The Murders at Astaire Castle (A Mac Faraday Mystery) by Lauren Carr Page B

his heart, he felt that marriage was a sacred institution. He was never crazy about how David and Randi had plunged into their relationship so soon after her marriage had ended. If there was a chance for her to save her marriage, she should at least try.
    Yet, David was his brother and friend. He didn’t like to see him hurt.
    “I’m sorry,” was all Mac could think of to say. “Are you okay?”
    “Why wouldn’t I be?” David sat up and opened the folder. “I think we need to find Rafaela Diaz. Unfortunately, she’s not still in the area. According to Dad’s notes, she had requested to return to Brazil shortly after the murders. They let her go.”
    “There has to be an address in the file.” Mac craned his neck to see the folder across from him. “They wouldn’t let her go without insisting on contact information for where she was going.”
    “There is.” David made note of the address. “I’ll try contacting her.”
    “Maybe over the years,” Mac said, “she’ll remember something that she didn’t mention before.”
    “Like a wolf man being on the scene?” Bogie asked from where he was coming down the stairs. “Because you’ll see in her statement that she swears she saw the wolf man leaving the scene. She’d seen him more than once at Astaire Castle.”
    Mac leafed through his case file in search of the housekeeper’s statement.
    “At the time,” the deputy chief continued, “we didn’t take her too seriously because she didn’t seem to be too credible. She was from a small village in Brazil—practiced voodoo—very superstitious—believed in zombies and werewolves and all types of creatures. Heck, she was a creature herself with hair all over the place—all these medallions and tattoos all over her. She swore Astaire Castle was cursed and couldn’t wait to get back to her high priestess in Brazil to purify her of all the evil that she’d picked up there.” He concluded with, “Good luck finding her. I told your father when he gave her permission to leave that we’d never get her back in this country again, unless we hog tied her and threw her into the trunk of a car.”
    Mac wanted to continue the conversation, but the cell phone on his hip was buzzing. When he checked the ID, he saw that it was Hector, who was not one to call Mac for idle conversation.
    “You’ll never guess who just checked in here at the Spencer Inn,” Hector said by way of greeting.
    “The President.”
    “Be serious,” Hector laughed.
    “I was. The Spencer Inn is a five-star inn that has been frequented by celebrities from all walks of life. Why wouldn’t the President visit?”
    “Because Gnarly can’t get cleared by the Secret Service,” Hector chuckled. “I’m talking about Raymond Hollister.”
    “Raymond Hollister?” Mac stood up. In response to David and Bogie’s questioning looks, he asked Hector, “He’s at the Spencer Inn right now?”
    “Just checked in without a reservation and made a fuss when the desk clerk told him that no suites were available—only regular rooms. He’s in the spa now getting a massage from Laynie.”
    “I want to talk to him.” David stacked up the files and returned them to the case boxes.
    “We’re on our way,” Mac told Hector.
    When she saw David heading across the squad room, Tonya threw up her hand and waved a message at him. “Before you go, Chief. Chelsea Adams will be here later on this afternoon and she wants to meet with you.”
    David halted so fast that Mac, who was gesturing for Gnarly to come, collided into his back. “Why is she coming here? I told her that Riley was in Oakland.”
    “She wants to see you,” Tonya said. “I told Mac all about it.”
    Snatching the message out of her hand, David turned to Mac with yet another angry glare in his eyes.
    “I forgot and I’m not your secretary,” Mac said.
    “There’s nothing more I can tell her that the hospital won’t.”
    “It’s easier hearing it from a friend,” Mac said.