A Killer Column mbtn-2

by Casey Mayes

  “Not if I want to open a sauna,” Sylvia said.

  He nodded, refusing to rise to her baiting. “Don’t sweat it. I’ll have it fixed in no time.”

  “ ‘No time’ is what I’ve got. I’m demanding a new room.”

  He shrugged. “Lady, I can’t help you with that. I’m just the maintenance man.”

  “Then I suggest you leave and return with someone who can.”

  If the man was upset by her treatment of him, he didn’t show it. “Yes, ma’am. Right away.”

  As he left, Sylvia said, “I’ve had enough of this foolishness.”

  “From me, or the hotel?” I asked.

  “In equal amounts,” she said.

  Sylvia grabbed her suitcase, kicked the telephone book away from the door, and walked out of her room. We had no choice but to follow.

  “What are you going to do now?”

  “I’m going to the front desk and demand a suite for all of the trouble they’ve caused me. It’s the least they can do.”

  “Good luck with that,” I said.

  As she marched to the elevator, Jenny asked me, “Should we follow her?”

  “No, I doubt we’ll get much more out of her. Did you see her face when I told her that someone tried to kill Kelsey today?”

  Jenny thought about it, and then answered, “I’d say she was hearing it for the first time, wouldn’t you?”

  I nodded. “I think so, too, but then again, she’s mastered a game that allows her to bluff, plot, and plan, so I’m not sure how much we can trust any of her reactions.”

  “I never thought about it quite that way before,” Jenny said. “Who’s next on our list?”

  “I think it’s time we spoke with Brady again,” I said. Sylvia was still waiting on an elevator as we walked past her.

  I asked her, “Do you happen to know what room Brady’s staying in at the hotel?”

  She arched an eyebrow. “You don’t honestly believe that sweet little Brady could be a murderer, do you?”

  “I don’t know what to believe,” I said, “but I thought you’d welcome the chance to get me off your back.”

  Sylvia shrugged, and then said, “He’s in the room beside mine. We checked in at the same time.”

  “How interesting,” I said.

  “Don’t read anything into it, Savannah. We met to discuss Derrick’s behavior before our meetings, so naturally, we checked in together.”

  The elevator pinged once, and the doors opened. There was a woman in a suit with a clipboard who stepped out as Sylvia stepped in.

  The woman approached Sylvia’s room, knocked tentatively at the door, and then knocked again, louder this time.

  “She just left,” I volunteered.

  “What? I was told she was going to wait on me.”

  “I have a feeling you’ll find her downstairs at your front desk,” I said.

  The woman bit her lip, and then turned back to the elevator. As she waited for it to open, I took Jenny’s arm and we walked to Brady’s room and knocked.

  “I’ve been waiting all day for you,” a beautiful young brunette in a purple satin nightgown said as she opened the door.

  “You’re not Lee,” she added with a pout when she saw that it was us.

  “Sorry, we must have the wrong room,” I said.

  She closed the door, and I looked at Jenny. “Too bad Zach wasn’t with us. He would have enjoyed that.”

  “But not as much as you’re going to like telling him what he missed, I’ll wager,” Jenny said.

  I smiled at her. “You know what? You’re right. This way is a lot more fun.”

  We walked to the door on the other side of Sylvia’s room, and I knocked again.

  “Yes?” a voice called out from inside.

  “Brady, it’s Savannah Stone. I need to speak with you.”

  There was a long pause, and then Brady replied, “This isn’t a great time for me. Could we do it later?”

  “It will just take a second,” I said, wondering why Brady was stalling. Was it possible that Cary Duncan was there with him? I had to see that to believe it, but it would give Brady another reason to want Derrick dead, if it was true.

  “Brady?” I asked as I knocked again.

  “I’m coming,” he said, and after a full minute, he finally opened the door, but just barely enough to look out through. I could see that he didn’t have shoes on, his shirt had been buttoned out of order, there was a torn piece of paper stuck to one foot, and his belt was missing two loops. That was just what I could see from where I was standing.

