by Diana X Dunn
“And you probably don’t have anything to hide,” Suzy remarked casually, watching with interest as something flickered in his eyes when the remark hit home. “Anyway, I think they’ll have the murderer caught by the end of the day.”
“Why?”
Suzy looked left and right and then leaned in close to Peter. “Did you meet Alex?” she whispered. “I invited him. He’s a friend of a friend, but he seems nice enough.”
“I met him,” Peter answered grimly. “Genifer was certainly taken with him.”
“That’s just it,” Suzy kept her voice low, continually checking around them in case anyone was trying to listen to them. “When she was talking to him last night she slipped a wrist-con into his pocket. He found it last night when he was getting ready for bed. He and I both think that there must be something on it that will identify the murderer.”
“And he’s given it to the police?”
“Not yet,” Suzy shrugged. “He called me last night when he found it, but he was so tired that we figured it could wait for this morning. He’s still sleeping, but I came down to try to find Luke. When I find him, I’ll send him up to see Alex.”
“And you think they can wrap the case up by the end of the day?”
“I certainly hope so,” Suzy replied. “Max is sailing tomorrow morning and I want to be back on The Mirage with him.”
Peter shook his head. “If I never see that boat again, that would be fine with me,” he told her, “but I might just wait around until tomorrow. It would be great if I could leave without this whole thing hanging over me.”
“I think that’s what we all want,” Suzy told him, patting his arm again.
Peter smiled at her suddenly. “Maybe when this is all over we could grab dinner or something?” he suggested.
“I’d like that,” Suzy lied sweetly. “Max always knows where to find me.”
“Great,” Peter leered openly at her now.
“I’d better go and find Luke.” Suzy stood up quickly, wanting to get away from Peter as quickly as possible now that she had told him about the fake wrist-con. “I suppose I’ll see you later.”
“Count on it,” Peter patted her on the bottom as she walked away and it took all of Suzy’s willpower to resist turning around and knocking him out with a single punch.
“Stay in character, stay in character,” she chanted to herself, counting backwards from ten to one again, this time as slowly as she could through gritted teeth. She felt back in control by the time she reached the doors to the dining room, where an elaborate breakfast buffet was being served.
She quickly spotted Randy filling plates in the serving line. She made her way to his side, smiling sympathetically at him as he tried to balance two plates while spooning up some eggs.
“Let me help,” she told him, reaching for one of the plates.
“Thanks,” Randy smiled. “I’m taking some food up for me and Max,” he explained.
“Why didn’t you just use room service?” Suzy questioned.
“They are so backed-up that they said it would be at least an hour before they could get us anything. Max finally agreed to try to nibble on something and I didn’t want to wait.”
“I can’t believe that they couldn’t accommodate Max!”
“I think the whole resort is a little bit tired of accommodating Max,” Randy said dryly. “I think they’ll be very happy to see us leaving in a few hours.”
Suzy nodded. “I wish I were leaving,” she said truthfully.
“I know, love.” Randy put down a spoon and patted her arm. “I’m trying to persuade Max to invite you back on board, but he doesn’t want to see anyone right now.”
“Oh, I totally understand,” Suzy gushed. “I can’t imagine how awful he must feel. And I wasn’t suggesting that I wanted to get back on The Mirage. Obviously, I would love to, one day, but clearly Max needs time to grieve. I just wish that we were allowed to get off SunInc.”
“I’m not sure what the police will do once Max and I are gone,” Randy said hesitantly. “I know Peter and Henry are arguing that they should be allowed to leave, since we are.”
“I’m not sure it matters.” Suzy did her furtive looks each way again and then leaned in close to Randy. “Alex found a wrist-con in his pocket last night. The only person close enough to have dropped it in there without him noticing was Genifer. Once he gets up this morning, he’s going to turn it over to Luke and the police, and that might just get the whole murder thing solved by the end of the day.”
“Really?” Randy smiled wanly. “That is the first good news I’ve heard in a long time.”
“I’m trying to find Luke to let him know,” Suzy continued. “If you see him, tell him to message me, okay?”
Randy nodded. “I don’t think I will see him, though. I’m going straight back to Max’s room to eat and then pack.”
“Give my love to Max,” Suzy told him. “Tell him I’m thinking of him and if there is anything that I can do….” she trailed off.
“I know,” Randy said, “but nothing will bring back Genifer and that is all he wants right now.”
Suzy nodded sadly. As Randy finished spooning up something from the last serving platter, she handed the second plate back to him. She planted a quick kiss onto his forehead before he headed out of the room.
Wanting to look natural, she returned to the front of the line and grabbed a plate of her own. She picked up a few bits and pieces, some fruit and some toast, and then looked around to find a seat. Luck was with her, as Henry was sitting on his own at a table near the back.
“Henry, may I join you?” she asked, not waiting for a reply before ignoring six empty seats at the table to take the one right next to him. “I think I’m too upset to eat,” she began softly. “But I thought I’d better try.”
“What on earth could you possibly be upset about?” Henry looked down his nose at her. “As far as I could tell, you hated Chrystal and Genifer.”
