CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Jessie was having trouble keeping up with everything.

As they drove downhill along the snaking road, they reviewed where they stood with Jamil and Beth on the phone. As requested, Jamil had looked into Gabriel Ashe's personal finances to see if there were any unusual recent payments that might s suggest that he'd hired someone to take out his wife. There were none.

The researchers had also already done an impressive job reaching out to multiple people on the Ashe family's provider list in order to check alibis. They'd made initial contact with the gardener, the masseuse, and yoga instructor and were confirming their stories. They'd also left messages with the dog walker, the personal trainer, and the hypnotherapist.

Based on what Hayley had told them, Jamil was also looking at the family's bank records to determine the names of the manicurist and acupuncturist. Beth had also discovered that a contractor had come by a week ago to give them a quote on resurfacing their deck. She was attempting to reach him too. But when Jessie told them about Brian the bartender, they'd set all of those tasks aside to determine who he was.

"According to what I see," Beth told them after a minute of searching online, "there only seems to be one bartender at The Shot named Brian—Brian Barber. There's a publicity photo and mini biography of him on the website."

"What kind of a bar has publicity photos of their staff?" Ryan wondered.

"One in the heart of Hollywood," Jessie noted.

"Oh right," Ryan said before asking Beth, "what does it say about him?"

"His title is listed as mixologist," Beth said, amused. "It doesn"t give his age, but I"d guess that he"s right around thirty. He"s from Charlotte, North Carolina, and has lived in L.A. for six years. And I have to say he"s quite a looker."

"Yeah, well that looker has a sketchy history," Jamil noted, sounding mildly put out by Beth's description of the guy. "He's had two restraining orders against him since he moved here, though neither escalated beyond that."

Jessie knew why Jamil was pouting. It had become clear in recent months that the relationship between him and Beth had become more than just friendly co-workers. They occasionally made comments in passing that indicated that they were spending quality time together outside the office. While Jessie wasn't certain that things had become romantic, she was sure of one thing: Jamil certainly wouldn't object to the proposition.

"That certainly seems like something worth addressing with him when we chat," Ryan said of the restraining orders.

"There's something else you might want to bring up!" Beth said excitedly.

"What?" Jessie and Ryan asked in unison.

"I was looking over the bar's Instagram page and using facial recognition to see if I could get any hits on Sydney Ashe. Sure enough, it looks like she was there the night before last. In fact, there's an image of her talking to Barber in the background of one photo."

"Can you send us a screenshot of that?" Ryan asked.

"Absolutely," Beth said.

"Great," Ryan replied. "Good work guys. We should be at The Shot in less than ten minutes, so don"t hesitate to send us anything else you find in the interim. Talk soon."

Jessie was about end the call when Beth shouted out.

"Hold on!"

"What's wrong?" Jessie asked.

"I just did another facial recognition search on a whim," Beth explained. "Guess who was at The Shot last night?"

Jessie didn't need any coaxing.

"Erin Podemski?"

"Exactly!" Beth said excitedly. "She's not talking to Barber in the picture, but they are in the same frame. The timestamp is 7:04 p.m."

Jessie felt Ryan press down on the accelerator at hearing the news, taking the sharp turn at about double the speed limit.

"Fantastic," Jessie told the researcher, "That helps narrow her time of death too. Now we know she was alive at least an hour after her last text communication with Nikki Fleetwood."

"And even if she left right after that photo was taken," Ryan added, "It's probably safe to assume that she didn't get back home until close to 7:30, narrowing the window even more."

"Way to think outside the box, Beth," Jessie added. "You guys know how to reach us if you find anything else."

"We sure do," Beth said, clearly proud of her work.

Jessie hung up and turned to Ryan.

My love," she said.

Yeah?" he replied, his eyes fixed on the road.

"I know this guy just moved to the top of the suspect list, but I'm worried we might not get to interview him."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because at the speed you're going, we're going to fly off the road, fall down the cliff into the canyon, and die in massive fireball. So can you please slow down!"

"Sorry," Ryan said, slowing down, but only slightly.

Jessie closed her eyes. She'd seen all manner of horrors in her thirty-one years, but for some reason, she couldn't handle this.

"From now on," she said, "I'm driving."