by Teresa Trent
Maybe things would work out and they would survive this convention? Nora began to fell silly for doubting herself. The meal went on without a hitch. Marty, who had been in and out of the banquet room, came and patted Nora on the back.
“Excellent work, partner. I should sprain my ankle more often.”
“Really?” Nora couldn’t let her go on. “I have to be honest with you. I’ve felt a little out of my element with all of this. You know, I have so little experience in hotel management.”
“Neither have I, but that hasn’t stopped either of us. Maybe now that Val has applied we will feel more confident.”
“Oh, you saw her application?” Nora thought she had done an excellent job of hiding it in the desk, but Marty had found it. She tried to sound excited, but it just wasn’t happening for her.
“Dominic told me about it. An application and now a successful convention. Things are turning around for us. I’m just glad we’ll be able to pay the bills this month. Having your investment has really helped but it won’t be long before we’re back where we were when you showed up.”
“Hopefully, the Meow Meetup will have us paying our bills on time for a while.”
Don Jansen, the health inspector, returned to the lobby. Nora had completely forgotten about him. “Sorry. Got called away on an emergency. Slime in the ice machine, you know. I do have your report. Would you like me to share it with you or with your restaurant manager?”
Marty cocked her head to the side. “We were inspected? Why didn’t you tell me?”
The health inspector nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Surprise spot inspection and frankly I’m pretty glad someone called me.”
Marty slipped him a curious glance. “Do you know who that was?”
“It was an anonymous tip. Your kitchen checked out just fine. One of the cleanest kitchens I’ve seen in this area. Your dining room, though, was another matter.”
Nora remembered he had looked at something on the floor. “We clean that carpet every day in between meals.”
“The floor was clean. I’ll give you that. The little critter running around on it was not so clean. I cited you for cockroaches.” He ripped off his report and handed it to Nora and Marty.
“We haven’t had cockroaches here for months. I made sure the place was fumigated when I renovated,” Marty said.
“Nevertheless, you had a couple of the little guys today. That’s all that matters. I’ll be writing this up and it will be posted on the website for our consumers. Have a nice day.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it.” Max said as he returned to the computer at the front desk. “Sometimes I think somebody is out to get us.”
“I promise you, Marty. I’ll find out how we ended up with cockroaches. I’ll do everything I can to make this right. This is going to be a success. I promise.”
“I know dear, I know. I just hope none of them crawl into our guest’s food. What if they start asking for a discount?”
Nora shuddered. They certainly might.
Max interrupted. “Uh oh.”
“What?” Nora snapped.
Max pointed to his computer screen. “The Google alert just came up for the Tunie.” Max had put a Google alert for any time the words “Tunie Hotel” were featured anywhere. This way, they’d know if they were written up by a travel writer or blog.
“That’s great!” Marty said excited to see the news.
“Maybe, maybe not. It seems Mr. Shaw submitted one final article to a site named Travel Tippers before he died. It’s all about the Tunie. He titled it The Scourge of the South: Staying in a Sleazy Hotel in Piney Woods, Texas.”
“Mr. Shaw?” Marty asked. “You mean the man who died in the elevator shaft? Why would he leave a negative review?” It was time to tell Marty about what kind of person Alan Shaw really was.
Chapter 14
W
As Nora, Max and Marty leaned over the computer, they read Alan Shaw’s last words.
The Tunie Hotel is indeed an establishment of the old West. The old West in the way of inadequate lodgings, a terrible smell, and out-of-date furnishings. No wonder cowboys are always shooting one another. Just between you and me, I feel much safer on the East Coast where I can find “larning” and civilization.
His words were witty and malicious at the same time. He had a way of building a sense of comradery with his audience and who read the article would immediately feel a partnership with him if they’d ever stayed in a bad hotel. He did have a gift with words, but unfortunately, his talent might destroy the Tunie Hotel and Nora and Marty’s investment.
Marty, who had pulled out her reading glasses to focus on the computer screen asked, “Didn’t they fact check this?”
Max chuckled, “Yeah, right. This is what they call sensational travel writing. The underbelly of the hospitality industry. How many times can you say the Grand Canyon is majestic? This is the stuff that sells ads. Because of Mr. Shaw we have an awful hotel that the reader is now thankful to know about before they plan their long-awaited trip to Texas.”
Nora picked up the phone, at least she could take care of this in front of Marty and prove her worth. “Well, I’m going to call them for a retraction. They must have noticed he didn’t submit any photos.”
Max tapped on the mouse. “No, wait. Let me scroll down. There’s one.”
At the bottom of the page was a picture of a ceiling. It had a nasty water stain on it that was the size of an area rug.
“We don’t have any rooms with stains like that do we?” Nora asked. “I didn’t think we had any water damage at the Tunie.”
“We don’t!” Marty was getting more and more angry as she put both hands up in the air gesturing wildly.
“Then where did he get a picture like this?” Nora asked.
Max scratched his head. “You ladies are making the mistake of thinking the photograph is legitimate. All he had to do was find a water-stained ceiling on the internet and submit it as his own.”