Suzy winced. “I suppose I didn’t like them,” she admitted reluctantly, “but murder is scary. And two murders is double scary.”
Henry just looked at her for a moment before returning to his eggs and coffee.
“Anyway,” Suzy continued in a conversational tone. “I think the police will have it all solved today. Alex found an wrist-con that Genifer dropped and he’s going to turn it over to the police later this morning.”
“Why wait?” Henry asked logically.
“He was too tired last night to do anything except sleep. I’m actually supposed to be looking for Luke to ask him to go and see Alex. I wanted some breakfast first, though.”
Henry shook his head. “Your friend potentially has the key to two murders and you are worried about breakfast? Typical.”
Suzy laughed. “Honestly, five minutes either way won’t matter,” she excused herself. “And the fruit looked heavenly.”
She took a big bite of fresh pineapple and smiled at Henry. She was sure he thought she was an idiot, and that was fine with her.
“I think I should be going,” Henry said stiffly. “I suggest you get going as well. Find Luke and get this distasteful incident sorted out for all of our sakes.”
Suzy swallowed another bite of pineapple in order to keep her mouth from saying what she was thinking. Another deep breath was needed to calm her again. She scanned the dinning room again, looking for Marta or Captain Grayson. They were probably going to be a lot harder to find than the others had been.
She got up slowly and wandered toward the door. Marta had a room on the third floor, but Suzy couldn’t think of any good excuse for simply going and knocking on it. At least not one that would also allow her to mention Alex’s find. She made her way through the hotel lobby and out into the gardens. As she walked around the corner of the hotel, she thought she could hear someone crying. She quickened her pace.
In the corner of the elaborately executed gardens, Marta was sitting on a bench, weeping softly into a handkerchief. Suzy was seated
beside her before Marta even noticed.
“Oh, I didn’t hear you coming, Ms. Suzy,” Marta choked out, trying to hide her tears and her handkerchief. “Did you need something?”
“Not at all,” Suzy replied. “I was coming to see if you needed anything.”
“Oh no,” Marta answered, getting to her feet. “I’m fine, really, just enjoying the gardens for a moment before I get packed up and back to work on The Mirage.”
Suzy smiled and patted the bench next to her. “Sit down and relax, then,” she suggested. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“No bother at all,” Marta insisted. “I’ll just get back to packing.”
Suzy stood up and took the older woman’s arm. “You must be devastated about Genifer,” she said softly, looking into Marta’s eyes. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
“Thank you, miss,” Marta muttered, turning her head away. “She was like a daughter to me, and I’ll miss her a lot.”
Suzy nodded and then surprised them both by giving Marta a hug. “I think that the police will have her murder solved by the end of the day,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper in Marta’s ear. “Alex found a wrist-con that was Genifer’s, and he is going to turn it over to Luke as soon as Luke gets back here.”
Marta just shrugged. “That won’t bring Genifer back,” she sighed. “So I don’t much care.”
Suzy couldn’t think of anything to say to that. She watched sadly as Marta slowly made her way back toward the front of the hotel. Mentally, she crossed Marta off the suspect list. While she might have killed Chrystal, there was no way that Marta would have done anything to harm Genifer.
A few minutes later Suzy was back in the lobby of the hotel, wondering how to locate Captain Grayson. She checked with the desk, using all of her feminine wiles to convince the man behind the counter to give her information that he shouldn’t. The ship’s captain had been given a room late last night, after the party had broken up. Apparently, Luke had insisted that no one was to go back to The Mirage until after today’s search was finished.
Suzy headed to the elevators and called a car. Once on board, she tapped the button for the fourth floor. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say to the man once she found his room, but she would figure it out while she looked for his room.
A few minutes later she knocked on his door, knocking repeatedly with only short pauses in between, intent on waking him if he was still asleep. Clearly he had been. Captain Grayson threw the door open looking disheveled and angry. He needed a shower and a shave and he was wearing nothing but a pair of tattered pajama bottoms with torn-out knees. Suzy flushed.
“Oh my goodness,” she gasped out. “I am so very, very, very sorry.”
“What in Hades do you want?” the captain ground out.
“I wanted Luke’s room,” Suzy stuttered. “I thought this was Luke Nolan’s room, you know, the police captain investigating the murders. I have important information for him and it took me ages to convince the moron on the desk downstairs to give me his room number. Now I get here and I find out that he gave me the ship’s captain rather than the police captain. I don’t believe it.”
She shook her head and began to turn slowly. “I am so sorry to have bothered you,” she told him. “I’ll just get out of your way.”
“Why are you so eager to find Luke this morning?” Captain Grayson stopped her with a question she was delighted that he asked.
Suzy looked up and down the hallway and then leaned close to the captain. She got a whiff of his unwashed body and leaned a bit further away. “Alex found a wrist-con in his pocket last night,” she whispered. “He thinks it was Genifer’s and it might have clues to who the murderer is on it.”
Captain Grayson laughed. “I don’t believe it,” he told Suzy.
“Why on earth not?”
The man got a strange look in his eyes. “I just don’t,” he muttered. “Genifer wasn’t like that.”
“Well, Alex found something,” Suzy shrugged, “and I promised him that I would send Luke up as soon as I could find him.”
