Chloe looked up at the men with her, frowning. "Send me a link to what they have posted and we'll see if anyone at the hotel recognizes the person she and our victim were meeting with." She trotted off to her car and returned a minute later with her tablet, flicking quickly through her email to the link sent by Ella. A quick tap and the video the online community was buzzing about was playing. It was grainy, and whoever had shot it hadn't the steadiest hand. They also appeared to have been filming from outside of the diner, through the grimy window. Not a great video feed but it was clear enough to identify at least two of the people in frame. One was the missing girl Annalise, seated across from their murder victim John McIntyre. They were both staring up at an unknown but agitated make figure. "Not the brother-law Milton" Chloe muttered. "Not McIntyre's boss either. I wonder…"
Dan peered intently at the tablet for a moment then grabbed away from her. "Look at the sign in the background" he said excitedly. "This is the Low Town Diner – owned by one Micah Gibson – aka Mad Dog. The diner's name was in the folder Tao gave me when the missing person's report was first filed."
"Annalise's father?" Chloe looked into the hotel lobby with interest. "So he had to have seen his daughter with our victim – and someone else. Maybe that's why he reported her missing so quickly."
"Maybe we should talk to Mr. Mad Dog and see what he has to say for himself" Lucifer purred, snatching the tablet away from Dan. "I would LOVE to make the acquaintance of a man with such an interesting name."
"Maybe we should find out from the web sleuths where they got this" Dan replied, glaring at Lucifer.
"Or maybe we should just ask our reluctant Ms. Simonton if she recognizes the man with them" Chloe responded, taking the tablet away from Lucifer. "Dan, you go to the diner and see if Mr. Gibson will talk to you about his daughter's disappearance. I'll forward this link to you so that you can show it to him. Maybe he will recognize our third party in this conversation."
Amenadiel shifted from one foot to the other, a nervous thought working its way through his brain. "Dan, would you mind if I come with you? I'm not sure I'd be of much help but…"
"Better you than Lucifer" Dan replied, glaring at the dapper consultant. "He might not be willing to talk to a cop but he might open up to a civilian looking for his kid."
Lucifer shrugged, slightly disappointed. "If you say so. I think my asking about his deepest desires would be more effective than some long boring conversation with my brother but…"
"Dan can question a possible suspect as well as we can" Chloe replied with a sigh. "And I think having Amenadiel there will be a comforting presence and keep things from going to off base. As for us…" She waved a hand into the lobby. "Let's start with Ms. Simonton then work our way through the rest of the staff."
"What about the homeless guy you were looking for?" Dan asked the towering angel beside him.
Amenadiel shrugged. "I doubt he's going to go very far. If he, as I suspect, might have been the one to leave the photos on Lucifer's car then he's not going to disappear until he says what effect his "gifts" have had on the investigation."
Dan nodded. "Okay then, let's head out."
Chloe and Lucifer watched as the other two disappeared down the block, headed for Dan's car. "You know" Chloe mused, "We never did find McIntyre's car. I probably should start putting on more pressure to find it."
"What good will finding the auto do?" Lucifer replied, already bored with the lack of forward momentum in the investigation. He could feel there was an evil person out there, waiting to be punished for his (or her) actions. All that had to happen was for the Lord of Hell to find them and meet out justice – which would allow him to spend some quality time with his Detective and smooth over any rough spots still existing after her unfortunate discovery of his truth.
Chloe tucked her tablet under her arm and straightened her jacket. "Won't know until we find it." She pushed her companion slightly forward. "Okay – let's go talk to the manager."
An hour later
It hadn't taken that long to get an address to Mad Dog Gibson's diner, a clean though run-down establishment on the edge of the high-rise buildings housing so many of Los Angele's movers and shakers. It was NOT the sort of place Dan expected to find men in expensive suits having lunch. "Now that's a strange sight" Dan whispered to Amenadiel, nodding at a group of business types huddled in a both, talking in low tones.
Amenadiel watched the group for a moment. "Not so surprising" he replied. "They are probably planning something their company might find unsettling. Like you said – not a place anyone would look for them so they can be pretty much guaranteed privacy."
"And a reasonably tasty lunch for a good price" A husky voice called out from behind them. A tall, bearded Black man, wearing an apron, short sleeved t-shirt and jeans, and holding a menu stepped up to the pair with a grim smile. Mad Dog Gibson was six foot tall, deceptively strong looking with greying hair and tattoos on his arms no longer as vibrant as they once had been. He looked like any other aging gang member lucky enough to have survived their incarceration in the prison system and returned to civilian life. "You'd be surprised the types that stop in here at all hours – even cops."
Dan sighed and held out his badge. "Det. Espinoza and my consultant Amenadiel. We need to ask you a few questions about your daughter Annalise."
"Have you found her?" the man asked angrily. "Have you even tried looking for her? I know that the kid of a gang-banger like me isn't likely to be high up on the LAPD radar but…"
"Actually" Amenadiel interjected, taking a step to put himself between Dan and the agitated father. "We have something we'd like you to look at. Maybe you can help us identify these people who were seen with your daughter?"
Dan fished his phone out of his pocked and found the link Chloe had sent him. Holding it out the three men watched the short vid soundlessly play. "It looks like this was filmed from across the street. Do you recognize either of the guys with Annalise?"
Gibson frowned as he watched images. "The guy sitting across from Annie is Mr. McIntyre. His wife was in the same sorority that Annie was trying to pledge. Not sure about the other guy. I've seen him around here before, usually when my daughter was here but can't put a name to him." He glanced up at Amenadiel, ignoring Dan. "You think they might have something to do with her disappearance?"
