The Perfect Impression

insult, likeshe was playing pretend and didn’t really deserve to be here. Jessie refused tobe baited. Other than the authority that came with representing the LAPD, herbiggest advantage was that she could stay cool, which this little dilettanteseemed incapable of doing. She aimed to use that.
“Mr. Barksdale, I appreciate your predicament,” she said, reining inthe saccharine sweetness she felt sneaking into her voice. “Maybe I jumped thegun earlier. I can only imagine the obstacles you’ve had to face in the lastfew hours.”
Peters, standing next to her, was wide-eyed. He seemed stunned at herrestraint, having expected a dressing down like the one he’d recently received.Barksdale, for his part, didn’t seem to pick up on the hint of sarcasm.
“I do my best,” he said, tugging at the bottom of his jacket.
“I have no doubt,” she replied, giving him her best doe eyes. “And that’swhy I know you’ll do your best for me too. I think that if we work together, wecan solve both our problems. You want this hotel operational again fast andwith as little drama as possible, correct?”
Yes,” he said carefully, waiting for the trick he was sure was coming.
“And I want to interview all the potential witnesses to this crimequickly and efficiently, while their memories are still vivid. If you can help memake that happen, I can stop holding guests in ballrooms and cordoning offfloors of your hotel.”
“Go on,” he said, still suspicious but intrigued.
“First I need you to release a bunch of your unoccupied rooms, perhapsas many as ten. We need places to put the guests we’ve interviewed, where theycan relax but not interact with other guests who might be witnesses. This way,I’ll know they’re secure and you’ll get your wish to remove them from publicspaces. For some of them, it might only be for a few hours in the rooms. Sinceit’s the middle of winter, I’m assuming you’re not fully booked.”
Barksdale did a little mental math in his head before answering.
“I think that can be arranged,” he told her.
“Fantastic,” she replied. “See what a great team we are already? Next,I believe that your security officer, Stone, mentioned that I requested youbring in additional security ahead of their shifts. We need them to get thoseguests to their rooms and then make sure they don’t leave them. In addition toStone and Dooley, I think three more should do it, one for each floor.”
“It can’t happen,” he replied, already shaking his head. “We only havesix security officers total, and the hotel’s senior manager, Mr. Clevell, isworried about both overtime and how it would look. He doesn’t want the Paragonto seem like an armed camp.”
Jessie was starting to get a sense of the politics at work here. BothStone and Barksdale had mentioned the senior hotel manager as a source ofangst. Clearly, their fear of him was trumping their inclination to do the rightthing. She needed to change that dynamic.
“Let me ask you something, Mr. Barks—what’s your first name?”
“Vin.”
“Okay, Vin. I’m Jessie Hunt. You can call me Jessie. Is Mr. Clevell theowner of the Paragon?”
“No,” he said. “It’s owned by Gormsby Group, which is really just theGormsby family. They own a series of boutique hotels. They’re based in SanFrancisco.”
Jessie smiled warmly, pretending not to notice the coffee breath.
“So what do you think would be more concerning to the Gormsby family inthe long term—paying a little overtime? Or splashy headlines on the front pagesof California newspapers saying management of this company refused to assist inthe investigation of a murder at one of their hotels? Because that’s how thisrefusal to assist will look in the light of day.”
He looked conflicted but shook his head again.
“I could get fired. Mr. Clevell can be quite petty.”
“Vin,” Jessie said in her most reassuring voice. “Mr. Clevell isn’there. He’s hanging out in Cerritos. He doesn’t understand the magnitude of thesituation. He doesn’t get that putting up barriers to this inquiry could tankthis place. Who wants to stay somewhere that allows its guests to be killed andthen disavows them after they’ve died? You’re in the hospitality business. Youknow better than me what a bad reputation can do to a place like this.”
“But—” he started. Jessie wasn’t done.
“On the other hand, if there are quotes in the news from the policeconsultant on the case that hotel management, specifically Vin Barksdale, wasessential to resolving the situation and ensuring the safety of other guests,this might actually turn out to be a publicity win and protect your job. Hell,you might even get some extra bookings from folks with morbid curiosity.”
As Barksdale considered her comments, his level of anxiety seemed todrop, if only marginally.
“You make a compelling argument, Ms. Hunt,” he said, apparentlyconstitutionally incapable of calling her Jessie. “But with all due respect, Idon’t think you understand how the Paragon Hotel works. We’re not seekingpublicity. This establishment thrives on discretion.”
“Vin, I’ve got to tell you, you can’t be discreet if you’re out of business.Solve the problem in front of you. Release those extra rooms. Call in your fullsecurity team so they can escort folks to those rooms and ensure they don’tleave until they’re cleared to do so. Make your staff accessible for interviewsif needed. Do those few simple things and you’ll come out of this looking likea hero. Balk and you’ll look like the goat. Clevell might try to throw youunder the bus either way. But do the right thing and you’ll have LAPD coveringyour back. Plus you’ll be able to sleep at night. What do you say?”
As she spoke, Barksdale still looked to be wavering. But the line aboutgetting hosed either way really seemed to resonate. He pursed his lips, as ifmaking a silent promise to himself, and then nodded.
“I’ll call the guards, and then release the rooms,” he said, startingto turn away.
“Thanks so much, Vin,” she said. “Just one more thing before you gothough.”
He turned back to her apprehensively.
“Yes?”
“As long as I have you, I may as well just ask you now: what’s youropinion of the Crewes?”
He seemed genuinely surprised by the question.
“I didn’t know them that well,” he said. “But they seemed