  “What can I do for you, Savannah?” He didn’t even notice Jenny standing beside me.

  “May we come in?” I asked as sweetly as I could manage.

  “Hang on,” he said as he ducked back inside.

  “What’s going on?” Jenny asked softly. “Is there someone in there with him?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I’m going to find out.”

  Thirty seconds later, Brady came out so fast that I couldn’t even see into his room. He had loafers on, his hair had been hurriedly combed, but his shirt was still buttoned one buttonhole off. His door was slightly open as he stepped out, propped open with one heel, as if he thought he might need to retreat back inside without digging out his room key.

  “We can talk out here,” he said.

  “Wouldn’t we be more comfortable in your room?”

  He shook his head. “No, this is fine. I should warn you, Savannah, I’m not in the mood for this.” It was clear by his tone of voice that he was agitated before I got to ask a single question.

  Okay, if he wanted to play it that way, I’d have to change my approach. I would have rather played ‘good cop’ if I could, but sometimes folks just didn’t respond to that approach. It was time to stop messing around and get down to business. “Brady, where were you this afternoon?”

  He looked surprised by the question. “I had a few errands to run around town. Why?”

  “So you admit that you were outside the hotel?” Jenny asked.

  “Yes, I just said that, didn’t I?”

  “Someone tried to kill Kelsey Hatcher today. Was it you?”

  “What?” he asked, clearly startled by the question. “No. Of course not. That’s ridiculous. Why would I want to hurt Kelsey?”

  “Perhaps she planned to cancel your puzzles as well,” I said. “That would explain why you killed Derrick, and then made a try for Kelsey.”

  “Savannah, have you lost your mind? I didn’t kill Derrick, and I certainly wouldn’t do anything to harm Kelsey.”

  “It’s easy to claim, but your alibis aren’t great, are they? You say that you were sitting in your car when Derrick was murdered, something no one can confirm, and you admit to being out on the streets when someone tried to kill Kelsey Hatcher earlier today.”

  He looked more worried than outraged by my accusation. “But I didn’t have anything to do with either of those events.”

  “Why should we believe you?”

  “There’s no use trying to protect me,” Kelsey Hatcher said as she stepped out of Brady’s room.

  She looked at me as she added, “Brady wouldn’t hurt me, Savannah. We’re in love.”

  “IN LOVE?” I ASKED. “HOW LONG HAVE YOU TWO BEEN TOGETHER?”

  “Seven months,” Brady said as he took her hand in his. “I’m the one who recommended Kelsey to Derrick for the assistant’s position. She needed a job, and I wanted to do anything I could to help.”

  That certainly put a new spin on things. If she was telling the truth.

  “I’m not sure you did her any favors by recommending her,” I said.

  Kelsey put her arm around Brady. “Trust me; I was happy to take the job, even though Brady kept warning me to watch out for Derrick. He was a bit of a ladies’ man, and my Brady is the jealous type. Derrick could be difficult to work for, but I learned so much from him. Besides, if I hadn’t taken this job, I wouldn’t be running the syndicate now for C
ary.”

  “That should clear me of the attempt on Kelsey,” Brady said. “I wouldn’t hurt her for anything in the world.”

  “But you might hurt Derrick,” Jenny said.

  “What do you mean? Whoever killed Derrick went after Kelsey, too. You just said so.”

  “Not necessarily,” I said, taking Jenny’s point to heart. “They could be entirely different events, one a deliberate act and the other simply an accident.”

  “Trust me, it was no accident,” Kelsey said. “I felt someone shove me hard toward the bus. If Brady hadn’t grabbed me, I would be dead.”

  “Hang on a second,” I said. “Did you tell the police that Brady was there with you?”

  She shook her head. “No. We decided they didn’t need to know who saved me.”

  A thought occurred to me, something I didn’t want to voice at the moment. Had Brady shoved her, for whatever reason, and then gotten cold feet and pulled her back to safety at the last second? It would make him look like a hero, and divert suspicion away from him as Derrick’s murderer. The only problem with that line of reasoning was that everyone would have to know what he’d done, and they were keeping quiet about it, at least for the moment.

