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“We are,” Ballard said. “I’m Renée Ballard, this is Maddie Bosch.”
“Marty Branch. Ballard, Bosch, and Branch—has a nice ring to it.”
They shook hands. Branch was in her forties. She was short and wide in the hips, and she eyed Maddie the way the first security man had.
“Honey, you look like a baby,” she said. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-six,” Maddie said. “And I’m a vol—”
“I’m sorry,” Ballard interrupted. “We’re working on a breaking case. We’re looking for a possible witness named Rodney Van Ness. His LinkedIn page says he works here as a security supervisor. Do you know him?”
“Rodney? Yes, I know Rodney,” Branch said. “But he hasn’t worked here in a good long time.”
“How long is a good long time?”
“Oh, two, three years at least.”
“Do you know why he left?”
“I know he was asked to leave and I got his job.”
“Why was he asked to leave?”
“That you’d have to get from HR—confidential.”
“Do you know where he went from here?”
“I heard he went to the Nugget but I don’t think that lasted too long. After that, I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything.”
“Do you have any records that would give us a home address?”
“Don’t you people have access to the DMV database? I’m sure the folks at Vegas Metro would help you out with that.”
“We checked the DMV. This is the address on his license. Do you have an office where we could maybe sit down and talk? We’re working a case involving multiple rapes and at least one murder, and Mr. Van Ness may have information that will help us identify a suspect.”
Branch nodded as she considered what to do.
“We wouldn’t have driven all the way over here just because of a LinkedIn profile if it weren’t important,” Ballard added.
Branch nodded again.
“Let’s go to the security office,” she finally said. “You two can wait at my desk while I talk to HR about this. But don’t you go flipping through my little black book, now. This way.”
She led them through a door at the side of the concierge counter to an employees-only elevator, which they took to the third floor.
“Did you all come over this morning or last night?” she asked.
“This morning,” Ballard said. “We left at six.”
“That’s early. How you fixed for coffee?”
“We could probably use some.”
“I can get that going.”
“Thank you.”
42
