Page 47 of The Perfect Accomplice

“I’ll call you back,” he said quickly, then hung up and looked at them. “I got your co-worker’s message, Detective, but I didn’t know it was such a pressing matter. I thought I could call you at the end of the day.”

“You didn’t think multiple messages asking you to come in to discuss several murders involving clients of yours was pressing?” Ryan asked skeptically.

“No,” he insisted, “why would a gardening service be important to such a thing? We just do our work and move on. With very few exceptions, I don’t know the details of these people’s lives. I assumed you were—what’s the phrase—casting a wide net. I was happy to help but thought it was probably a waste of time. I’m sorry if I misinterpreted the importance of the situation.”

Jessie was as dubious as Ryan. She couldn’t think of very many people who wouldn’t make a request to discuss a murder case a priority. To her mind, that was an indication of either idiocy, arrogance, or guilt. She wondered which best applied to Van Hart and decided to find out.

“You can make up for that ‘misinterpretation’ by being forthcoming now, Mr. Van Hart,” she said, cutting to the chase. “Have you ever personally worked at the homes of Erin Podemski, Sydney and Gabriel Ashe, or Chloe and Sean Henshall?”

The man paused, either stalling or trying to remember. “I used to do work for the Henshalls,” he finally said. “They were one of my first clients and I went there with my crews as late as three or four years ago. But I eventually handed them off to others. As far as the Ashes go, I visited them for an initial consultation, along with a couple of my guys, when they were considering hiring me, but never actually worked at their home. The name Podemski doesn’t ring a bell, which makes me think it was handled from the start by one of my team members.”

“I assume you can check your database to see which of your team members did work at the Henshall and Podemski homes and joined you for the Ashe consultation?” Jessie prodded.

“Of course.”

"Do that now, please," she told him. "Check for employees who have been at those homes in, say, the last six months."

Though he clearly didn’t like being ordered around, Van Hart did as he was instructed. While he was searching, Jessie stood up and put her hands on his desk, leaning forward as if she wanted to look at the monitor. But in truth, she had a different motive for her actions.

She’d noticed a single hair lying on the surface of Van Hart’s desk and thought it could be used to compare against the one found in Chloe Henshall’s neck. She pinched the hair between her thumb and forefinger, then stood upright to await the results of Van Hart’s search. It took less than thirty seconds for him to come up with an answer.

“Only two of my current people have been to all three properties in that time. One, Roberto Garza, is currently on his honeymoon in Acapulco. He got married last weekend and won’t be back until Sunday. The other is one of my team captains, Emilio Vega. He’s currently out on a job.”

“Tell us about Emilio,” Jessie said, sitting back down.

Van Hart shrugged. “He’s a hard worker, has been with me for almost a decade. He’s maybe forty, divorced I think. I don’t really get into my people’s personal lives that much.”

“Where is the job he’s currently working?” Ryan asked.

“In the Hills, like almost all of them.”

“Is he leading a team today?” Jessie asked.

“No,” Van Hart said. “This is a smaller maintenance job, just some mowing and pruning a few trees. It will probably take less than two hours.”

“We need the address,” Ryan said.

Van Hart wrote it down and handed it over.

“Thanks,” Ryan said, handing over a card of his own. “Now I want you to call this number and ask for Jamil Winslow. Give him everything you have on Vega, from address to social security number, got it?”

Van Hart nodded nervously. Ryan started for the door, but Jessie held back a moment.

“And Mr. Van Hart,” she warned. “Please don’t call Vega to let him know we’re coming. That could be construed as aiding and abetting. You don’t want that.”

Van Hart nodded again, and as she left, Jessie noted with satisfaction that whatever arrogance the man had displayed when they entered was now gone.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Hannah stood in line at the residential dining hall, engaged in an intense internal debate.

As she studied the buffet, she tried to decide between a salad or a calzone. Her diet during finals week hadn't been the healthiest, and a nagging sense of guilt had her leaning toward the greens. Then again, the calzone smelled so good.

“Tough call, huh?” someone said from just over her shoulder, making her jump slightly.

She turned to find Finn Anderton behind her, a broad grin on his face. She thought of about three different responses in that moment, but decided to go with the one that was least informative.

“Why are you here? Don’t you eat at your fraternity house?”

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