Read Black Widow for Free Online

It was a Friday too, I think, and so that’s our busiest night. There was no way I would have noticed some chick walking up to the rooms with that guy.”
    Stanton pulled up a photo on his phone. “I’m more interested in what you saw here.” He showed the photo to Andrew. “This is Alex Waters. Did you see him down here at the restaurant at all that night?”
    He stared at the photo a moment. “Sorry, man. Just too many people. There’s no way I could tell.”
    Stanton placed his phone down on the table. “I understand. Has anything like this ever happened before?”
    Andrew moved his laptop aside and leaned back in the seat. “No, never. I mean, we had some guest have a heart attack and die, like, two years ago. Old dude was bangin’ some cooha and his heart gave out.” He grinned. “That’s how I’d wanna go.”
    Stanton smiled. “Not me. In the ocean.” He picked up his phone and placed it back in his pocket. “Who manages the bar?”
    “The Shell? It’s a gal named Marissa. She’s probably over there right now if you need to talk to her.”
    Stanton nodded and rose. “I appreciate your time.”
    “No worries.”
    Stanton walked across the hotel to the Shell. The bar was black, chrome, and crimson. The lighting was dim and there were no windows. In place of a front door was a velvet rope hanging on two chrome hooks from the walls.
    A woman with dark hair was behind the bar. Stanton stepped over the rope.
    “Excuse me, are you Marissa?”
    “Yeah.”
    He walked over and stood across from her. “I’m Detective Jon Stanton with the Honolulu PD. I was sent over by Andrew. He said you would be here.”
    The surprise that was initially on her face faded. “Oh.”
    “It’s about Alex Waters. The man that was killed here a short while ago.”
    She continued cleaning the countertop with a bright white rag. “What about him?”
    “You were here that Friday he was killed, I’m guessing.”
    “Yeah, I was workin’.”
    Stanton sat down on a barstool. He normally would stand or even raise himself on his toes, as height gave an unconscious impression of authority and power. But that’s not what she needed. She was hiding something, probably completely unrelated to the case, and was nervous. He hoped putting her in the better position would comfort her a little.
    “You didn’t fill out a statement. Did any officers speak to you?”
    She shook her head, reaching out to the edge of the countertop to wipe at a stain. “Nah. Nobody talked to me.”
    “The reports said a cleaning woman found the body, but it doesn’t say exactly how.”
    “Yeah, she seen blood on the carpet comin’ outta that room. So she called the MOD.”
    “MOD?”
    “Manager on Duty. So she called her and they opened the room. But my shift ended at one so I was already gone. That’s why no cops talked to me.”
    Stanton opened a note doc on his phone. “What was the MOD’s name?”
    “Kiki Tahali.”
    Stanton input the name into the doc. “Is Kiki here?”
    “No, she works graveyards. She starts at ten.”
    He pulled up the photo of Alex. “This is the man that was killed. Did you see him here that night?”
    “I don’t know. I think so, I mean, when I seen his picture the next day he looked like I’d seen him.”
    “Was he with anybody when you saw him?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
    “What time did you see him?”
    “I don’t remember. He just looked kinda like I seen him before.”
    Stanton thought a moment. “Are there cameras in the bar?”
    “Yeah, we got one up in the corner.”
    Stanton’s heart jumped. “How long do you keep the video?”
    She shrugged. “We gots some company that does all a that.”
    “Can you get me their information, please?”
    “Sure. Let me call the MOD.”
    Stanton waited a good ten minutes. He walked the length of the bar, staring at the floors and tables. The tiki torches up on the walls hadn’t been turned on yet. The entire bar had an