Quick note to readers: not feeling the whole "Michael" storyline so he's not making an appearance. Luci went back to Hell but now he's back. Maybe get back to the how and why later.
In front of the Cecil Hotel
Chloe and Dan pulled into the one parking space available in front of the hotel. "Well, that was a minor miracle" Dan groused, hopping gingerly over trash in the street to stand in front of the entranceway. "Usually have to double-park or walk a mile."
Chloe shrugged. "Maybe someone up there likes us today".
Dan grimaced. "Why today and not every other day? I'm beginning to think God's got it in for L.A. in general and us in particular."
Chloe shuddered. "So – where do we start? Staff or management?"
"Management" Dan replied, pointing through the now open door. "And wouldn't you now it. Looks like our target just came out of her office to complain about us parking in front of her hotel."
Ms. Regina Simonton, the current manager of the Cecil, frowned as she exited the building. The Police presence (and the discovery of yet another dead body) had made the agency handling the sale of the hotel nervous. Offers for the structure had been slim but now what few interested parties that had been found after the last owner had put it on the market were showing a marked disinterest in being the owners of the historic building. "Is there something else I can help you with officers?" she asked, her voice brittle. "How long will we have police cruising in and out of the establishment? Don't you have other crimes to deal with? Or better yet - why not go talk to those people in Skid Row about that poor, unfortunate man? I'm sure one of THEM could tell you more about who killed him than my staff and I could."
"Ms. Simonton, can you tell me why you never mentioned Annalise Gibson when we talked to you about our murder victim?" Chloe shot back, annoyed. "We have evidence that you spoke to John McIntyre about her disappearance shortly before he was murdered. And we know you spoke to others about the girl being on the verge of being fired for being in parts of the hotel she had no business in. In fact, it sounds like you know a great deal more about what is going on here than you have, until now, been willing to talk about. Care to explain why?"
Simonton shrugged. "I can't be expected to remember every conversation I've had with what few guests we have managed to attract to the hotel. And as for Annalise – I fail to see what connection one runaway could have with your murdered man."
"That's for us to determine" Dan huffed. "We need to speak to your staff again, particularly those who might have worked with Ms. Gibson."
"And we need to speak to the desk clerk that called in sick the night Annalise disappeared" Chloe added.
"I don't see…" the woman began, an argumentative tone creeping into her voice.
"Then perhaps you should see an optometrist" a cheery voice called out. Chloe sighed as Lucifer and Amenadiel appeared, having just stepped out of the alleyway beside the hotel.
"Great - just what we needed" Dan groused. "As if we aren't already getting enough attitude from people."
Amenadiel rolled his eyes and patted Dan on the back. "Hey Dan. Sorry if we're in the way. I asked Luci to come with me to look for someone I noticed walking around here yesterday."
"My brother has developed a fixation on finding one random little homeless person out of the hundreds that live in this vicinity. So Dan – do make yourself useful and see if you can help him get over this obsession while Chloe and I track down the real bad guy in this story." He turned is all-to-cheery smile to the surprised manager and held out a hand. "Hello there – Lucifer Morningstar. And you are?"
"This is Regina Simonton, the manager of the Stay at Main – aka the Cecil hotel" Chloe responded, shrugging to Dan. "We were just asking about what she might have said to our victim about the missing person he was looking for. She's a little reluctant to discuss the issue."
"Really?" Lucifer replied, eyes fixed on the woman in front of him. "So – tell me Ms. Simonton, what is it about this that troubles you? Does this information stand in the way of our ultimate goals? What is it that you truly Desire?"
"I…" she stuttered, unable to pull her eyes away from his gaze. "I wish I'd never accepted this job. I wish that wretched girl hadn't gone poking into corners she had no business looking into and bringing up all this abut the hotel's reputation again." The manager wrapped her arms around herself, almost in tears. "We were so close to selling this horror off and now all anyone can talk about is the murder and how it's just the latest in a string of deaths at this place. About how the hotel is cursed, a gateway to Hell."
"Well that's ridiculous" Lucifer replied, his smile fading. "And I should know."
Chloe sighed. "Look – I don't really care about the hotel's resale value. All I want to know is why my murder victim was here and why he was asking about that missing girl. We'll need to talk to the staff members who may have interacted with both Annalise and John McIntyre – starting with the check-in staff. I'd rather not make this any more difficult than it has to be but…"
Ms. Simonton pulled herself together. "Fine – but the person who was on-duty last night is new and, as far as I know, never met Annalise."
"What about the person who should have been on duty the night she disappeared?" Chloe asked.
"He was recommended to us by a friend of the one of the top people at the agency trying to broker the selling of the hotel. He was described to me as a good, church-going sort, well educated, the type of individual who would bring a little class to the Stay at Main. He lasted barely the week and never returned after that one night."
"Neither did Annalise" Chloe mused. "Interesting."
Dan pulled Amenadiel aside while Chloe and Lucifer talked to the hotel's manager. "What's his deal?" he asked, keeping his eyes on his former wife and her quirky consultant. He had grown to like Amenadiel in the small time he'd known him – even felt a little sorry for him having to deal with his nutcase brother. They were so different it was hard to imagine them as part of the same family – much less brothers. "He's all over the place with his attitude. Way off even for him."
"He's been in a snit lately" Amenadiel admitted. "I think his issues with Chloe after Pierce's death and having to go deal with issues with our Father have put him on edge."
"That's one way of putting it" Dan agreed. "Another way is to call him an ass and be done with it." He looked down the street for a moment then back at his companion. "What's he mean you're looking for some random homeless guy?"
Amenadiel shrugged, uncomfortably. "When I was here yesterday I noticed a guy pushing a shopping cart with a bad wheel in front of the hotel as you all were trying to cordon off the area. There was something almost familiar about him – like I'd seen him before but I can't for the life of me think when or where." He motioned vaguely towards the alleyway. "We talked to a young beat cop just a few minutes ago and he mentioned seeing someone with that same cart who he didn't think belong among the homeless community. Too clean is the way he phrased it."
"Maybe the guy hadn't been down on his luck long enough to look the part?" Dan surmised.
"Maybe" Amenadiel agreed. "But Luci says he saw someone putting an envelope on his car this morning and his description vaguely matches the guy I saw."
Dan looked back at Chloe and Lucifer, who had dismissed the manager and headed for the door. "Chloe got some photos sent to her too, linking the missing girl to our vic's wife and maybe his boss. I wonder…"
"Dan" Chloe called out, waving the two men to join them beside the car. "I don't think Ms. Simonton will give us much grief about talking to her staff. Start with the maids and Lucifer and I will talk to the desk staff on duty right now. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will have seen our missing person with our dead accountant."
"We should be so lucky" Dan muttered. He glanced up at the angel at his side. "Look – do you want me to ask about your missing homeless guy while I'm at it?"
Amenadiel shook his head. "As many of those unfortunate sorts that wander around this area I'm not sure it would do any good."
"It might" Chloe responded with a frown. "if we could tie our victim to someone he met on the street while trying to run down information about the missing girl."
A buzzing interrupted the conversation, sending everyone searching for their cellphones. Chloe held up a hand as she answered. "Decker. What do you have for me, Ella?"
Ella's excited voice could easily be heard as she babbled "the web sleuths have posted more about the Cecil and the missing college student. Someone has posted a video of her and our victim talking in a diner not far from the hotel – and there's someone with them!"
