Jane shrugged. “She said she had an appointment. It’s slow, so I said whatev.”
“Is Will here?”
“Will?”
“A new hire she was training on Sunday.”
“Oh, Will Kirk. He’s not really a new hire. He’s a lifeguard and wanted to pick up some extra hours so I guess he’s helping out in the gym on the weekends.”
“Where can I find him?”
“If he’s working, he’s at the pool.”
As they walked toward the resort pool, Michael called Catherine. “Hope Davidson lied on her employment application.”
“How?” she asked.
“She worked at the same New Orleans hotel as Garrett Reid during almost identical times, and they also overlapped at the resort in Nashville. There’s no way they didn’t know each other.”
“Did you ask her about it?”
“She’s already gone for the day. But I may have something more—I’m going to interview the staff member she was training on Sunday when Matt and Kara were in the gym. There was no reason to verify her alibi, but now?”
“As soon as you know, call me. If we can find just one discrepancy in her statement, I can get a warrant.”
Michael ended the call and found the very tanned Will Kirk in board shorts and a staff T-shirt. He sat on a tall chair under an adjustable umbrella where he could easily see the entire vast pool.
They both showed their badges and said, “We have a couple questions.”
“Fine, but I can’t leave. I can get someone to relieve me andmeet you in like fifteen or twenty minutes. Management told us to cooperate.”
“We can talk here,” Michael said. He didn’t want to wait; they needed to jump on this immediately.
“Sure,” Will said. “What do you need?”
“Were you going through staff training on Sunday morning in the gym?”
“Sort of, I guess?”
“Specifics.”
“I’m going back to college in the fall, so I’m trying to make some extra money this summer. My boss said they could use extra help in the gym on weekends if I wanted to pick up some more hours. Hope was showing me the equipment, most of which I knew how to use because I work out there after my shift. And you know, basic jobs like refilling the water, checking the locker rooms, scheduling classes, things like that. I was just there for a couple hours for the walk-through.”
“When was that?”
“I was supposed to be there from nine to noon, because I start my lifeguard shift at noon. But she, like, disappeared on me. I thought she was in the women’s locker room, so I called in there, but she didn’t answer. I waited around, but I had to go—I was already late.”
“What time did you leave?”
“Well, at 12:15 I went into the locker room to change—” he motioned to his shirt and board shorts “—and when I came out she was behind the counter. I said, hey where’d you go? I’m late for my shift. And she said she never left, that she was in the women’s locker room.” He shrugged. “Maybe she was and didn’t hear me.”
Michael didn’t believe that.
“What time did she disappear?”
“I don’t know.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