Marty shook her head in disgust. “And I repeat why didn’t this magazine fact check this? Did anyone get a call from Travel Tippers?”
“I didn’t,” Nora said.
“Neither did I,” Max added.
“Max, I know we can’t sue Alan Shaw, but is there anything we can do to sue this magazine?” Marty asked.
Max fairly beamed that Marty was turning to him to help her solve this problem. He was studying to be a lawyer but because he lived in a small town without a law school, he was pursuing his degree online. Even with that shaky credential, Max had become the hotel’s legal counsel.
“I believe you have grounds for a very good case here, especially if you can prove that this untruthful article cost you money.”
Indeed, it was about to cost the hotel money if Nora agreed to give the Meow Meetup organizer, Camille Martin-Ortega a fifty percent discount on their room rentals for the weekend.
During their conversation Sasha LeClaire had returned to the counter and was now tapping her sleek black fingernails across the wood surface. Her matching black stilettos heels were graced with rhinestones on the straps, and her hair was in an elegant French roll with more rhinestones placed throughout. There was a look of casual chic about it as graceful strands framed her face. “Excuse me.”
Nora looked up. “I’m sorry, we were having a little crisis here. How can I help you?”
She waved her hand in the air as if brushing off Nora like a gnat in the summer. “Whatever. I was wondering if it was all right when the guests leave the keynote speech if you could siphon them over my way for interviews and photos for our Facebook page?”
“I guess we could do that.” Nora wasn’t too sure how the guests would feel about being “siphoned” but she was trying to be hospitable. “Why don’t you stand right over there?” Nora gestured to the area in f
ront of what they called the snack shop which was really an alcove with a bunch of shelves. Sasha LeClaire took one look at it and turned her nose up. It was obviously not what she had in mind.
“I think I should be a little closer to the door. Trust me, they’re all going to be running out of there after this boring speech they been enduring from this has-been cozy mystery writer. Seriously, this is who they hired as their keynote speaker? There are dozens of cat veterinarians or breeders who would have been so much more suitable. I thought we were here because of our common interest in cats, not paperback books.” She said the last part with great disdain as if reading books was something only the lower classes did.
Hearing this negative appraisal of Evangeline Cartwright, Nora’s eyes dashed to Izzy who still sat by the door. She began to flinch as Sasha continued to insult Evangeline.
“I mean, seriously, who reads those kinds of books?” Sasha continued unaware of Izzy’s mounting anger. “If I had arranged this convention, I certainly would have had someone who would discuss cat breeding and pedigrees. Indulging in a fantasy with some two-bit hack is just … infantile.”
Storm clouds were gathering above Izzy’s head and before Nora could warn Sasha, the librarian had stepped out of the banquet room and yanked Sasha around to face her.
“How dare you! How dare you insult Evangeline Cartwright again? What is your problem with her?” Izzy squeaked.
“I have no problem with her. I simply find her annoying … I’m here to get pictures of some of the guests. Would you like to be featured on our Facebook page?”
Between the discounting of Izzy’s emotions and the condescending Facebook ploy, Max and Marty moved closer.
“Oh, you think you’re so special with your purry voice and your beautiful clothes,” Izzy said sputtering the P in purry.
Izzy, in her boxy blazer, had hair cut in a functional short bob that made her ears stick out just a bit.
Where Sasha had artfully applied makeup, Izzy had on none. Her plain brown eyes framed by the deep lenses of her glasses registered deep anger at the woman who insulted her favorite author.
“You want to get pictures of people? Well take a picture of this cat lady. Your website has overpriced cat products on it that nobody wants. And this may shock you, but cats do not need bottled water and gourmet food. Especially not at the prices you charge. You may as well pack up your skinny ass and leave. You are not wanted here.”
Waiting for Sasha’s comeback, Nora held her breath. Instead of trading insults with the mousy librarian, Sasha merely knocked her head back and laughed. She didn’t laugh just once but for several seconds. The more she laughed, the angrier Izzy became. Before anybody could stop her, Izzy reached over to a Meow Meetup cardboard poster that rested on a tripod and slammed it over Sasha’s head, knocking her to the floor. Once Sasha was down, Izzy continued to pummel her with the heavy cardboard display uttering oaths with every slam. It was like she had violated the noise in the library rule and kept violating it over and over again.
Tuck, unaware of what was going on chose that moment to walk in and unaware of what was going on, began apologizing to Nora for his lateness. “I’m finally here … Sorry, got so busy with the investigation …” His eyes drifted to Izzy with Sasha flattened on the carpet as she repeatedly hit her with the industrial grade cardboard featuring her heroine Evangeline Cartwright. Tuck ran over and picked up Izzy under the arms and shifted her sturdy little body off Sasha.
Sasha rose slightly yet seductively off the floor. “Oh, thank you, kind sir. This woman is insane. She attacked me right here in the lobby. You …” She purred, “are my knight in shining armor.” Sasha batted her eyes at Tuck with an appreciative grin.
Tuck nodded roughly and then sat Izzy on one of the red velvet benches up against the historic picture wall.
