Cold Paradise (Stone Barrington 7)

“Sit down, and let’s go through this hotel list together.”

“Okay. Can I have some coffee first?”

Stone rang for Juanito and ordered the coffee, then they started through the stack of fanfold paper. They had gone through only a dozen or so names when Liz stopped. “Garland,” she said. “Donald Garland.”

“Familiar?”

“Garland was Paul’s mother’s maiden name. Donald was his father’s first name.”

“Do you know how to contact them? Maybe he’s been in touch.”

“Both dead,” Liz said.

“Mr. Garland is from San Francisco,” Stone read from the document. “Says here he’s with Golden Gate Publishing, and he lives in Pacific Heights. When it’s opening time out there, I’ll check him out.”

They continued to read through the list for a while, then Juanito appeared with the telephone. “For you, Mr. Barrington.”

“Yes?”

“It’s Dan Griggs.”

“Morning, Dan. I expect Dave Riley briefed you on last night’s events.”

“Yes, and we’ve checked out Mr. Bartlett. He’s from Minneapolis, as he said, and he did sell his design firm last year.”

“Oh,” Stone said. “I guess that lets him out.”

“Not necessarily,” Griggs said. “He had owned the firm for only two years when he sold it, and I haven’t been able to find out anything about him before that, which is unusual.”

“I thought I’d take Mrs. Harding over to his hotel this morning and see if we can spot him. She thinks she can identify Paul Manning.”

“It’s a nice thought, but he checked out this morning; said he was going back to Minneapolis on business.”

“He doesn’t have a business,” Stone pointed out.

“I’m checking with the airlines to see if he was on any outbound flight this morning,” Griggs said. “I’ll let you know if I come up with anything.”

“Thanks, Dan,” Stone said, and hung up.

Liz was still going through the guest list. “I haven’t come across anything else yet,” she said.

“Paul Bartlett has checked out of his hotel,” Stone said. “Said he was returning to Minneapolis on business. Did Paul Manning have any connection with Minneapolis?”

“No, but he wouldn’t have settled in a place where anybody knew him.”

“How recognizable would he have been to his readers? Did he do a lot of book signings? Have his photograph on the book jackets?”

“The only photograph of Paul that ever appeared on a book jacket or in a press release from his publishers would have been one taken when he was very heavy and had a full beard. He would be completely unrecognizable to any reader now.”

“Bartlett recently sold a graphic design business. Did Paul have any design inclinations?”

“He was a fine arts major at Syracuse,” Liz said. “He drew and painted quite well.”

“Did he take any design courses? Anything that would give him the skills he would need for graphic design?”

“I don’t really know,” she said. “He didn’t talk about college all that much.”

Callie appeared on deck. “What are you two doing?” she asked.