Page 43 of Lorenzo

“The bar closed at 1:00. He was still working when he walked through the lobby.”

“That puts me out of the hotel before 1:00,” Alessio says, his mood slightly uplifted.

“It may,” Donna corrects. “Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable, and his memory does not automatically outweigh timestamped footage. But it’ll cause doubt and reason to look into the authentication of the footage, and his statement gives us an independent timeline that conflicts with the recording.”

Julian purses his lips. “If we can do that, we may be able to get this bartender in for a lineup.”

I study Donna sitting next to Alessio.

She has had the case only a short time. Already, she has identified a witness the police either overlooked or discounted and found a gap between the estimated death, the altered footage, and the call that brought officers to the room.

“You managed to get a hotel employee to discuss all of this with a private investigator?”

Her eyes move to mine.

“He wasn’t talking to a private investigator.”

The answer is delivered with such mildness that it takes Alessio a second to understand it.

Then he leans back. “Who did he think you were?”

“A woman waiting for a friend.”

“And he simply told you?” I ask skeptically.

“Oh, he wanted to tell someone. I just gave him someone.”

There is the slightest curve at the corner of her mouth.

I find myself intrigued despite the circumstances. Donna did not have to force answers out of people. She sees what they want and gives it to them.

Julian watches her without surprise.

He already knew what she was capable of, which is why he referred me to her.

“What else did he say?” I ask.

“That Genevieve arrived with Alessio, that Alessio left alone, and that the police came after the bar had closed. He heard later that they went directly to her room.”

“He did not see the police arrive?” Julian asks.

“No. He had already left.”

“Then his value is limited to Alessio’s departure.”

“And anything we can establish around the time of that departure,” Donna says.

Alessio looks between them. “Will he talk officially?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“You didn’t tell him who you were.”

“That conversation would have ended the moment I did.”

“So how do we get him to repeat it?”

“Julian does the legal approach. Obstruction of justice, blah, blah, blah,” she says casually. “And if that doesn't work…” She pins me with her eyes. "Well, I'm sure you'll think of something.”