“No, Florida. It’s about thirty miles down the road.” Binns pinned Casey with a stare. “That was this guy? How do you know this?”
Oh, boy. How to explain without bringing Death into it all. “I saw his picture on Maria’s computer and recognized him. From the news.”
“Really.”
“It’s true.” Sort of.
“So how does that connect to this?” Binns waved at Maria’s house. “And Andrea’s death?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it doesn’t.”
“Of course it does.” Binns sounded exasperated. “Two murders involving people from the Flamingo? They have to be connected.”
Casey’s head hurt. “Okay. How about this? First, Maria is blackmailed by Brandon. He’s going to turn her in to the INS unless she pays him, or has sex with him, or who knows what? Before he leaves, he tells her that even though Richie is living with her, she shouldn’t get her hopes up about a future with him, because he and Andrea are secretly engaged.”
“And how does he know this?”
“How does he know anything? He’s good at snooping, and getting information out of people. Anyway, she tells Richie she’s found out about Andrea. Richie decides to stay with Maria, and tells Maria he and Andrea are finished.”
“What makes you think that?”
”Two weeks ago Andrea stopped telling her parents about her fiancé. Made it sound like it was over. And the phone number, remember? It was probably Richie’s, and he stopped calling once Maria found out.”
“But that was two weeks ago,” Binns said. “If Maria found out about Andrea that long ago, why did she wait so long to kill her? And she wouldn’t have a reason, anyway. In your theory, Richie stays with Maria.”
“Maybe Richie just this week decided he wasn’t willing to give Andrea up? I don’t know. Maybe he’d chosen, after all, to go back to Andrea, and leave Maria in the lurch. She went berserk. It makes sense. It was Maria’s key, after all, that let the killer into the building after hours. She would have access to the locker rooms, and would know Andrea and Krystal often worked out late at night. She could have faked the note to Krystal, so Krystal would make a surprise visit to the guard. It would be easy for her to sneak up, kill Andrea, and leave without being seen. She probably ran right to Andrea’s room after killing her to steal the photo of Richie and anything else of his she might find there.”
“And what note to Krystal was this she supposedly faked?” Binns’ voice was hard.
Casey winced. “Sorry. Krystal told me about it today. The hot young guard wrote and asked her to come down at midnight to…um…see him. That’s when she left Andrea alone on the fitness floor.”
Binns’ jaw worked, and she spent some time staring at the sidewalk before returning her attention to Casey. “Okay. All of the circumstantial evidence supports the idea of Ms. Mendez killing Ms. Parker, because of Ms. Mendez’s familiarity with the building and her involvement with Richie, but what about the transportation angle? If she really didn’t use her car, she would have needed another way to get home. There was no chance she could have walked here, or even ridden a bike, in the time between you calling the cops and us dispatching a cruiser.”
“One of the Flamingo vehicles?” Casey said. “They have trucks. And a Gator.”
Binns shook her head. “Nothing unfamiliar was seen here that night. Unless she parked blocks away, and then she would’ve gotten here too late.”
“Maybe she hitched a ride,” Gomez said. “That wouldn’t be hard. Lots of immigrants live on this side of town, and work on that side. She could have easily found someone she knew to bring her home.”
Casey looked at the neighboring houses. All dark, even with all the commotion in the street. “Somehow I don’t think you’ll get anyone to come forward.”
Binns shook her head wearily. “Same old story. But we’ll try.”
Casey considered the state of the inside of Maria’s house, and wondered what had precipitated Maria’s sudden departure. Had it been something Casey had said? Had she made Maria nervous asking about Richie earlier that evening? Probably. Sissy had said just moments afterward that everyone considered Casey in league with the cops. Casey had been there, asking Maria very pointed questions about Richie, and about Brandon. She had to admit it, if only to herself. She had most likely driven Maria—and her family, and probably Richie—away. “Maria’s gone for good, isn’t she? Everything’s a mess in there, like she left