I Bet on Losing Dogs - Patrick Jane

222 - Red Letter

In a hotel lobby, Kenzie, Patrick, and Teresa walk in and are greeted by the sheriff.

"Andy Burnside, Kane County Sheriff," introduced Sheriff Burnside.

"Agent Teresa Lisbon," said Teresa. "This is Agent Patterson and Patrick Jane, our consultant."

"Hi."

"Hi," greeted Kenzie and Patrick.

"So the victim's name was Hector Brava. He was a do-gooder. Ran an organization called the Sheltering Light Foundation. They fight human trafficking. There's a conference going on. He was supposed to give some kind of a speech." He turned to Patrick. "So you're the psychic, huh?"

"No. No such thing as psychics."

Cho was talking to a police officer before walking over to the four of them. "Looks like cause of death is blunt force trauma to the back of the head."

"Yeah, some of my men found a fire extinguisher with blood on it over there," said the sheriff. "No, uh, usable prints on it, though."

"If he was here to make a speech, what was he doing back here?" asked Kenzie.

"This. It's a text message." The sheriff showed her the victim's cell phone.

"Meet me through the staff door. Carmen."

"Tracking the sender now."

"How many Carmens have you ID'd at the hotel?" asked Cho.

"Two employees were at the hotel, and another two were attending the conference. They all have alibis, though. We're gonna keep looking. He had his wallet on him, all his credit cards, a lot of money, so you can rule robbery out."

"Maybe," said Patrick. "Where's his speech?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, you just said Brava was on the way to deliver a speech. Wouldn't he have that speech on his person, or notes at least? Did you find anything?"

"No."

"Cho, find out everything you can about the speech," said Teresa.

"You got it."

Kenzie turned to Patrick. "What?"

"Uh, there's a contradiction here. The murder itself feels improvised, the fire extinguisher, the semipublic location. But the setup... the text message was planned. No robbery to speak of. No assault other than the blow to the head. It doesn't feel like an anger killing. It feels more like an act of desperation. The murderer wanted to keep Brava from doing something or saying something."

"That's just what our psychic said," said the sheriff.

Kenzie looked at him with a confused frown. "Your psychic?"

"Kristina Frye."

Kenzie sighed, knowing the amount of chaos that's gonna come from Patrick. "Oh no."

"You're kidding," said Patrick.

"What, you've heard of her?"

Patrick let out an annoyed hum.

The two of them walked further into the hotel lobby to find Kristina talking to someone.

"Relax," said Kristina. "Don't force the memory. It'll come, and the details will emerge."

"How much you paying her, Sheriff?" asked Patrick.

"That's none of your business," said the sheriff.

Patrick motioned with his hands. "Oh, that much? I'm working for the wrong people."

Kenzie gave him a playful glare before walking up to Kristina. "Ms. Frye, hi. It's nice to see you again."