“I was a friend of Galina’s.”
“Galina.” He watched Spencer’s gaze soften. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“We tried to have each other’s backs. I let her down.”
“How did you get my card, Jewel?”
“One of the girls you talked to knows Galina. We’re friends.”
“What can I do for you, Jewel?” he asked.
“I saw her on Sunday. I saw the car she got into before she vanished.”
Tension rippled through him. “Did you get a good look at the driver?”
“I did.”
He beckoned Spencer forward. “Would you sit down and talk to someone who might draw a picture of him?”
More silence.
“Galina seemed like a sweet kid,” he said. “And she was too damn young to die.”
“I’m working in a motel off of Telegraph Road. There’s a diner across the street.”
“We’ll meet you there right now.”
Another sigh and a sob. “Okay. Fifteen minutes, but I can’t stay more than a half hour, or I’ll get in trouble.”
“We’ll make it work.” As he and Spencer hurried to his car, he explained.
“I have a pad and pencil in my bag. I’ll be able to get some kind of sketch.”
He started the engine and pulled onto the busy side street. The lights of the city passed, and headlights up ahead blurred into a long red line.
Spencer rubbed her eyes. She shifted in her seat. She looked tired, but like him, she would keep going until they had cracked this case.
He found the diner Jewel had described. The lot was crowded, and when they entered, most of the booths were filled.
Spencer nodded toward a lone girl in the far-right corner. “I bet that’s her.”
“She looks like she’s a kid.”
“Most of these girls are in their teens.” She moved down the row of booths to the back of the diner. “Jewel?”
The girl shifted and looked at Spencer and then him. “Detective Vaughan?”
“That’s me. Can we sit?”
“Yeah.”
Spencer flagged a waitress and ordered three burgers and sodas before she slid into the booth next to Vaughan. “I know I could eat, and I bet you could, too, Jewel.”
The girl clasped her hands together and leaned forward a fraction, as if she could bolt out of the booth at any second. “I’m hungry.”
The waitress appeared with the three sodas and set them on the table. “Burgers will be right up.”
Jewel took a long pull of her drink and seemed to relax a fraction. “Thanks.”
“We appreciate you talking to us,” Vaughan said. “We’re going to need help if we’re going to figure out who killed Galina.”
Jewel dropped her gaze to her soda and took another long pull on the straw. “No one is going to remember she was a nice person. They won’t think past what she had to do to live.”
“I want people to know she mattered,” Vaughan said.
Spencer set her untouched glass of soda in front of the girl and then removed a small sketch pad and pencil from her bag. “Maybe if you can talk to me a little about her last customer, I can draw a picture of his face.”
Jewel studied the blank paper. “You can do that?”
“I’m pretty good at it.”
“I don’t remember that many details,” Jewel said. “I only saw him once for just a few seconds.”
“Don’t worry about that. Why don’t I just ask you a few questions. We might be able to figure out what he looked like together. You want to give it a try?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Before Spencer could ask the first question, the burgers arrived, and for several minutes, the three sat at the table, eating. He and Spencer were hungry, and he suspected the girl was starving, as she quickly crammed a handful of french fries in her mouth. He watched as she squirted extra ketchup on her burger and then took a big bite.
Jewel’s plate was empty when she said, “What’s your first question?”
“Tell me about your last moments with Galina,” Spencer said.
Jewel’s brow knotted. “How is that going to help?”
“Trust me,” Spencer said.
“We had been up all night working a party. Not a fancy one, but it was at a hotel that had a conference of insurance men. Galina and I were in a great mood because we’d made good money.”
“Where was the hotel?” Spencer asked.
She rattled off the name and address. “Nothing real fancy.”
“What was it like when you two stepped outside?”
“Hot. But the heat felt good. We’d been inside for over twenty-four hours, and the air-conditioning was on full blast. The bright sun and fresh air was nice.”
“What time of day was this?” Spencer asked.
“About noon on Sunday.”
“What did you two do next?” she asked.
“She wanted to order a pizza. I wanted to go to bed, but we shared a ride to Gino’s. We hugged, and she said she would come back to our room soon.”
“And when did the man approach?” she asked.
“He stopped as she was walking up to the front door of Gino’s. I saw him show her a roll of cash. I heard her tell him she wanted pizza, and he gave her money to buy it. When he turned to get in his car to wait for her, I saw his face for a second.”
“Was he tall, thin, fat?”
“Lean. He wore jeans, a long-sleeve shirt, and a hat.”
“Did the hat cover his hair?”
“No, I saw some of it around his ears. It was dark.”
“Was his face round or slim?”
“Slim.” Absently, she brushed her fingers over her chin, as if remembering. “He wore a ball cap and dark sunglasses. Like the ones pilots wear.”
“Aviator sunglasses?”
“Yes.”
Spencer drew the narrow face of a man with a hat. “What about his mouth?”
Jewel’s phone dinged with a text, and she looked down, her brow knotting. “I can’t stay much longer.”
Spencer asked as her pencil hovered over the paper, “Were his lips full or thin?”
“Thin.” Jewel typed a text.
“Was his nose wide or narrow?”
“Kind of in between.” She slid across the booth. “I can’t stay. I got to go.”
“Can I have your phone number?” Vaughan said as Spencer continued to draw. “I want to keep in touch.”
Jewel glanced at the picture. “His nose was wider at the base. And his lips were twisted up in a kind of smile.”
“Excellent,” Spencer said as she modified what she had drawn.
Jewel rose. “I have your number. I’ll call when I can. We can keep trying.”
“When?” Vaughan asked.
“Soon. I promise.” The girl hoisted her purse on her shoulder and darted out of the restaurant.
He sat back, frustrated, wondering if they had just been played for a meal or if Jewel had really seen Galina’s attacker. “What do you think?”
Spencer laid the sketch on the table. “Have a look for yourself.”