“Someone killed Willie?” he asked, seeming genuinely shocked and devastated by the news.

“I’m afraid so,” Avery said. “I’m so sorry.”

“People were mad about what happened last night. But that someone could kill him...”

A knock on the door preceded Ray’s assistant as he came into the office, white-faced and wide-eyed. “Mr. Jestings, there’re cops all over the building demanding entrance.”

Ray’s dark eyes narrowed with rage that he directed at Sam. “I run a clean organization here, Lieutenant.”

“If that’s the case, then you have nothing to worry about. Let my people in so they can do their jobs.”

He nodded to the assistant, who scurried from the room, closing the door behind him.

“You can look all you want but you won’t find anything to tie this organization to what happened to Willie. He’s a valued member of this ball club.”

“Even after what happened last night?” Sam asked.

“Especially after what happened last night. No one wanted that win more than Willie did. He was a fierce competitor, a superior athlete and teammate. We all felt terrible for him, but no one felt worse than he did. The poor guy was in tears after the game.” He dropped his head into his hands. “I can’t believe he’s dead.”

“I’d like to speak to your general manager, team manager, security director and anyone else who had access to Willie after the game last night.”

Jestings looked to Hill, seeming to seek guidance.

“Get them up here,” Hill said. “The more you do to aid in the investigation, the less we’ll need to look at you and your team.”

“Me and my team? You know me, Avery. You know I could never hurt anyone, let alone a ballplayer I loved and respected.”

“Who cost your team its first trip to the World Series,” Sam interjected.

Once again, Ray’s furious gaze landed on her. “And you think I’d put that ahead of a man who had a wife and two small children at home? That I’d put winning ahead of his health and safety?”

“I don’t know you at all. So you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t have the answers to those questions just yet. But your friend Hill is right. The more you cooperate, the more your people cooperate, the less time we’ll spend here when we could be out finding the person who did this.”