“Yvonne has said from the beginning that Jazmin wouldn’t have worked that late because of Aliyah,” Drue said. “But what if Byars was lying? What if he told her she’d have to make it up to him later that night for coming to work an hour late?” Drue asked.

“That’s just supposition,” Brice objected.

“Watch the video,” Drue said, turning the laptop so her father could see as the action in the employee locker room unfolded.

“Which one is Neesa?” Brice asked.

“The girl with all the extensions and dreads,” Drue said.

They watched in silence. “They’re definitely having some kind of spat,” Brice commented. He watched while Jazmin left the room and Neesa lit a cigarette and pulled out her phone.

“Any idea what the argument was about?” he asked.

“Rae said that Neesa claimed it was a mix-up over trading days off, but they worked it out,” Drue said. “But I think she’s lying. Look how agitated she is. And who’s she calling?”

“You think it was Byars?” Hernandez asked.

“Definitely,” Drue said.

Hernandez started the video again. “You can tell that’s Jazmin, mainly because she’s wearing that white baseball cap,” Drue told Brice, referring to the slender woman shown pushing a cleaning cart down the hotel hallways.

“Yeah, but the bill of the cap hides her face,” Brice said.

“Exactly.” Drue nodded.

After another five minutes of watching, Brice yawned and looked down at his watch. “My God, it’s after three. I’m too old for this crap. Can we just get to the point?”

Now Hernandez was yawning too. “My kid has a baseball tournament in Sarasota starting in exactly five hours, so yeah, Drue, let’s wind this up.”

“Okay,” Drue said reluctantly. “Can you fast-forward it to the last room Jazmin cleaned that night? I think it’s around the 11:05 mark.”

The detective sped up the video, pausing it at the point Drue requested.

“Now back it up, please, so we see Jazmin approaching the room.”

Hernandez did as she was asked.

“Check her body language,” Drue said. “She’s beat. She’s walking slowly, you can tell it’s an effort pushing that cart. Her shoulders are slumped, her head is down.

“Pause it again here, Rae,” Drue added, as the young housekeeper stopped in front of the hotel room door.

“Now watch, she takes the lanyard with her key card and pulls it over her head. She takes the cap off to do that, and you get a good look at Jazmin’s face. Start it again, please, Rae.”

As the three watched, the housekeeper did just that. Her chin was sharp and pointed, with the same small cleft that Aliyah had, and her face sagged with fatigue.

“See?” Drue said. “That’s Jazmin Mayes. No doubt about it, right?”

“Yeah, that’s her. Nobody has claimed otherwise,” Rae said.