Something in the Amber

41. The only vet in Caldmere — big, bearded, universally liked. Treated Dorothea Wick's arthritic retriever through the summer of 2023 and was present at the Grand Hotel two nights before she died. A vial of xylazine hydrochloride disappeared from his clinic's large-animal sedation stock on September 19th, 2023, attributed only to a phantom equine patient the clinic hadn't seen in over a year.

Charming, self-destructive, and entirely too comfortable around a widow's personal effects. He served Dorothea her nightly Calvados for nineteen years of October visits — and signed for her travel case, including the Calvados bottle, thirteen days after she died. Claims he was acting on behalf of a family friend. No family friend has ever been identified.

Third-generation hotelier who knows every room and every regular's secrets. She authorized the renovation of Room 114 in November 2023 — just six weeks after Dorothea's death. Her decision to replace the carpet and strip the walls before any formal investigation was opened has never been satisfactorily explained.

Brilliant, overqualified, and running a true-crime podcast about Caldmere's unsolved cases. She handled Dorothea's packages and bookings during every October visit and knew the guest's routines as well as anyone in the hotel. Her podcast's third episode — released in March 2024 — included a segment on 'unexplained cardiac deaths in hotel settings' that some investigators believe demonstrated foreknowledge. Della insists she was simply doing research.

26. Manages the clinic's drug inventory by day and works event shifts at the Grand Hotel on weekends. She attended the October 7th veterinary dinner alongside Dr. Bowen and had a hotel staff keycard from her event-assistant role. She knew Dorothea Wick's retriever — she administered most of Harriet's sedation treatments herself — and she was aware of the $180,000 insurance designation, having overheard a phone call between Dr. Bowen and his insurance administrator in June 2023. She later told a classmate she believed Bowen intended to 'use that money to push her out' of her part-time position once the clinic's finances improved.