“Yes.”
“That was a generous donation.”
“I just feel bad for those kids. These thugs didn’t steal from me. They stole from them.”
“I’ll do everything I can to recover these jewels. We’re probably looking at an extremely small market indeed.”
“Thank you. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.” She took a deep breath and composed herself. “I apologize for lashing out at you. I was scared, angry, and upset. You did the right thing to prioritize the safety of the guests.”
“I understand your frustration. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“It’s only money, right?” she said, trying to convince herself of that.
The EMTs got the patient stabilized, transferred him to a gurney, then wheeled him out.
Deputies flooded into the ballroom.
I gave Deputies Erickson and Faulkner the scoop. “I want any security footage the hotel might have. I need names and contact information for everyone here and the guy they wheeled out on a gurney.”
JD and I interviewed and collected contact information for the security and hotel staff. There were cameras in the parking lot, the main entrance, and the lobby.
We met up with Carl, the head of security. In his office, we watched video feeds from the cameras. A sea of people flooded in and out of the hotel. It could have been any of these people.
I suspected the assailants had come in the same way they had gone out. There weren’t any cameras on the beach or at the entrances to the ballroom. These guys had thought this through and planned it out well. Calm and cool, they were no strangers to this kind of thing.
“Let’s talk about how they did this,” I said to Carl.
“Power was only affected in the ballroom. There’s a sub-panel in the kitchen just off the ballroom.”
“Is the panel secure?”
“It’s in a maintenance closet with a push-button lock.”
“Who knows the code?”
“Maintenance, kitchen staff, AV techs.”
“You could have an employee in on this,” I said. “I’ll need to talk to everyone.”
Carl nodded.
“We need that lock dusted for prints,” JD said.
“The backup power didn’t kick on,” I said.
Carl frowned. “The automated transfer switch should have re-routed power within 20 to 30 seconds. They could have sabotaged the board or the generators themselves.”
“This had been in the works for a while, and they had done their homework,” Jack said.
We checked the generators, and their control boards had been damaged. Someone had cut the padlock and accessed the enclosure. Unfortunately, there was no camera angle on the unit.
Carl gave me a list of all the employees with access to the breaker box, and we talked to those on shift that we hadn’t already interviewed.
Nobody jumped out at me as suspicious right away.
By that time, plenty of guests had managed to leave the ballroom without getting interviewed. It was impossible to lock the place down, and a lot of the socialites didn't like being told what to do. Erickson and Faulkner collected what information they could.
Paris Delaney and her news crew had arrived. Her cameraman soaked up the footage as the guests spilled out of the hotel. She managed to grab a few interviews—mortified women going on about how their lives were in danger and how the policedid nothing to stop it. It wasn’t going to go over well for the department.
