As I drove to the aquarium, I asked Tessa to read me the Sherrod Aquarium brochure that she’d picked up from the hotel lobby.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No. Go ahead. I want to find out as much as I can before we get there.”
She complained for another minute or two, but at last she obliged me. “‘When it was completed in November 2008, the Sherrod Aquarium was the largest and most ambitious aquarium complex in the world. Boasting more than five hundred thrilling exhibits, this world-class vacation destination promises fun, educational, and memorable experiences for the entire family. Also respected around the world as a cutting-edge shark research facility…’” She stopped and mumbled, “Do I have to do this?”
“I know it’s not Pulitzer Prize-winning material. Just humor me.”
A sigh. Then, “‘When you arrive, plan to visit Poseidon’s Odyssey, an interactive 4-D adventure that will leave you stunned, and amazed!’” She paused. “There’s an extra comma in there that they don’t need, by the way.” Then she continued, “‘And don’t miss the world’s largest indoor aquarium attraction. The Seven Deadly Seas exhibit holds more than seven million gallons of water, as well as the world’s largest bull shark in captivity. Prepare to be awestruck and overwhelmed. But be wary! Sixteen vicious species of sharks roam its deadly waters-’ Patrick, puh- lease?”
“Just finish it up,” I said. “We’re almost there.”
Another impatient sigh. “I’m skipping to the end. ‘Spearheaded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Victor Sherrod Drake, the Sherrod Aquarium stands as a monument to his generosity to the people of’ blah, blah, blah. It just goes on like that for a while.”
“OK,” I said. “That’s good. We’re here.”
She set down the brochure, looked up, and uttered one word:
“Whoa.”
The Sherrod Aquarium spread before us. The architects had made brilliant use of mirrored glass and expansive sweeping canopies, creating a breezy, windswept feel that made the three interconnected wings of the world’s largest aquarium look like giant glass sails billowing toward the sea. Sunlight and sky danced across the glass sides of the buildings, merging the aquarium seamlessly with the ocean that lay just beyond it.
A landscaped grove of towering palm trees and exotic flowers wove euphorically between the three buildings. Even the parking lot had been well planned, with shaded walkways, jogging trails, and small playgrounds containing interactive learning centers for children.
I fished out my ID, and the guard at the main entrance waved us through to the staff parking lot, where we found Lien-hua already waiting for us.
“How did she beat us here?” asked Tessa.
“Ride with her next time,” I said. “You’ll find out.”
“I rode with her last night.”
“She must have been holding back. C’mon, it’s time to see the sharks. Just give me a couple minutes first.”
Tessa and Lien-hua went to pick up some passes from the front desk while I pulled on a pair of latex gloves and approached Cassandra’s car. She’d parked at a hurried angle between a pair of the parking lot’s light posts, and the two criminalists who were pawing through the trunk had used the light posts, as well as the back bumper of the Cassandra’s car, to define the crime scene.
Why not? After all, they were handy.
One of the criminalists was shaped like a pear, the other reminded me of a giraffe. I found out that the squat, round man was named Ryman, the gangly, long-necked guy, Collins. After identifying myself, I flipped open the sheath on my belt, pulled out my Mini Maglite flashlight, and leaned into the car.
“What are you looking for?” Ryman asked me.
“Clues,” I said.
Silence.
I stood back, scanned the parking lot, taking note of the location of the employee’s entrance about twenty meters away, the surveillance camera pointed directly at the door, and the service road that wound around the back side of the building. Based on the angle of her car, I guessed that Cassandra had entered via the service road rather than the main entrance.
I knelt and looked under the car, then beneath the seats. Cassandra had kept the interior of her vehicle meticulously clean, no trash, no scattered papers. I didn’t even see any sand on the carpet, which was especially surprising considering we were in the beach city of San Diego. “So. Have you moved anything?”
“No,” Ryman replied.
Cassandra’s purse sat upright on the front passenger’s seat. A suitcase lay in the backseat. I looked through her purse and then opened the suitcase. A pile of clothes was strewn inside. “Did you go through these clothes, or is this how you found them?”
“I told you we didn’t move anything.” Ryman seemed to be the spokesperson.
“Was the car locked or unlocked?”
“Locked. We had to break in.”
“Engine?”
“Off.”
“Headlights?”
“Off.”
I inspected the glove box, then asked, “What station is the radio set to?”
After a blunt silence, “What?”
“The radio station?”
“I don’t know.”
I checked. The radio button wasn’t depressed. I pressed eject, no CD in the player, no mp3 player input. So, she’d had the radio off when she arrived. No music playing.
They just looked at each other. “What does that matter?” asked Collins.
“Everything matters.”
I took note of the climate control settings, the predominant genre of music of the CDs stacked between the seats, and the position of the driver’s seat and steering wheel. Based on the seat position, I figured Cassandra was tall for a woman. Not much shorter than me: five-eleven or perhaps six feet tall.
I took one final look around, thanked the criminalists for their cooperation, and turned to go.
“You’re done?” I heard Ryman say.
“Yeah.”
I’d made it six steps when I heard Collins whisper, “Idiot Fed.”
Alrighty then.
As anxious as I was to get inside, I figured I could spare one more minute. I turned and faced them. “Gentlemen. What’s your take on this? What do you think happened here?”
“She was arriving for work,” Ryman said. “Got out of her car.
Maybe someone snatched her. Maybe she went for a walk. Who knows? Probably took off with her boyfriend.”
“If Cassandra had been heading to work for the day,” I said,
“would she have parked crookedly, taking up two parking spots instead of one, and left the purse containing her makeup, cell phone, wallet, lunch pass, and name badge in the car?”
He hesitated. “Probably not.”
“She parked with the intention of quickly retrieving something or delivering something, and never made it back to the vehicle,”
I said.
“Maybe she was grabbed as she got out of the car.”
“Then the car doors would have been unlocked. If you abduct a woman as she’s leaving a car, you don’t take the time to lock the doors behind you.” I pointed. “Also, we have these light posts close by, no other cars in the vicinity. She would have seen her abductor approaching, even though it was dark when she arrived.”
Collins stuck his hands on his hips. “How do you know she got here in the dark?”
“Heater settings. This morning was cool early, but the temperature rose quickly right around dawn. Her heater is set on high.
If she arrived anytime after sunrise she would have had her air-conditioning on, or she would have at least turned off the heat.”
Both men stared at me blankly.
OK. Enough. This lesson could go on all day. Time to get inside.
My guess was that whoever met her-or abducted her-waited until after she entered the aquarium, to avoid being captured on the surveillance camera aimed at the employees’ door.
“Thanks for your good work, gentlemen. I especially like how you used those lampposts to mark off your crime scene. Very clever.”
“Yeah,” Ryman said. “That was my idea.”
“I’m not surprised.”
So.
I knew something I hadn’t known before: Cassandra’s jumbled suitcase in the back of her impeccably neat car told me that she’d rushed to pack and then left in a hurry-just as it appeared Hunter had done. It seemed likely they were planning to meet, maybe flee together. But why now, after all these fires? And what was the hurry?
Was Detective Dunn’s presence last night related to Cassandra’s disappearance? And what was so important to her that she had to stop by here early this morning?
Too many questions.
I retrieved my computer bag from my car and stepped into the lobby of the aquarium.