Chapter 10 - The Sheriff Who Knew Victor's Name
The deputy who walked into the conference room wasn't the hotel's usual off-duty detail. He was county, tan uniform, radio crackling on his shoulder, and he stopped two feet inside the door when he saw Victor.
I saw his hand pause on the strap of his bag. He knew that name. Everybody in the county who worked security or law enforcement knew it, even if they didn't say it out loud.
"Mr. Romano," he said. His voice stayed even. "Deputy Reyes. Dispatch said possible attempted poisoning."
Victor nodded once. He was standing by the window with the white evidence box on the table beside him. Dmitri was by the door, hands clasped in front of him.
"We've preserved the glass and the spill contents, and the video," Victor said. "My associate will provide the chain of custody notes. The witness is Ms. Hart."
Deputy Reyes looked at me then. I was still in my navy dress and apron, my hands folded too tight in my lap.
"Ma'am, I'm going to need to speak with you alone first," he said. "And then with you, sir, separately. Standard procedure."
Victor didn't argue. He just looked at Dmitri, a small tilt of his head. Dmitri opened the door.
"If you need anything, Lena, I'll be right outside," Victor said quietly.
It was the first time he'd used my first name like that since the ballroom, and it made my throat tighten.
Deputy Reyes waited until the door clicked shut. He pulled out a chair across from me, not too close. He set a small recorder on the table and asked if I was okay to talk on record. I said yes.
He asked me to start from the beginning. I took a breath and my voice shook on the first word.
I told him about the coupe. How I'd been clearing the service edge of the ballroom around nine-thirty, how I'd seen the blazer guest standing near Victor's marble table. How the liquid in Victor's coupe had looked cloudy, not pale gold and clear like the others. How I'd watched the guest's hand move fast over the rim.
"I thought it was sugar or salt at first," I said. "But it didn't dissolve right. It was white and it clung to the side. He dripped some on his own cuff when he pulled his hand back."
Deputy Reyes didn't interrupt. He wrote and let the recorder run.
"Why did you lunge for the glass?" he asked.
I swallowed. "Because Mr. Romano was about to pick it up. He had his hand on it. I didn't think. I just knew if he drank it, something bad would happen. And if I didn't do something, I'd have watched it happen."
He asked what happened after the glass broke. I told him about Dmitri grabbing me, about Victor telling him to hold, not hurt. About Victor boxing the glass himself with tape and not letting the hotel throw it away.
When I finished, he read my statement back to me, slow and clear. I didn't change a word. He had me sign the bottom of his notepad.
"You've been consistent," he said. "That's good. Hang tight for a minute. I need to hear his version separately."
I waited while he stepped out. Through the glass wall I could see Victor in the hallway, speaking calmly to the deputy, Dmitri a half-step behind. Victor gestured to the box on the table. I watched him lift the lid just enough for the deputy to see the bagged shards and the sealed vial without touching anything.
When Deputy Reyes came back in, he had Victor with him.
"Mr. Romano, for the record, can you state what you observed and what you preserved?" Reyes asked.
Victor's voice was low and controlled. "At approximately nine-forty, Ms. Hart made physical contact with my table and prevented me from lifting the coupe. The glass tipped, broke, and spilled. I observed residue on the inner wall of the shard and a cloudy cast to the liquid. My security preserved the scene. We boxed the glass and contents without cleaning. We retained the security video file and made no copies."
He paused.
"The man in the navy blazer with the white cuff," Victor added. "He was at my table immediately before. There was white residue on his right cuff. I believe Deputy Reyes will find it still there."
Reyes wrote that down. He asked Victor if he had touched the guest or threatened him. Victor said no. Dmitri had kept him in the manager's office at his instruction and had not allowed staff to launder anything.
Reyes nodded. He called something in on his radio, his voice dropping as he stepped toward the hall. "I need you to secure the surveillance server, no deletion, and I need a second unit to this location for a formal detainment."
Ten minutes later two more deputies arrived. I heard chairs moving in the lobby, a raised voice that was quickly cut off. Through the conference room door I saw them walk the blazer guest past in cuffs, his jacket pulled over his wrists, his white shirt cuff flashing. One of the deputies carried a clear evidence bag with the blazer inside it.
Deputy Reyes came back with paperwork and a business card.
"Ms. Hart, the video is now in sheriff's custody and I'm sending the glass and liquid to the state lab for formal testing," he said. He slid the card across to me. "Mr. Romano's materials maintain a documented chain, so that helps. The gentleman in the blazer is being detained pending results and a warrant review. You are not under arrest. You are not in hotel custody anymore either."
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
"But," he added, looking at me directly, not at Victor, "you're the primary witness and the person who touched that table. Don't leave town without telling us. Don't talk about the details online. If anyone contacts you about what you saw, you call me day or night. Understood?"
I nodded. "Yes, sir."
Victor didn't move to shake the deputy's hand. He just inclined his head. "We will cooperate with the lab and the court."
May you like
Reyes looked between us one last time, that flicker of knowing again when his eyes rested on Victor.
"We'll be in touch within twenty-four hours," he said to us both, and then he left with the box, the bag with the blazer, and the thumb drive with the video, his radio already talking over him as the lobby doors closed behind him.
