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“I’m done here, Judy,” I said, giving her my card. “When the medical examiner gets here, tell him this gentleman is good to go.”
“That’s it, huh?” Judy said, smiling. “Love ’em and leave ’em? Mike Bennett, NYPD’s version of the Lone Ranger. Who was that masked man?”
“Hey, feel free to take notes on what an efficient textbook investigation looks like,” I said with a wink. “Like you said, you’re dealing with the legendary Major Case.”
Chapter 3
The first thing I noticed as I entered the stylish modern hotel off the 67th Street sidewalk were the two people talking by the front desk.
One was a twenty-something white guy wearing an Arab keffiyeh scarf with his blue blazer. The other was an elegant middle-aged black woman in a plum-colored dress and pearls. They seemed to be arguing quietly, and the guy in the scarf was holding up his phone between them, right in the lady’s face.
“Hi. I’m Detective Bennett. Are you the hotel manager?” I said to the woman.
“Yes. I’m Amanda Milton,” she said pleasantly. I stepped between them, almost knocking the phone out of the guy’s hand.
“And who are you?” I said to the guy curtly. As if I didn’t know.
“Luke Messerly. From the New York Times,” he said.
“Could I talk to you for a sec, Luke?” I said. I steered him toward the front revolving door. “I just got here, buddy,” I said in a low tone. “I need to get a handle on this investigation. Give me your card, and as soon as I have something, I’ll get back to you. I promise.”
“Yeah, right. Don’t give me the runaround, Detective. I know who you are. You’re Mike Bennett, the NYPD’s go-to Major Case problem solver. Or is it fixer? I also know that the owner of this hotel is very good friends with the governor. Coincidence? I think not.”
I smiled as I put an arm over Luke’s shoulder.
“Luke, you’re quick. I like that. But listen. Your boss told you to drop everything and rush the hell down here, am I right?” I asked.
“Of course. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Luke, we’re in the same boat, buddy. My boss did the same exact thing to me.”
“Which means?”
“Which means we’re in this together. But if you start stepping on my toes, then how can I be nice to you and help you keep your new job? See, I know you’re young and impatient, Luke. I was the same way myself once upon a time. But if you continue to push, I will ‘no comment’ you straight back to the real estate or Queens section you just came from. You don’t want that, do you? Of course not. You’re in the bigs now, Luke. The last thing you want is to get sent back down, right?”
“I guess,”
he said. I slapped my card into his hand and nudged him into the exit.
“Let’s cooperate, buddy, and truly, we’ll all get through this just fine,” I said with a smile, as I helped the doorman push the reporter out the door.
Chapter 4
“From what time do you need the footage?” said the hotel’s stocky Asian security head, Albert Yoon, a couple of minutes later as I stood in his tiny basement office.
“We’ll start at around four o’clock last evening,” I said, as I stood watching his computer screen. “You have two bars, right? Any trouble last night?”
“Not really,” Yoon said in a Long Island accent. He had been a Suffolk County cop. “Someone upchucked in the men’s restroom in the lobby. No precedent set there.”
“Wait. Stop it there,” I said. I saw a tall black-haired guy in a dark suit on the screen checking in. “That might be him. Can you match the check-in time to the name?”
“We sure can,” Yoon said, clicking open a new screen. “Let’s see. Your guy is one Pete Mitchell. He’s still checked in. He’s in 717.”
“Any charges on his credit card?” I said as I wrote it down.
“No. It says there’s no credit card. He pre-paid for the room in cash.”
“Did he show ID?”