  “Savannah, what do you think?” Jenny asked me, and I realized that someone had just asked me a question. I’d been thinking about the ramifications about what I’d just learned, and I’d completely missed it.

  “I’m sorry, I got distracted.”

  Jenny said, “They want to know if they should tell the police that Brady was with Kelsey today.”

  “No, I wouldn’t say a word. At least not yet,” I said, watching their reactions.

  Kelsey seemed fine with it, but Brady looked a little surprised. What did that mean?

  “Fine, we’ll keep quiet,” Kelsey said. She looked at me, and then asked, “Savannah, is there something else on your mind?”

  “Maybe I’ve been married too long to a good cop, but something just occurred to me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Brady, I’m sorry, but this just gives you one more motive for killing Derrick.”

  He looked honestly surprised by that claim. “Where do you get that, Savannah?”

  “We all know how Derrick treated people, and he was no different with Kelsey. What kind of boyfriend could just stand by while he verbally abused her like he did? Added to that, you got her this job, so you were directly responsible for putting her in the line of fire.”

  Brady’s face began to darken, and I was starting to see a side of him I hadn’t witnessed before. “I didn’t kill him,” he said, nearly growling the words out.

  “Take it easy,” I said, suddenly wishing that I’d let Zach join us after all. Brady wasn’t much physically, but the look in his eyes made him seem dangerous. “I’m not saying anything the police won’t think when they find out you and Kelsey are dating.”

  “But you said we shouldn’t tell them,” Kelsey said.

  “You know what? I just changed my mind.”

  “Why should we do their work for them?” Brady asked.

  “Because it’s going to sound better coming from you two than them hearing it from someone else, and believe me, they will. In this day and age, one of the toughest things in the world to keep is a secret.”

  “It’s none of their business,” Brady said with a surly edge in his voice.

  “I’m afraid that when it comes to murder, everything is fair game,” Jenny said.

  “I could go get Zach,” I said. “He’s right downstairs.” Not only was my offer a valid one, but I wanted Brady to know that my husband was just a short distance away.

  “Don’t do anything. I need to think about it,” Brady said.

  Kelsey stroked his arm lightly. “They’re right. It’s the best thing to do, given the circumstances.”

  I had another question I wanted to ask him, but it required some diplomacy if I was wrong about my assumption. I needed to get my new boss out of hearing range. “Kelsey, I’m afraid I’m feeling a bit woozy. Could you get me a glass of water?”

  “Of course, Savannah.”

  She went back into Brady’s room to get my water, and I stepped close to him and said softly, “While she’s gone, I need to ask you something. Don’t lie to me. Are you having an affair with Cary Duncan?”

  Chapter 18

  “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”

  “I saw you yesterday going to her room with a bouquet of flowers, and you were still there when I left the Brunswick later.”

  He started laughing, though I failed to see what was so amusing.

  “That’s not an answer,” I whispered. “Hurry up, she’s coming back.”

  Kelsey came out, handed me the glass of water, and then asked her boyfriend, “Brady? What’s so funny?”

  “Savannah thinks I’m having an affair with Cary Duncan,” he said, still clearly amused by my question.

  She smiled broadly at me. “Why on earth would you ask him that, Savannah?”

  Before I could answer, Brady said, “She saw me going into Cary’s room yesterday with those flowers you picked out.”

  “You truly weren’t hitting on her?” I asked.

  “No, I was there trying to save Kelsey’s job,” he said. “Cary was having second thoughts about letting Kelsey run things, and I went there to convince her to give Kelsey an honest chance.”

  “So, there was no romance,” I said.

  “Not with Cary,” he said. “Not in a million years.”

  He was still chuckling as I said, “You have to realize what it looked like to me.”

  “I suppose so. It’s a pretty funny image, though. Are we finished here now?”

  “For the moment,” I said.

