Page 42 of The Wedding Party

The pain fades and so does the room.

Chapter Thirty-Five

ANDI

By the time I’m back at the hotel, it’s a madhouse of press.

Because why in the world wouldn’t I want to talk to a bunch of reporters? My father calls the press bloodsucking idiots, usually to their faces. Though I often complain about his rudeness, after the past month, I swear the press would suck my blood and have me for dinner if given the opportunity.

Fortunately, with York in retirement mode, he’s not only silenced the team and hotel staff, he knows every way to avoid anything that resembles trouble. He sneaks me in a side door.

“You’re a hero,” I tell him as he leads me into the service hallway.

“For now,” he says. “Once the hotel is out of lockdown, all bets are off.” He motions me forward, and we end up in a conference room he’s smartly set up as ground zero. “The rest of the Phoenix family should arrive in a couple of hours,” he says as I note a row of detectives around the table, all absorbed in work. “They’ve rented a private house.”

“I’ll go to them,” I offer. “We can go to them.”

He gives a nod and introduces me to the team, excusing himself to answer a call, and leaving me to direct the team.

I don’t waste a lot of time on pleasantries, and quickly get right to what is important. I introduce the box with the red ribbon to the team, have them dig through the National Crime Information Center database for connected cases, and post our own in case we get a hit on a connection. It’s a long shot, of course, considering this seems to be a localized crime of a personal nature, but we all thought the first Spider Man murder was a one-off. Had we just looked beyond the crime at hand, had we immediately searched and listed our crime in the NCIC system, we would have known better. We might have gotten further faster. We might have saved at least one life.

Once I’m sure that task is in hand, I step into a private room and dial Aiden. “How’s it looking?” he asks.

“Problematic,” I say. “I have press everywhere. One of the witnesses, a friend of the suspect, Carrie, says Oliver received a box with a ribbon. She thought he was cheating.”

“Jealousy,” he says. “The oldest motive in the book. I’m assuming you need a warrant for their home?”

“And their places of work.”

“I’ll get the team on it. What else?”

“She has a cut on her belly. She says she ran to hide. I can charge her, and that’s what Oliver’s wealthy family will press for.”

“But you’re afraid it will be premature?”

“I’m not sure she did it.”

“You’re kidding me. She was covered in his blood.”

“And sliced open in the belly.”

“You think someone else did it?”

“The defense will ask that question. I have to ask it, too, though there are a few weird things that don’t add up.”

“Such as?”

“It seems she would have had to straddle him to stab him, but there’s no blood between her legs. Not unless she cleaned up, and I don’t know if I will find evidence to prove that.”

“The defense will use it against you.”

“I know. Believe me, I know.”

“Any other suspects?”

“The sister attacked Carrie, which could be nothing more than the obvious: she believes Carrie killed her brother. It felt a bit like a show she was putting on. And she vibes weird to me, and I never ignore my gut feeling. I don’t think she’s a good person.”

“I’ll get a couple investigators out digging into the immediate family of Carrie and Oliver and the guests at the party.”