Page 57 of Cougar Point

Lucas was thinking about that when his phone buzzed. To his surprise, he saw Anderson’s number on the screen.

She was waiting for him in the foyer.

“Mac wanted to see you again before you go.”

Lucas smiled. “And you didn’t?”

She didn’t return the smile, bounced her car keys in her palm. “He’s downtown, you coming?”

Lucas asked if they could make one stop on the way: the Park Plaza. It was a twenty-story building that looked like it had gone up in the middle of the last century. The hotel manager, Philip Morgenstern, was expecting them and greeted them with the air of a funeral director welcoming the family.

Morgenstern was mid-fifties. Thin and on the short side, with a neatly trimmed goatee and a widow’s peak that made him look like a vampire, especially when paired with the black suit and the bow tie. He ushered them into a large office behind reception.

“Detectives,” Morgenstern said as he closed the door, so quietly it was almost a whisper. “It’s good to see you again, and I’m so sorry it isn’t under happier circumstances.”

Anderson only rolled her eyes a little, then turned to introduce Lucas. “Sergeant Lucas has joined us from Whatcom County, where Mrs. Greenwood’s body was recovered. He’s liaising with us to get to the bottom of what happened.”

Morgenstern’s face took on a pained expression. “Such a tragedy. Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood were such dearly loved guests. Part of the Park Plaza family.”

“Any idea who the guy who crashed this family party might have been?” Lucas asked.

Morgenstern shook his head. “We had every member of the staff on duty that night watch the video, none of them could identify him as a guest or anyone else who had business in the hotel. Though, of course, it’s difficult to be certain with the coat and the hat.”

Lucas glanced at Anderson, raising his eyebrows. An unspoken request for permission to ask a question. Anderson nodded.

“Forgive me, I know you’ve probably been through this already with the detectives, but did you speak to Mrs. Greenwood at any time during her stay?”

“I regret I did not see her this time. I’m told she spent most of the time in her room before she…”

“Before she disappeared.”

“Yes.”

“You ever have anything like this in the hotel before?”

Morgenstern’s brow furrowed. “Anything like this? Detective, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that as a large hotel we occasionally have to deal with…delicate situations, but no, we’ve never had a kidnapping. It’s unfortunate, the circumstances of this case. If we had known earlier…if Mr. Greenwood had not called off the search…”

Anderson sat back in her chair and blew a lock of hair out of the way of her eye, sharing his frustration. “I hear you.”

They were all picking up the pieces more than a week after the event, and far too late to do any good.

They met Mac at a late-opening coffee shop four blocks from the hotel. It was one of those self-consciously hip places with lots of exposed brick and spiral-filament light bulbs. Mac was sitting at the back with a glass of iced tea.

“It’s been too long,” Mac said as the other two pulled up their chairs and joined him. “This case is so cold you could put up a couple of goals and play hockey on it.”

“How does the Greenwood thing look?” Lucas asked. “Mr. Greenwood, that is.”

“Definitely a suicide, crime scene guys say nobody else involved,” Mac said.

“He leave a note?” Lucas asked.

Mac shook his head. “I guess he didn’t need to.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Anderson said, addressing Lucas.

“Fire away.”

She held eye contact with him for a moment before asking. “You think he did it?”

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