Amenadiel shook his head. "We don't know yet. But someone thought there was something important about this meeting, important enough to film it."
Gibson grinned. "Maybe – but I'm betting it was one someone at that college trying to find an excuse to keep Annie from becoming part of that fancy sorority. They didn't take too kindly to a "charity case" trying to become one of them." His voice turned bitter as he stared down at the phone again, watching the three figures interact. "Too bad there isn't any sound. Might be easier if we knew what they were saying."
"The guy standing seems really angry about something" Dan added, feeling a sense of empathy for the angry man in front of him. Gang member or not – he had a right to be concerned about his missing child and the lack of interest the authorities seemed to have in finding her.
Gibson glanced at the cop for a moment then motioned to the man behind the register. "Saunders, you're here almost more than I am" he called out as the employee approached. "Recognize these guys with Annie?"
Saunders, a scarred older man obviously cut from the same cloth as Gibson, glanced down at the phone with a frown. "Yeah, I think I do. The husband of the woman Annie was always talking about, Mr. McIntyre, was here just a few days before she disappeared. I got the impression he was helping her with some school project she was working on. This guy…" he pointed one rough finger at the unknown man "I think I heard Annie call him Gabe. Got the impression he worked at that hotel she was at. Sounded like he was not happy about her digging into the place's history. Not sure why but both Annie and Mr. McIntyre were pretty upset when he left. Guess he told them some truths they didn't want to hear."
"Anything else you can tell us about him that might help find him?" Amenadiel asked urgently.
Saunders shrugged. "Thought maybe he was some sort of preacher man when he first started talking to them. Kept going on and on about sin and deception. Didn't understand most of it but I got the impression he thought one of them was guilty of something and he didn't like it." He backed up and returned to the register as a man rose from his table to pay his tab.
Gibson frowned. "Annie is a good kid but she's got some of her mom's wild streak in her. I wouldn't put it past her to have stirred up a hornet's nest just to see what happened"
"And it sounds like this Gabe person believed McIntyre was helping her" Dan replied, making for the door. "I need to get this name to Chloe and see if she can find out from the hotel staff who this Gabe person was."
Gibson reached out and snagged Amenadiel's sleeve as the angel started after his friend. "Listen, brother, I don't trust cops nears as far as I can through them. But I need help here to find my girl. Don't know if you have any kids but it's Hell not knowing where your baby is. Don't know why – but I think you're the help I've been praying for. I ain't been the best father in the world but I love the girl. Please, Help me get her back."
Amenadiel patted the man's hand sympathetically. "I'll do what I can."
Back at the hotel.
Lucifer rolled his eyes as yet another of the maid's went off on a tangent as Chloe asked about the shooting victim and the missing girl. The last three maid's they had managed to interview had all claimed to know no English – which hadn't helped them avoid interrogation as Lucifer translated their Spanish babble for Chloe. Not that it had helped. All the staff – especially those that "might" have immigration problems – were reticent about what they said about the dead man or their missing co-worker. "They have obviously been warned to keep quiet" he whispered to his partner after yet again asking one of the nervous staff members what they desired and been on the receiving end of a laundry list of items not related to the case.
"No shit" Chloe muttered, tucking her tablet into her jacket pocket. "They know something but…"
The hotel manager, Ms. Simonton, stepped out of her office and frowned in annoyance at the sight of the detective and her partner in the lobby. "You two still here? I told you I didn't know anything about that video you showed me."
"We've talked to whatever members of your staff we could find" Chloe replied coolly. "Finny thing – they all seemed to be on break or busy when we tried to find them."
"This IS a working establishment" Ms. Simonton replied coldly. "We can't just stop everything…"
"Oh yes you can" Chloe said. "If I have to get the city to close this place down for health code violations in order to get you and your staff to talk to me I will."
"I've already told you I don't know that other man in the clip" Simonton sputtered. "It's hardly my fault if some random person gets himself killed in our alleyway."
"Oh I suspect the people considering buying this wreck might think otherwise" Lucifer replied cheerfully. "Especially if they were to discover you know something that would help the detective solve her case and you didn't reveal it. They say no publicity is bad publicity but with this hotel I rather think that's not quite true."
Chloe's phone vibrated briefly, drawing her attention. Motioning to both Lucifer and Ms. Simonton she listened as Dan explained what they had heard from Annalise's father. "Okay – so who is Gabe?" Chloe asked, staring coldly at the now nervous manager. "The other man in that vid – name is Gabe and supposedly worked here. So who is he?"
Simonton gulped, her face suddenly pale. "Gabe? Why do you want to know about him?"
"Because I'm betting he's the man in the video – the one you claimed you didn't know. I'm tired of being lied to Ms. Simonton. You'll either start telling me the truth or I'll arrest you for perverting the course of justice."
Lucifer smiled thinly. "I'd tell her what she wants to know" he whispered, towering now over the agitated woman. "It would be so much better for you if you did."
Ms. Simonton glanced nervously at the man beside her. "Gabe is the clerk who should have been on duty the night Annalise disappeared. I didn't even know he knew her – much less Mr. McIntyre."
"Someone recommended him to you for his position" Chloe responded, stepping closer to the manager, invading her personal space. "Who was that?"
"His uncle – he said the man had been in Rome studying for the priesthood when something had happened that ended his dreams of serving the Church."
"What was his uncle's name?" Chloe asked, a cold feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.
"Bradley" Simonton stuttered. "Don Bradley."
