of you. But rest assured, I will collect you when it’s time to chat with Jasper. Be well.”
She was gone before anyone could reply. Matilda stepped forward.
“Would you like to speak to the guests now?” she asked.
Jessie, Karen, and Purcell shared an exasperated look.
“Sure,” Karen finally relented.
“Ernie,” Jessie said as they followed Matilda. “I know what Salter said, but have whoever’s collecting the video footage from last night check the residence just in case.”
He nodded and pulled out his phone to text someone. She was tempted to see if he’d really made the request but decided she had to give the guy some autonomy, even if she was inclined to believe Karen’s assertion that he’d be more of a hindrance than a help.
As they made their way to the pool, where the assembled guests waited, Jessie could have sworn she saw a goat trotting behind a distant bush.
CHAPTER SIX
The guests were mostly useless.
Few had much recollection of where they were at any point during the night.
“Can you tell me where it is?” one still-drunk girl wondered when Jessie asked if she’d ever been in Jasper’s personal wing. “I’d love to check it out.”
“Jasper’s awesome,” a swarthy guy smoking a clove cigarette told them. “Coolest dude ever.”
“That’s not what I asked,” Karen reminded him. “I want to know if you’ve been to his personal wing?”
“He has a personal wing? That’s so cool!”
They gave up on him and tried to question a group of ultra-fit twenty-something girls in yoga pants who were sipping mimosas at a patio table. None of them knew about the personal wing but several happily name-dropped when asked if they could list any attendees.
“I got Rance Jensen to sign my boob,” one offered.
“Me too,” another squealed.
“The lead singer of that Hubert Humphrey band or whatever it’s called dedicated a song to me when they were playing that acoustic set by the fire pit,” said a third.
Jessie suddenly felt old. She’d never even heard of the band. She was also exhausted. After two hours of interviewing mostly still-drunk partiers, she was actually glad when Nancy Salter reappeared at precisely 10:20 to collect them.
“You’re relieved, Matilda,” she said. “Take your break. I’ll escort our guests to see Jasper. Please come to the personal wing momentarily so you can retrieve them upon the completion of their visit.”
Matilda nodded and scurried off. Salter led them back along the route they’d followed previously, away from the pool and cabanas, past a series of guest houses, skirting the petting zoo and the hedge maze as they returned to the back entrance of South House.
“Find the missing goat?” Jessie asked.
“We did. Thanks for your concern. Unfortunately, one of our keepers suffered a kick to the shin while retrieving him. He’s been sent to the ER with a possible break—just another day in paradise.”
It was a testament to Salter’s general inscrutability that Jessie couldn’t tell if she was being serious or sarcastic. They turned right from South House and again passed the hall connecting it to West House. They were just starting up the stairs when Karen pointed down to the end of the corridor.
“Is that where the mold problem is?” she asked.
“Indeed,” Salter replied. “We only just learned of it. Now that whole area has to be closed off while they do the remediation. We’re lucky it didn’t happen last month when Jasper was hosting a wedding. There were a dozen overnight guests, including four in that wing. We would have had to scramble to find them accommodations. Small blessings, I suppose.”
She climbed the stairs even faster than Matilda. Jessie was out of breath trying to keep up. When they arrived at the entrance to Jasper’s wing, Salter pressed a button on the intercom.
“Yes,” Jasper asked.
“I have our friends from LAPD here to speak with you,” Salter replied.
“Please show them in, Nancy,” he said.
She led them through the array of rooms until they came to his private dining room. Salter motioned for them to take seats. They did as she moved to the corner of the room, where she remained standing. Moments later Otis arrived, talking on his cell phone.
“Tell them it’s my final offer,” he said as he took a seat, silently mouthing “sorry” to them. He waited for several seconds before replying, “I expect an answer one way or another by noon tomorrow. Otherwise we’ll move on to Belgium.”
He hung up without saying goodbye, put the phone in his pocket, and gave them his most charming smile. It felt false to Jessie.