“Miss Franklin? What is going on here?” He asked. “You know, if you had told me two weeks ago that that nice lady from behind the checkout desk would act like this, I never would’ve believed them.”
Izzy lifted her chin resolutely, “This woman is rude and mean and she was insulting Evangeline Cartwright.”
Most of the banquet crowd had stopped listening to Evangeline several minutes ago when the noise picked up in the lobby. The convention goers now crowded in the doorway. Evangeline still stood at the podium with a look of concern on her face.
Tuck advised patiently, “That doesn’t mean you have to hit her.”
“I know,” she sighed as her shoulders began to sag. “She wouldn’t stop, and I don’t know, something just went off in me and I wanted to hit her. Then I wanted to hit her again … and again. I know it was entirely inappropriate.” Izzy confessed, now looking down at the floor.
Sasha gracefully ran her hands through her hair. It was only jostled a bit causing the strands that had come out make her look even more attractive. “Thank you so much, Tuck” She drawled. “You just never know what kind of people will come to these conventions.” She glanced at the crowd gathered in the door and plastered on a fake smile as her red lips split over perfectly white teeth. “Not you folks of course. As soon as your lovely and talented keynote speaker finishes up, I would love a few of you to come see me so I can take your picture for our Facebook page, the Cat aficionado website. That’s Cat Aficionado dot com.”, she added at the last minute.
Tuck’s focus was on Izzy. “Miss Franklin, I’m going to need to have a few words with you. I was planning on talking to you anyway when I heard you had an altercation with Alan Shaw the night of his death.”
“Alan Shaw? Oh. The reporter who was being so nasty? What happened to him was very unfortunate, but I put him in his place. That’s all.” She quietly folded her hands in her lap resuming the persona of the quiet librarian.
“I see. And just how angry were you with Mr. Shaw?”
Doug Lindstrom made his way through the crowd and came over to Izzy and Tuck. “Mr. Shaw was exceedingly rude,” he stated. “You were there. You saw how he was acting. I don’t know why you need to question this lady. She was simply there handing off a manuscript to her favorite writer when this man barged in. There’s not much more to it. Besides, she wasn’t the only one who was angry with him that night.”
“Yes, but she’s the only one who slapped him.”
“Miss Franklin, can I ask you your whereabouts the night that Alan Shaw died?” A collective gasp went up across the room.
“I was at home asleep.”
“Alone?”
Izzy’s face flushed red. “Of course, alone. I’m not married.”
“No boyfriends? Girlfriends?”
“Of course not!” Izzy was shocked at the assumptions that Tuck was making. She obviously didn’t have either sex staying over with her. Her life seemed to be more involved with books and writing, not booty calls.
“I thought Alan Shaw’s death was being called an accident? Why are you asking these questions?”
“Just a matter of procedure,” Tuck answered quickly.
“I would like to press charges against this woman,” Sasha said as she drew near to the group.
“What for?” Izzy asked flatly.
Sasha tilted her head to the side and smiled slowly. “Assault, my dear. You just don’t go attacking people and expect to get away with it.”
Izzy rose to advance on Sasha once again, but Tuck took her by the arm. “Why don’t both of you come back with me to the police station. We’re right next door, and I’m sure we can get this all sorted out. Also, I have a few more questions to ask you, Mrs. Franklin.”
“Miss.”
“Miss.”
Tuck worked to separate the little librarian as she drew closer to Sasha LeClaire. Could Izzy have pushed Alan Shaw down the elevator shaft? What was it that Alan Shaw had become such a bulldog about when it came to Evangeline Cartwright? Nora tried to remember his words the last
time she saw him.
I know who you are, sweetie.
Who did he think she was?
Chapter 15
W
As Tuck began dragging Izzy out, she uttered her final words to the gathered crowd of Meow Meetup attendees.
“It’s all for Evangeline. Why are people so against her when she does such wonderful things for others? I will protect Evangeline for the rest of my days if she needs me to do that. Go ahead. Bring on the jail time. I don’t care. The world has too few many people like Evangeline in it. God bless her. I would give my kidney …”
Her voice trailed off into the noise of the street as she was dragged out the door. Evangeline, who had witnessed the entire scene was now standing uncomfortably at the podium. She put her hand on her heart and smiled graciously.
Nora stepped before the crowd. “ Talk about a fan. I don’t believe Evangeline is at the end of her speech, and I can’t promise you anything quite as exciting, but if you will join her back in the banquet room, she’ll do her best.” The assembled members of the group murmured and returned to their chairs.
“I sure didn’t see that coming,” Max said.
Marty scratched her head. “What kind of books does she write?”
“Mysteries.”
“It’s a mystery to me why our town librarian is willing to part with vital organs for her,” Max remarked.
Marty and Max had not witnessed the scene in the dining room and Nora tried to explain. “Izzy had been a fan of her work as she worked in the library, but Evangeline’s kind gesture of offering to read Izzy’s manuscript was enough to make her a friend for life. I don’t know what it is about this woman, but people are extremely loyal to her.”
