“I knew I liked her,” Whelan said, chuckling. “Does she know about Ric? And his involvement in Hudson’s death?”
“No. Today’s news was enough of a shock—for both of us. I think it can wait.”
“Maybe, she’d like, I don’t know? Is closure a cliché?”
“It’s a cliché because it’s true,” Traci said. “I know it gave me some peace, after all these years, knowing it wasn’t our fault.”
“I’m glad. Hey, the other reason I called is to fill you in on my visit to the sheriff’s office after I left your place.”
“He still won’t let you see the investigative reports?” she guessed.
“Actually, I lucked out. The sheriff was out of town. But his chief deputy, guy’s name is Shapley, happened to be in the office todayand I might have bamboozled him a little. He let me read the file on your niece’s death. He wouldn’t let me copy it or photograph the pages, or even take notes. He sat me down in a conference room and watched while I read.”
“Did you learn anything new?”
“A couple things. They were finally able to track down the members of that steel drum band that played your Beach Bash.”
“Cedric and the Sunsetters?”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“They’ve played the Beach Bash for the last few years.”
“That would have been good information for the sheriff’s office to have before now, especially since the witness statements from the afterparty say they saw Cedric talking to Parrish shortly before she disappeared. Who hired those guys?”
Traci had to think for a minute. “Charlie Burroughs, our general manager, originally hired them, but I’m not sure about this year.”
“But Burroughs would have had the band’s contact info?”
“Probably.”
“He told the sheriff he didn’t know much about the band because Parrish hired them.”
“Did the cops ever get in touch with anyone from the band?”
“They’re back in Jamaica. The reports I read said repeated efforts to contact them failed.”
“Sounds like maybe Cedric has something to hide. Or maybe he just doesn’t like talking to cops,” Traci said. “What else was of interest in that file?”
“Those two dudes who lived in your dorm with Traci.”
“KJ and Garrett?”
“Yeah. Did you send them out to look for Parrish the morning she went missing?”
“My memory is that they volunteered to go, because I was so upset.”
“While they were out there, they took it upon themselves to ‘clean up’ the area, hauling all the trash out, effectively destroying any evidence that might have been at the crime scene.”
“You don’t think they did that deliberately, do you?” Traci asked. “They were Parrish’s friends. They were really upset after her body was found.”
“Not sure what to think,” Whelan said. “Let me ask you something else. How long has your general manager been at the Saint?”
“Charlie? He’s been there for as long as I remember. He was the one who hired me as a lifeguard when I was nineteen. He’s an institution.”
“What do you know about his personal life?”
“Not much,” Traci admitted. “He’s divorced. No kids. He’s kind of a workaholic.”
