"Is this Lana or Saylor?”
After a beat, “Uh, Saylor. Is he in some kind of trouble?"
I smiled. "No. We just have some routine questions. Why don't you have him come to the door? I know he's here.”
There was another long pause.
"Hang on just a second," she said.
The line disconnected, and I shared a look with Jack.
Undeterred, I rang the bell again.
There was no answer.
I put a heavy fist against the door and shouted, “Coconut County!”
There was no response.
"Jesse, I know you're in there. We just want to talk.”
Commotion inside filtered down the foyer. Voices hissed.
A moment later, footsteps approached, and the deadbolt unlatched. Jesse pulled open the door and looked at us with concerned eyes. He was 25 with a square jaw lined with stubble, narrow blue eyes, a long nose, and brown hair that was longer on top and shorter on the sides. At 5’11”, he had a medium build.
I displayed the badge and made introductions. "I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but…”
I gave him limited details.
His eyes rounded with surprise. His reaction seemed genuine, but he could have been a good actor. "What!? How?”
"I can't discuss the details right now.”
Jesse’s stunned expression lingered, and he hung his head, trying to process it. “Was this some kind of accident?”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed, putting it together. “She was murdered?”
“When did you break up?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Like a month ago. Why?”
Even though I already knew, I asked, “What prompted the breakup?”
His face tightened with annoyance. “What does that matter?”
“I take it the breakup wasn’t amicable?”
“Dude, do you know who she was? Do you know anything about her?”
“Why don’t you tell me?”
“I can tell you she’s a fucking whore!”
That hung there a moment.
I shared a subtle glance with Jack.