“Whatever,” Captain Grayson shrugged himself. “I’m going back to bed.”
“I’m really sorry that I bothered you,” Suzy said again.
“Whatever,” the man repeated, slamming the door behind him.
Suzy headed slowly back down the hall, mentally replaying all of the morning’s conversations in her head. They all seemed to have gone just about right, she decided. At least she’d done the best that she could. She took an elevator down to the lobby and spent a few minutes longer pretending to look for Luke before heading back up to Alex’s floor. He hadn’t sent her any messages, so she might still be in time to see the murderer for herself, if he or she took the bait. And at this point, that was a very big if.
Fourteen
Back on Alex’s floor, Suzy quickly but casually checked the hallway before punching in the necessary code to open the door to the supply closet. Alex was right inside the door, and he quickly pulled her close in the darkness and kissed her gently. For a second Suzy gave in to the moment, but then she pulled back.
“We don’t have time for that right now,” she reminded Alex.
“I know,” he agreed, “but I couldn’t resist.”
Suzy gave him another quick brush on the lips before pulling away. She turned to look at the security screen that was displaying the empty hallway outside the door.
“It felt like you were gone for hours,” Alex spoke into her ear from behind her. “I was starting to get worried.”
“It took a little while to find everyone,” Suzy whispered back. “I take it none of our suspects have appeared?”
“Not yet,” Alex replied. “I would have let you know if they had.”
Suzy nodded. “Did you have to hide at all?”
“No,” Alex answered. “I guess the cleaning staff hasn’t gotten to this floor yet.”
“Let’s just hope they don’t get here for another hour or so. Now is not the time to have to hide.”
There was nothing to do but wait. Suzy leaned back against Alex in the darkened room. The only light came from the crack under the door and the small video screen displaying the hallway in monochrome. The effect might have been romantic under different circumstances. Alex moved his arm around her and Suzy began to think that it might be romantic anyway when they both heard a sound from the hallway.
Suzy leaned forward to watch one of Genifer’s friends moving past the door toward the elevators. After a few seconds, she and Alex could hear the elevator’s arrival and a moment later the man disappeared from view.
“Have there been many people going back and forth?” Suzy asked, more to make conversation than because she cared.
“He’s the third,” Alex answered. “I think they’ve all been guests from Genifer’s list, but I’m not totally sure. I definitely couldn’t put names to any of them, either, but one of them was a woman who tried to seduce me last night.”
Suzy grinned at his tone. “When you are gorgeous, you have to expect women to try to seduce you,” she told him.
“These women are like vultures,” Alex complained. “I don’t mind some friendly flirting, but they were out of control.”
Suzy chuckled softly. “Rich women can be more aggressive than most,” she agreed with him. “I’m sure you were able to handle it all.” She could feel Alex shrugging as he held her against his chest.
“I know I won’t rush to accept another invitation to join one of Max Hart’s parties,” he told Suzy.
“Even if I’m the one inviting you?” she teased back.
“Maybe, if you are the one inviting me, and you’re willing to hang all over me for the entire evening to fend off the rest of the women.”
Suzy chuckled again and then stiffened as another sound came from the hallway. This time it was the elevator arriving and Suzy watched anxiously to see who might emerge. As someone did, she heard Alex exhale beside her.
“Shhh,”
she whispered.
They both held their breath as they watched the person walk down the hallway toward Alex’s suite. Within seconds the person reached the edge of the range of the door’s camera. Suzy pulled out her M-ped and clicked into the monitoring program that was tied to the target wrist-con in Alex’s room. Once Alex realized what she was doing, he did the same with his device, tapping his way into the link that she had set up earlier.
Only a moment later, they both watched as the rigged wrist-con began to transmit video. They watched their suspect try to turn on the device. After a few unsuccessful attempts, the device was dropped into a pocket and Alex and Suzy watched wordlessly as, a moment later, the suspect came back into view on the supply room door’s monitoring screen, now heading for the elevator. A few seconds later they heard the elevator arrive and soon the hallway was empty again. Suzy and Alex both blew out their breath.
“Well, that seems to be that,” Suzy whispered.
“That wasn’t who I was expecting,” Alex began, but Suzy held up a hand.
She tapped a few commands on the security screen, trying to enlarge the viewing field in order to be certain that no one was anywhere in the hallway. Unfortunately, the camera wasn’t designed for that function. It was really simply a safety precaution to allow the cleaning staff to make sure they didn’t push a cleaning cart into any guests as they emerged from the small room.
Before she could do anything further, Suzy heard the elevator arrive again. She and Alex watched as three guests got off the elevator together and headed down the hall. After they disappeared, Suzy counted slowly to ten and then pulled the closet door open just a crack. She looked up and down. The hallway was clear. She slipped out the door and Alex followed quickly. A quick tap of the elevator button and they were on their way to Suzy’s suite without being seen.
In Suzy’s suite, Alex punched up a beer from her drinks machine before he said a word.
“Wow,” he said after a long swallow. “That was weird.”
Suzy grinned. “I guess I’ve been doing this sort of thing for too long to find much of anything weird,” she told him.
