AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Matt carefully examined the evidence in the bathroom. What there was of it. The body had been left in the bathtub with the shower running. The pruning of the skin was visible testimony for it having been there for quite some time. The running water had washed away most of the blood from the scene, and had likely destroyed any trace evidence. Since the water had been warm, determining time of death via temperature was unlikely. The coroner would have to find another way. Someone had turned the water off, but they needed to determine how much of the scene had been disturbed. Hotel room crimes were always a challenge. Too many people in and out, no detailed cleaning in between.
“Who found the body? And who turned off the water?” Matt let Rebecca take the lead on questions, stepping out of the bathroom to join her in the hall. She was recording the interviews on her phone to make sure they caught everything and could go over it again later if there were any questions.
“We found the body. I’m Tim Wilton.” Matt noted that a man in his mid-twenties dressed in a Harbourview security uniform spoke. The man pointed at himself and what appeared to be an older woman who worked in housekeeping, who was crying quietly. “I turned the water off, wearing gloves. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I thought if I could prevent any further evidence from being washed away, that would be a good thing.”
Matt couldn’t fault the man’s logic. “Why were you with housekeeping? That’s not standard procedure.” Was it some coincidence that a member of the security team had found the body?
“My name is Michelle Bailey. The room was supposed to be empty,” the housekeeping employee said. “Checkout is eleven. I knocked and opened the door at one, but heard the shower running, so I left. I came back about an hour later, and the shower was still running. That’s when I called security. We’re not supposed to go into a guest’s room alone when they are there.”
“It’s a new safety policy we put in place after there was an incident last year,” Nate said. “One of our staff was assaulted by a drunk guest. This keeps everyone safe.”
Not a bad policy, and helpful in this circumstance. “Tell me what you saw when you walked in.”
“We knocked on the door before we entered the room. I could hear the shower running, and called out, but no one answered. I thought maybe it was just a prank, a guest who left the shower running for kicks. It happens sometimes. The bathroom door was open about half way. I did not touch the knob, I didn’t have to. I pushed the door open with my hand about here. I didn’t have my gloves on yet.” Tim held his hand up half way up one of the doors lining the hallway. “As soon as the door swung open, I could see that the curtain was down and the body in the bottom of the tub. I pulled on my gloves to turn off the tap. I didn’t touch anything in the bathroom except the tap. As soon as the water was off, I backed out of the bathroom and radioed my supervisor and surveillance. They called you. I stayed here with Michelle, and made sure no one else came near the room. Then Nate arrived, and we waited for you to show up.”
The arrival of the coroner interrupted their interview of the employees who found the body.
“What am I looking at, officers?” The coroner, Lena Anders, looked at them expectantly. Matt had worked with her more than once, and he liked her no nonsense approach and her dedication to following the evidence.
“Our vic is a white male, early fifties. He appears to have been stabbed multiple times, and the body may have been mutilated. But you’re the expert, so I might have it all wrong.” Matt gave her a wink. Gallows humour helped them all get through days like this.
Lena laughed. “Appears to have been mutilated? Want to expand on that?”
Matt sighed. “His genitals have been cut off.”
His statement sobered Lena. “Well. That explains why sex crimes is here. Do we have an ID on the vic yet?”
“That’s the other reason we’re here. It’s Russell Molloy. Vice was investigating him for drugs, prostitution, you name it. But we were investigating him for sexual assault and sexual coercion.”
“And someone stabbed him and carved him up,” Lena said slowly. “Sounds like you’ll have no shortage of suspects.”
No kidding. The list of people who might have wanted Russell Molloy dead was a long one. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. You’ll let us know when you’re going to do the autopsy?”
“Of course. I’ll make sure you get a report of everything we find.” Lena ushered the forensics team into the room to start collecting evidence.
“What about surveillance video?” Rebecca directed this question at Nate.
“I already have our team pulling everything from last night. I’ll take you there now to see what they found.”
Minutes later Matt and Rebecca were welcomed into the viewing room by Les Carpenter, Harbourview’s head of surveillance. Matt had met Les during a previous investigation at Harbourview, and had admired her professionalism and skill.
“Working on a Sunday? That’s not normal for you, is it?” Rebecca asked Les.
“Finding a guest murdered in their room isn’t normal either. Nate asked me to come in and make sure we found every possible camera angle.” Les seated herself in front of the workstation and began pulling up cameras for them.
“Here’s what I have so far. He checked in around nine last night. About ten minutes after he checked in, a woman knocks on the door. She has her hood up, so I don’t have a good shot of her arriving. Shortly before ten, room service delivers two meals. I pulled the bill, someone ordered a steak, the other dish was a pasta dish. Several bottles of beer were delivered at the same time.”
“The coroner can use that to help establish time of death. We’ll need a copy of that food order,” Matt said.
“You’ll have it,” Les said. “There’s no further activity in or out until two in the morning. Here.” Les slowed the video down to half speed, allowing them to see a woman exit the room. The video wasn’t high enough quality to get a good look at her face, but she had long black hair hanging down her back. She also carried a bag in one hand.
“No one else entered or exited the room until Michelle attempted to clean it at one this afternoon.”
Matt refused to let himself get excited. Everything pointed to this woman being the killer, but all they had was a grainy surveillance photo taken from a camera at the end of a long hallway.
“Any idea what’s in the bag? And are there any better shots of her before she leaves the property?”
Matt’s phone buzzed while Les was pulling up the next piece of video for them to watch.
