Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ariana
The next day, I talked to Gina’s former boss, Kit Caldwell.
“I’ve already answered the detective’s questions, Miss Williams.”
“I know, and I’m sorry to bother you. How did you feel when Gina quit?”
She laughed. “How do you think I felt? I was pissed as hell. She left, took all my top clients, and cost my agency millions of dollars. But what could I do? Her contract with the agency was up, and she chose not to renew. She had this crazy idea that she would start her own agency. I wished her good luck.”
“And you knew that she hired Mr. Russo for representation a year ago?”
“Yes. In fact, I was the one who suggested his firm.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they have a good reputation.”
“It wouldn’t have anything to do with Sam Butler being a client of yours, would it?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have a client by that name.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Let me double-check, but it doesn’t ring a bell.”
She tapped the keys on her computer and then looked at me.
“No. He’s not one of our clients. Maybe Gina took him on after she left.”
“Thank you for your time.” I smiled.
I left the agency and hailed a cab to the police station, where I found Detective Jacks sitting in his office.
“Hello there.” He smiled as he looked up from his computer.
“Hello, detective.”
“To what do I owe the pleasure of having you in my office today?”
“I need to see the security footage from the cameras outside the Peninsula Hotel.”
“And for what reason do you need to see that?” he asked as he leaned back in his chair.
“Gina Burroughs met someone that day after she checked into the hotel, and I want to know who it was.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that without a subpoena, and good luck getting one from the judge. Whom she may or may not have met isn’t relevant in this case. Your client’s prints were all over that murder weapon. Need I remind you of that?”
I stood there, slowly nodding my head at him. I had hoped it wouldn’t come down to this, but he left me no choice.
“Maybe you’ll change your mind once you see this.” I pulled Gina’s client list from my purse and held it up at a distance from him.
“What is that?”
“Gina’s client list.” I turned it around and studied it. “The number of cops and detectives on this list is astounding.” I looked at him. “It seems to me that everyone on this list could be a potential suspect. They were clients of hers. They knew her, and now she’s dead. I’m sure the D.A.’s office would love to get their hands on this list.”
“Do you know what that’ll do?” he asked.
“Of course, I do. Listen, I’m trying to clear my client of murder. Why are you fighting me on this? Your job is to put the right person behind bars, detective.”
“So, you’re blackmailing me?” His brow arched.
“How could I be blackmailing you? Your name isn’t on this list. I’m just asking to see the recordings from the day of the murder. It’s simple. You show me, I thank you, I walk away, and the list stays a secret.”
He sighed heavily and got up from his chair.
“Fine. Follow me, but I’m sitting right there with you.”
I gave him a small smile as he took me downstairs and introduced me to a man named Rowan Harrison.
“Rowan, I need you to pull the footage from the night of the Burroughs’ murder.”
“Starting at three-thirty p.m.,” I said to him.
He pulled it up, and I watched her walk out of the hotel and climb into a black limousine.
“Can you get the license plate number?” I asked.
Rowan zoomed in, and I wrote the number down on a pad of paper that was sitting in front of Detective Jacks. Around eight p.m., the same limousine pulled up to the hotel, and Gina climbed out alone.
“Thank you for your help, detective.” I smiled.
“Do you want me to run that plate for you?” he asked.
“Would you?” I cocked my head.
He shot me a look and took the paper out of my hand.
“Let’s go back to my office.”
I followed him upstairs and took a seat while he keyed the license plate into his computer.
“The number is registered to Graystone Limousine Company over on West 37th Street.”
“Guess that’s my next stop.” I smirked.
As I was on my way to Graystone, my burner phone rang.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Where are you? I haven’t heard from you all day, and I’m starting to get worried,” Luca spoke.
“I’m working, and I’m fine. Are you still at the office?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Stay until I get there.”
“Ariana, what are you doing?” he asked with concern.
“My job. I have to go, Luca. I’ll see you at the office.”
I asked the cab to wait for me while I stepped through the double doors of Graystone Limousine. Maybe this was a long shot, and it would turn out to be nothing. Perhaps she was meeting a client for the day. But I found it odd that there was nothing about a client on her calendar.
“May I help you?” an older woman wearing a dark gray pantsuit asked.
“I’m hoping you can. I have a license plate number and need to know who rented that particular limousine on September 5th.”
“I’m sorry, miss, but I’m not allowed to give out customers’ information.”
“Even if it involves a murder case?” I cocked my head.
“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to get a warrant or something.”
“Thank you for your time.” I walked away in disappointment.
I climbed back in the cab and sat there for a moment.
“Where to, lady?” the driver asked.
“Hold on a second. I’m thinking.”
“I ain’t got all day,” he spoke with irritation.
“Why? I’m paying you, aren’t I?” I threw my hands in the air. “How am I any different from anyone else that would be sitting in the back of this cab?”
“Just let me know where you want to go.”
Think, Ariana. Think. Suddenly, my phone rang, and it was Sheila.
“Hello.”
“Ariana, I got the number and the records of that other phone registered to Gina Burroughs.”
“Great! I’m on my way to the firm. Are you there?”
“I’m in my office.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
As soon as I reached the firm, I called Luca and told him to meet me in Sheila’s office. By the time I got up there, he was already sitting down.
“I highlighted the phone number from when Gina was in the lobby at approximately three thirty p.m.,” Sheila spoke as she handed me the call log. “That number appears on her phone an awful lot. It had to be one of her clients. I couldn’t trace the number, so I suspect it’s from a burner phone.”
“Then let’s call it and see who answers.” I pulled out my burner phone and held it up with a smile.
I dialed the number and put it on speaker. After three rings, a male voice answered.
“Sam Butler.”
I looked at Luca as I hung up.
“Did he work that day?” I asked.
“Only for half a day. He said he and his wife had plans for his birthday before the party that night. You don’t really think Sam had anything to do with this, do you?”
“I don’t know. Do you know of a company called Graystone Limousine?” I asked him.
“Of course. That’s the company we rent our limos from. Why?”
“Sheila, find out who rented that limo. If it were Sam, which my suspicions say it is, he would have done it through the firm.”
“I’m on it.”
I got up from my chair and began to walk out of Sheila’s office.
“Where are you going now?” Luca asked.
“To have a little chat with Sam.”