The Perfect Impression by Pierce, Blake (essential reading TXT) 📕

vodka. Jessiesuspected she was younger than her husband, but she looked older than him. Herhair was tied back in a tight bun that didn’t do anything to alter theperception.

Both were dressed in jogging suits, his blue and hers pink, likeMelissa Ferro’s. Apparently that was a thing with this group. Neither of themhad the fatigued aura of so many of the other guests. They looked alert andborderline cheery. Jessie led them to the end of the hall, where she found thatDetective Peters was already in the Harbor Room with the weepy mom and herbaby.

That left her the larger, less claustrophobic Bison Room. She assumed itwas named after the animals which now roamed Catalina after their descendantswere brought to the island for a film shoot in the 1920s.

She opened the door for the Landers, who took seats next to each other atthe large, rectangular table intended for as many as twenty people. Jessie satacross from them and remained silent for a moment, still debating how best toapproach the interview. She finally decided to just let them tell their story,listen for inconsistencies, and watch their body language. Maybe if they gotcomfortable enough, they’d let something slip.

“So I understand that you came to the island as part of a group?”Jessie began, leaving the question as open-ended as possible.

The couple looked at each other, initially uncertain who should gofirst. But after that brief hesitation, Marin Lander took the initiative.

“That’s right,” she said. “We’ve been coming here with Gabby and Steveand Melissa and Rich for about three years. This was the first time that Theoand Ari joined us for an outing. We usually come twice a year, summer and winter.It’s a chance to get away from the kids for a weekend without getting toofar away, you know?”

“Sure,” Jessie said. “And you always stay here?”

“Yep,” Barry volunteered. “The staff is great. It’s close to the heartof town. And you can’t tell right now in the dark, but the hotel sits rightnext to the only golf course on the island. Staying here affords us preferentialtee times, which we take full advantage of.”

“So what do you do here when you’re not golfing?” Jessie asked, stilltrying to loosen them up enough to reveal something unintended. “I visited oncea few years ago. I liked it but it doesn’t seem like the sort of place withendless options to keep you occupied.”

The Landers gave each other one of those secret couple’s smiles thatconfounded outsiders.

“We find ways to keep busy,” Marin said. “Right, honey?”

Barry nodded devilishly.

“When we come here, we like to chill more than load up on activities,” hesaid, not specifically addressing his wife’s more provocative comment.

“So it’s kind of a romantic getaway?” Jessie pressed, trying to get aclearer picture.

“You could call it that,” Barry answered noncommittally.

Jessie found it odd that he was being so cagey about the nature of thetrip but decided to move on for now.

“You said this other couple was joining you for the first time. How didthey end up coming along?”

“Gabby introduced us to Ari about two months ago,” Marin Lander toldher. “I think they took the same meditation class. Then we met Ari’s husband, Theo.Everyone vibed so we started spending time together. We felt comfortable enoughto invite them along and they jumped at the chance.”

“And how did that go?” Jessie asked.

The couple again exchanged a look that Jessie couldn’t decipher,reminding her why she preferred to conduct these interviews individually.

“I think it might have been a little overwhelming for them,” Marineventually conceded.

“What does that mean?”

“You know, you might do better to address that to them directly,” Barrysaid, the first time either of them had been outright unresponsive.

Jessie couldn’t get a bead on these people. They clearly weren’t being totallyforthright. But they didn’t have that familiar, sweaty nervousness thatsuggested their deception was related to feelings of guilt. They were hidingsomething but it wasn’t something they were ashamed of.

“My understanding is that you all went to dinner and then hung out inthe hotel bar?” she asked, hoping to verify the timeline established by herother interviews.

“That all sounds right,” Barry said, “though we can’t really speak toanything after about ten. We went up to bed around then.”

“Do you remember who in your group was left in the bar when you wentup?”

“I think the Ferros and the Crewes stayed,” Marin offered. “Theo leftaround the same time we did.”

“And his wife, Ariana—when did she go up?”

“You haven’t talked to Theo yet?” Marin replied.

“No. Why?”

“I think he’s better equipped to answer that question,” the woman said.

“You can’t tell me directly whether she was there when you wentupstairs?” Jessie asked, getting annoyed.

The Landers traded uncertain looks. Jessie was about to escalate theintensity of the questioning when Barry answered.

“I can tell you she definitely wasn’t in the bar. Beyond that, Theowould be the person to talk to.”

Jessie knew that pursuing this line of questioning would get heroutright angry, which was never good when trying to profile people. It cloudedthe judgment. So despite her desire to hone in, she switched topics.

“Did you see Gabby get into any disagreements over the course of theweekend?” she asked.

Both Landers shook their heads.

“Did she seem upset about anything?” Jessie pressed. “More so thanusual?”

“She did seem a little more tense than normal,” Marin answered. “But Iknow her mother’s been sick and their little one, Ellis, just got over a badear infection. She almost backed out of the trip altogether. I think it was thegeneral stress of all that more than any one thing in particular.”

Jessie sat with that for a moment. She felt like she was starting tosee the shadow of Gabrielle Crewe, if not her true image. She was nice but lessso to her husband; full of moral righteousness but not to the point ofalienation; stressed enough for others to notice while vacationing but not somuch that she skipped the vacation altogether. She was forming a picture of thewoman but nothing she’d gleaned so far offered any insight into why she wasmurdered in her hotel suite with a steak knife.

“So you were in your room when Gabby’s death was discovered?” she asked,getting