  After the two of them disappeared back into Brady’s room, Jenny said, “I didn’t see that coming, did you?”

  “Not if I’d had a thousand guesses. I wonder if it’s true.”

  “What,” Jenny asked, “that they’re dating? They seemed comfortable enough around each other.”

  “I didn’t see any sparks though, did you?”

  “I’m not sure we would have,” she said. “What should we do next?”

  I looked around, and realized that there was one more guest in this hotel who was involved in our case. “Let’s see if Mindi is in her room. She’s in one-nine-one-eight.”

  “What are we going to talk to her about?”

  “I’m not sure yet, but I will be by the time she comes to the door.”

  Jenny laughed. “That’s what I like to see, confidence.”

  MINDI WASN’T IN HER ROOM, THOUGH. WE FOUND A housekeeping cart in front of it, and I tapped on the open door as one of the maids came out.

  “Excuse me, but do you know if Mindi Mills is still staying here?”

  The maid frowned as she said, “There’s nothing here. I got a note to clean this room and that the previous guest had checked out.”

  “Any idea when she left?”

  She checked her list again, and then said, “Three hours ago. Can I help you with something?”

  “No, thanks,” I said. “I’ll catch up with her later.”

  We walked back to the elevator, and after I hit the down button, I asked Jenny, “Where do you suppose she went?”

  “Back to Richmond?” she asked.

  “I guess so, but I thought Murphy asked everyone involved with the case to stay in town.”

  “He couldn’t order them to, though, not without more reason than he had. If he let her go, then I guess we’ll have to mark her off our suspect list, too.”

  “Are you kidding? I just moved her up near the top. Running away is the worst thing she could have done. It just makes her look guilty.”

  “I suppose it could at that,” Jenny said. “What should we do now?”

  “Let’s go back to the lobby and collect Zach. I’m dying to tell him what we’ve found out so far.”

  THE SECOND WE GOT BACK IN THE LOBBY, I SCANNED THE room for Zac
h, to no avail. I knew his promise to sit quietly and wait for us had been too good to be true.

  “Where’s that husband of yours?” Jenny asked me.

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” I started to take my cell phone out of my bag when she put a hand on my arm.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Don’t call him.”

  “Why not?”

  Pointing toward the restaurant, she said, “Because there’s no need to. He’s right there.”

  I followed her gesture and saw my husband in deep conversation with Frank Lassiter.

  “I thought he was going to stay on the sidelines,” Jenny said.

  I smiled. “I’m willing to bet Lassiter came through the lobby, so Zach decided to brace him while he had the chance.”

  “Should we join them, then?” Jenny asked.

  I looked over at them and saw that my husband appeared to have things in hand. “No, I got tough with Lassiter the last time we questioned him. Zach probably has a better chance of getting something from him on his own. I’ve got another idea about what we can do next.”

  I glanced at the desk and saw that there was a man on duty I hadn’t seen before. “I need you to do me a favor,” I said.

  “All you have to do is ask.”

  “Go to the front desk and ask for Benjamin Lowe.” I didn’t see him anywhere nearby, and if I started by asking for him, it would ruin the rest of my plan to get the information I wanted.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  In thirty seconds, she was as good as her word. “Benjamin’s not here. He’s gone for the night, and they won’t call him.”

  “Then I’ll have to do something myself. Would you mind hanging back here while I talk to the clerk at the front desk?”

  “Are you going to ask him about Mindi?”

  “Sure, I’ll tack that onto what I had in mind, too.”

  “Savannah, what are you up to?”

  I shrugged. “I’m trying to get some information.” I pointed to a newspaper rack beside the front desk. “If you want to eavesdrop, there’s the perfect spot. Go ahead; I’ll wait for you to get settled.”

  She was clearly confused by what I was about to do, and I didn’t really want to explain it to her. It called for a bold move, and I had to work myself up to do it. It would have made life a lot easier if Benjamin were still there, but I couldn’t wait until morning to ask him what I needed to.