Page 51 of State of Grace (First Family 2)

“We had to scramble to cover for all the things she was supposed to be handling. Our guests had to wear ‘Hello, My Name Is’ badges from CVS. It was an outrage. The board president told me he’d have my job for hiring someone so incompetent.”

“This was the first time you’d worked with her?”

“Yes, and she came highly recommended by a number of other organizations that’d worked with her in the past.”

“Did you notify anyone when she didn’t show up?”

That question seemed to take Joyce by surprise. “Who would I notify? She worked alone.”

“She didn’t have an emergency contact on file with you?”

“No, we don’t require that of contractors, but in light of this situation, we will in the future.” Joyce leaned in, her expression earnest. “Please try to understand the position I was in when she didn’t show up. I have a small staff of four that had to cover for months of work that Pam had done on our behalf that was now unavailable to us. Serving our membership is our most important mission. We did everything we could to provide them with a successful event with one hand tied behind our backs. I’ve never been through a more stressful situation in my entire life, and even though it all went as well as could be expected, I’m still worried about losing my job over this.”

“Well, you can tell your board that your contractor was murdered,” Sam said. “That should help.”

Joyce recoiled from the sarcasm in Sam’s tone. “I’m not in any way discounting the horror of what happened to her. I’m simply telling you the position I was in when she failed to show up to our event.”

“I understand. In your dealings with Pam, did she ever indicate to you that anything in her life was amiss?”

“No, our relationship was strictly professional.”

Sam realized she wasn’t going to get anything more from this woman. “Thank you for your time.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it, unless you have information relevant to Pam’s murder.”

“I know nothing about that.”

“Then we’ll be on our way.” Sam led the way past a group of people gathered in the lobby, probably waiting for the chance to see the first lady on the job.

When they were back in her car and headed toward the District, Sam said, “That was a complete waste of time.”

“Not entirely. We got to see the woman’s shocked expression when she heard Pam had been murdered, which helps to eliminate her from our suspect list. We also know now that Joyce would’ve had no motive to harm someone she was relying so heavily upon.”

“Yeah, that’s all true, but it didn’t give us any threads to pull, and you know how I love my threads.”

“Yes, I do. So what’s next?”

“I want to see the Tappens again. Find out where Officer Charles put them up.”

“I can’t believe the department sprung for the JW Marriott, but when we travel, we’re supposed to stay at the Motel 6.”

Freddie laughed. “Right? Nothing but the best for everyone but us.”

Sam pulled up to the front of the hotel on 14th Street and parked at the front door.

A uniformed man approached her and did a double take when he realized who she was.

“I need you to watch my car for a few minutes,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am, Mrs. Cappuano.”

Sam flashed her gold shield. “Lieutenant Holland.”

“Got it.”

“Will you take care of my friends’ car, too?” she asked, gesturing to the Secret Service vehicle behind her.