was Nancy Salter. There was no way she could go any farther. Up until now, she could maintain the fiction that she was simply an LAPD consultant investigating a case and hadn’t heard about the judicial stay, and that she just didn’t want to bother anyone while she looked around to get some background for her investigation.
It was a clumsy, obvious lie, but it was technically defensible. However, if she continued to the residence, ignoring the clear directive of Jasper Otis’s right-hand woman, she’d be in official trespassing territory. Reluctantly, she turned around.
Nancy Salter was already walking quickly toward her, with her bespectacled enabler in tow. Salter didn’t look angry so much as energized by the chance to lay into Jessie. And yet, she kept her tone of voice conversational, almost accommodating.
“That’s why they closed off the whole area and use air scrubbers,” she continued. “Once they start cutting out the rotted wood, the mold is aerosolized. If that gets in your system, it can cause all manner of problems—breathing issues, infections. In really bad cases, people have had memory loss and hemorrhaging.”
“Good to know,” Jessie said, making a mental note to have Jamil look into the matter. “Maybe next time I’ll bring my mask. When did the issue start again?”
“I’m terribly sorry, Ms. Hunt, but I’m afraid I’m not in a position to answer any questions at this time.”
“Not in a position?” Jessie repeated, all doe-eyed and innocent. “That’s an odd turn of phrase, Ms. Salter. Why on earth wouldn’t you want to answer my questions?”
“Several reasons,” Salter said, not at all moved by Jessie’s dramatic turn. “First of all, you’re trespassing.”
“I’m not sure what you mean. You invited me onto the estate to investigate just yesterday. Why would you suddenly accuse me of trespassing the very next day?”
“That’s the second reason,” Salter said coldly. “As I’m sure you’re aware, a judicial stay has been granted preventing any further visits without a warrant.”
“I had no idea,” Jessie exclaimed, pulling her hand to her heart. “Had I known that, I most certainly wouldn’t have come.”
“Detective Bray was informed. Are you not partnering with her on this matter?”
“Informally, sure,” Jessie said. “But she works for LAPD and I’m just consulting. It’s not like we’re Cagney and Lacey or something.”
Jessie saw the confused look on the face of Salter’s assistant and suddenly felt much older than her thirty years. Salter clearly got the reference but wasn’t amused.
“In light of your ignorance of the situation, we will merely have you escorted from the premises, rather than calling the authorities.”
She nodded at her lackey, who muttered something unintelligible into his walkie-talkie. The arrogance was infuriating and, though she knew it was petty, Jessie couldn’t help but take a poke of her own.
“I appreciate your restraint, Nancy. I wouldn’t want to get on your bad side. I hear you have a brutal right hook, although maybe I’m safe. After all, I’m not a caterer.”
She was happy to see Salter’s eyes widen slightly. Realizing this might be the only opportunity to question the woman when she’d been thrown off a little, Jessie went in for an extra bite.
“Tell me, where were you on Saturday night between three and four, slugger?”
Salter had regained her composure even before Jessie finished the question.
“You are aware that I’m under no obligation to answer that…but I will. I was everywhere, Ms. Hunt. When it comes to Jasper’s parties, I’m a bit of a whirling dervish, always in motion, always putting out fires.”
“Put out any fires in Jasper’s private wing that night?” Jessie wondered.
Nancy Salter smiled at her before answering. Her lips curled unnaturally, as if they were unused to that kind of movement.
“Not that I recall.”
“That’s odd,” Jessie mused. “You seem like the kind of person who recalls everything.”
“I do my best, but things can get crazy when trying to manage almost six hundred people.”
“I’m sure,” Jessie said consolingly. “Maybe checking the location data on your phone would help refresh your memory.”
“Maybe,” Salter said. “Unfortunately, as Jasper mentioned, the digital dampening net we employ on the property makes that sort of thing impossible.”
“Oh, right. I forgot about that,” Jessie lied. “That’s really unfortunate for us law enforcement types. If not for that, we might have Ms. Estrada’s killer in custody already.”
The doors at the end of the corridor opened and two burly men in suits, apparently graduates of the same security school as Ajax, walked quickly toward them.
“It appears that it’s time for you to go now, Ms. Hunt,” Salter said.