“Did anyone see you do this?”
“No. My cover’s still in place.”
Crabtree nodded in Fulton’s direction. “Fulton will take care of it. Either go home and clear your head or go back to Mariposa and find me an actual suspect.”
“Yes, sir.” Noah subsided and let Fulton pass into Interview Room 1 to finish his job.
“It was Glenna?” Laura asked. “She leaked Allison’s homicide?”
Noah nodded. “The timing was right. From there, it was just a matter of pressing the right buttons. Once cornered, she didn’t hold back.”
“She always seemed so even-tempered,” Laura said, struggling to understand. “Why would she do this?”
“You can’t think of any reason?” Adam asked from behind his desk. “We had Security watching the gates for Clive.”
Her lips parted in surprise. “So he snuck Glenna in here under our noses to cause trouble on his behalf?”
“She said something as I was hauling her in,” Noah added. “She said her husband would get what he wants, and Mariposa only exists because he allows it to.”
“That’s inaccurate,” Adam said mildly.
Laura’s brow furrowed. “Roland asked me if he should escort her out when she made a scene in the lobby. I should’ve let him. Valentine’s Day is this weekend. I should’ve thought about the wedding party coming in. Once the families hear about the murder...”
“They signed a contract,” Adam assured her. “If they cancel, they’ll pay the cancellation fee.”
“If that wedding falls through, then who’s saying the next one won’t?”
“How long will Glenna be detained at the SPD?” Adam asked Noah.
“She wasn’t just booked on assaulting an officer,” Noah said. “You and Fulton had an understanding that the investigation would be kept quiet to aid in the search for the killer. By leaking it to the press, Glenna interfered in a police investigation. Her lawyer’s there now, doing his song and dance. She’ll likely be released on bail tomorrow morning. But she won’t get away scot-free. She’s facing charges.”
“And she’s going to be angry,” Laura pointed out.
Adam rolled his pen between his fingers. “We might as well have poked a beehive.”
Laura felt tired just thinking about it. “You have to finish this,” she told Noah. “You have to find who did this and get them away from the resort.”
“I will.”
For once, he didn’t argue. The little ship in a bottle she carried inside her anchored up to his strength. It was a port in this storm. “We’re running out of time.”
“So am I,” he said. “My CO found out what I’m doing. He’s not wild about it.”
“You’re not leaving.”
His eyes didn’t stray from her. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The assertion made her feel lighter, if only for a moment. She thought things over, picking through the cluttered mess in her mind. She sought something...anything they’d overlooked. “The schedule from Allison’s fridge. Do you still have it?”
“It’s at my bungalow. Why?”
She faced Adam. “You said Allison had taken on three people for private lessons?”
“As a test run,” he said, “yes.”
Laura remembered the letters on the piece of paper. “There were three sets of initials written on the schedule. I thought they were repeat students. But what if they’re the names of the guests who requested private lessons?”
Noah’s eyes cleared. “CJK.Those initials were on there.”