Steel Hearts
Page 11
"I hate this part," Kenneth says. "I know, buddy. This is the biggest murder in years for this city. I want to work hard to find who did this," I say. He pats me on the back, and I head back to the office. Sara has compiled a long list of names at the country club the night of Marie's abduction. We set to work tracking down everyone. By mid-afternoon, we had tracked down about four people. We set off to the country club. Waterford Country Club is a massive resort covering a mass of land featuring a golf course, several pools, tennis courts, ballrooms, and a convention center. It's where the elite and wealthy come to unwind. I never understood why. To me, paying that much money to be a part of an elite club is ridiculous. I flash my badge at the guard hut and pull through the gate. A young woman greets us at the front desk." How can I help you?" she asks. "I'm Detective McGuire, and this is Detective Raines. We are looking for a Raven Devereaux," I say. The young woman speaks into a walkie-talkie. A few minutes later, Raven comes sauntering up to the desk. I introduce ourselves, "Is there somewhere we can speak in private?" I ask.
Raven takes us to a back office. It's small but adequate. "What do you wanna know?" Raven asks, taking a seat in the office chair. Sara and I remain standing. "We want to talk to you about Marie Stevens," I say. Raven has a puzzled look on her face. "She has been missing, right?" She asks.
"Yes. We located Marie's body earlier this week."
"She is dead?"
"Yes."
Tears started trickling down her face. "Do you know what happened?" She asks. "We have reasons to believe she was murdered. We need help to piece together the night she disappeared. Who she was with, what time she left, all of that. We thought you might be able to help us," I say. We let her work out what is happening. After a few minutes, she starts talking. "She was hanging out with a group of people. They were all talking and dancing. A guy walked up to her and asked her to dance. She danced with him, but not for long. She went back to her friends. I didn't see her leave with anyone. She doesn't live far from here, so it's not uncommon for her to walk here. She has a car, but she isn't a fan of being behind the wheel since she wrecked her car a few years ago," she says. I make a mental note. "Do you know what this guy looked like?" I ask. She tilts her head in thought, trying to remember. "He was sort of tall, blonde hair. It kind of had a little bit of a limp, but it wasn't that noticeable. I can't tell you what he was wearing. I think he worked here. I'm not sure if he still does. This is a big place, and they have a lot of staff. A lot of people don't know each other. That's all I can remember," she says. Sara finishes with the notes in her notebook. "Thank you. Here is my card. Call me if you remember anything else," I say, handing her a business card.
We head towards the front of the building. "We need a complete list of employees here. Do you think they have photos of all their employees?" I nod. "It's possible. We will call their Human Resources and see if they can get us all the information," I say. We are directed to the Human Resource department, and we request the information we need. The director thinks she can get the info, but it might take a while to run the report as there are about 200 full-time and part-time employees. I give her Sara's number and tell her to call us when she has everything. The list may help in gaining more information or giving us a possible suspect. "I want to talk to the Stevens again," I say. "You may want to wait a few days. They are laying their daughter to rest this week. Kenneth released the body already," Sara says. The ride back to the office is quiet. I spend the rest of the afternoon doing paperwork before heading home. We have a full day of interviews tomorrow, as most of the individuals Sara contacted are willing to talk to us.