“I’m Jolene Barr, the hotel manager.”
“Good morning, Ms. Barr,” Owen said. He clearly recognized her, but didn’t sound too pleased to see her.
“Hi, Deputy Lovell.” She glared briefly in his direction before turning to May. “Some of my staff were saying there’s a—a body here?” Her voice lowered and she glanced at the emergency vehicles.
“Deputy May Moore,” May introduced herself. “Unfortunately, the victim is your hotel architect, Danny Charter.”
Jolene’s eyes widened. She looked horrified.
“Danny? Are you serious?” She glanced around. “That’s his car there, isn’t it? What happened? Did he drown, or—?”
“Unfortunately, we suspect that there was foul play and he was murdered,” May said.
Jolene clapped her hands over her mouth.
“No! That’s simply impossible!” she whispered.
“It’s a tragic situation and we’re hoping for more information to be available. We have a lot of questions that we will need answered,” May advised her. “Perhaps you can give us some background? Did you know Danny well?”
“I—I—“ Jolene seemed unable to say anything else. “This is just such a shock. I can’t believe it. Danny—he’s such a great guy. I knew him fairly well. I can try and give you some answers.”
“How long had he been working on this project?” May asked, seeing out of the corner of her eye that Owen was taking notes as she spoke.
“He designed the initial hotel, of course, and I think he started working on the plans for the new wing in April,” Jolene said. “He was the one who came up with the design, and he was the one who managed the construction. So he was very intensively involved. He lives out of state, in New York I think, and used to fly over regularly. He would stay at the hotel when he was doing his planning. I think he arrived here yesterday, just after lunch. I saw him in passing, and he said he was going to work on the plans, then go out for a meeting, and then spend time planning the site down by the lake.”
“Who was the meeting with?” May asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve got no idea. Most likely with a supplier or a service provider. He sometimes used to go and view other buildings to see if different elements and designs would work for his builds.”
“Who knew he would be here last night?” May asked.
Jolene shook her head. “I don’t think any of us knew until he arrived. Like I said, he kept his own hours and consulted mostly with the hotel’s owner, Bert Reed. I am sure he would have informed Mr. Reed that he was going to be here last night, but wouldn’t have told any of us at this stage, especially since the build is still a few months away.”
“Is Mr. Reed here today?” May asked.
“Mr. Reed is not here. I think he is in Minnesota, though, but he has interests in a number of different hotels and lodges. He could be at any of them.”
“Does Danny have a family?” May asked, wanting a better picture.
“No, he’s single. As far as I know.”
“How did he get on with everyone in the hotel? Were there any conflicts? Any personal issues with any staff?”
Jolene shook her head. “I don’t recall any fights or any conflicts. We’re a happy family at Lakeside Heights. We strive to be a professional business. It’s not our fault that the local people have been so aggressive and unpleasant,” she added defensively.
Owen shifted from foot to foot as if he was longing to say something in response to this, but he didn’t.
From the information she had so far, May thought this was looking less and less like a personal issue with Danny. He had no family, he was single, he didn’t live in the area, and very few people knew he would have been here. So it was pointing more strongly in the direction of an aggrieved local who’d committed an impulsive crime when seeing the architect on the site of the proposed build. To her, anyway.
“Will this affect business in any way?” Jolene asked. “I mean, just so I’m aware. Will we be able to continue as normal? We have a couple of conferences booked.”
May felt that question was a little glib, considering what had just happened. It seemed more like Jolene was thinking about business, and not the fact that her colleague had just been murdered.
Still, it wasn’t May’s place to criticize and Jolene was, after all, the hotel manager.
“You should be able to open and continue business as normal. But this area is a crime scene, so please don’t allow guests to walk down this way.”
“Of course. Of course,” Jolene said. “It’s a relief to hear we can go about our business.”
She handed May one of her cards, and then turned and teetered up the grass, almost losing her fancy shoes with every step.
“Do you know her?” May asked.
Owen nodded. “She was my go-to person for all the hotel’s complaints. Just as the residents complained nonstop, the hotel did, too. She used to harass me daily, and tell me they were being threatened and abused by the locals. It was honestly the equivalent of wasting police time.”
May shook her head. This hotel was clearly a problem from start to finish, and it was solidifying her theory of how this murder might have occurred.
“If so few people knew Danny was here, and he had no obvious conflict with anyone, I don’t think the hotel staff need to be our first priority. Before we start asking around at the hotel, I’d like to see your complaints file. There might well be some local people who we need to rule out as suspects initially. Let’s see what’s there, and decide if anyone stands out as having a strong motive.”