despite the paucity of furniture, the house was cluttered beyond belief. Old computers, video equipment, and printers were scattered in random places. Stacks of magazines and newspapers stood five feet high. And everywhere Laurie looked, there were photographs-on the floor, strewn across the table, pinned to the walls, lining the stairwell.
Her eyes widened as she looked at Leo.
He took the lead. “We’re with Fisher Blake Studios and wanted to talk to you about your photography work.”
It was a smart move. The name of their show would put Jeremy on high alert. Fisher Blake Studios sounded like a photography company. Even so, Jeremy looked wary.
“I’ve sent my work to every major photographer in Southern Florida. I’ve never heard of you, Mr. Blake.”
“Oh, I’m not Mr. Blake. My name’s Leo.” He offered a handshake. “This is Laurie. And we’re not local. We’re from New York.”