by Lisa Boone
“Why are you listening to her?” Sarah asked.
He ran a hand through his hair before shrugging. “Gotta dance with the one who brung ya.”
Sarah’s brow furrowed. “What does that even mean?” She looked back at Ashton who was smiling.
“I understand what it means and he’s right. We should keep going.”
“He didn’t say we need to keep going,” Sarah pointed out.
Ashton looked expectantly at Casey.
“Look,” Casey said, “I don’t have a dog in this hunt. This is between the two of you.”
Sarah folded her arms across her chest. “Fine,” she said making a plan. “I can’t force you two to help me, so this is what I’ll do. When we get to where ever you’re taking me, I’ll call Emily. I’m sure she’ll help me.”
“Jamie doesn’t want you to go,” Ashton said. “Let’s face it. He would not like this.”
Sarah blew her breath out in outraged disgust. “Since when are you two bosom buddies?”
“I’m not so petty as to disagree with the man just because I don’t want him around my baby sister. If he’s right, he’s right.”
“If Emily’s not at home, I’ll have the taxi take me to my car at Kristen’s place. I’m sure it’s still there.”
Casey threw her a look.
“Hey, I don’t want to go back there either, but it’s not like I have much choice. I’d much rather go with you two than all by myself. I mean who knows what could happen with me all alone chasing down this Maggie girl, but I assure you,” she said, sharpening her tone, “I will chase her down.”
She paused, waiting for her sister to cave.
After a moment, Ashton released a disgusted sigh.
Sarah smiled as Casey turned on the blinker.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
They arrived at the Sunny Side Inn an hour and a half later just before dawn, only to learn that Maggie Shane wouldn’t be in until five that evening. Bone weary and with nothing to do but wait, they rented a couple of rooms. After a quick call to Jamie to let him know where they were, but not why they were there, Sarah crawled into bed sending a quick prayer of thanks that Fletcher hadn’t found Jamie after she had left him all alone at his family’s deserted mansion.
As much as Jamie wanted and possibly was looking forward to fighting Fletcher, Sarah was desperately hoping it all could be avoided. She thought that if she could find Robin’s murderer, perhaps that would bring an end to Fletcher too. After all, no one works for free, and if his employer was safely behind bars, Fletcher would no doubt move on. It took a while, but by the time she had fallen asleep, she had thoroughly convinced herself that she was right and that everything was going to be okay.
Only when she sat down in the hotel lobby to wait for Maggie twelve hours later did the doubt start intruding. She had witnessed Fletcher murder Hogan’s two guards and his attempted murder of Kristen and Phoebe. Would he really walk away and let her live now? She somehow doubted that. After all, they called him the magician for a reason and she had a feeling that unless Fletcher was dealt with somehow, she was always going to be in danger.
Her dismay must have shown on her face as they waited in the hotel lobby for Maggie Shane to arrive, because Ashton suddenly said, “Don’t worry, Sarah, the police will find Fletcher. He can’t hide forever and with your testimony, he’ll go away for a very long time.”
“They call him the Magician,” she said softly. “He makes witnesses disappear.”
“That’s not going to happen to you,” Ashton said in her no nonsense voice. “I spoke to the police while you were asleep. They think he’s in Michigan.”
Sarah snorted. “Last night, Kristen assured me he was in Ohio when in actuality, he was in the woods waiting for the police to leave. Until he’s actually behind bars, I think it’s safe to assume he’s still out there, waiting for the right moment to strike.”
“I hate to say it,” Ashton said, “it goes against everything I’ve been taught, but a part of me hopes he does go to Munster Mansion. If the police can’t stop him, maybe Jamie can.”
“I spoke to Jamie an hour ago,” Casey said. “No sign of Fletcher. He sounded like he was about ready to give up and meet us back in Lexington. He said he’d call and let us know before he left.”
A door opened behind the desk and a young woman wearing a navy blue blazer with the hotel’s emblem of a sun on the pocket, a white button down blouse and black skirt walked in. Her dark hair was pulled back into a severe bun at the back of her head and the black frames perched on the end of her nose gave her a rather unapproachable look. She didn’t smile as she took her place at the desk, only nodding a quick hello at her co-worker, who after a brief perfunctory greeting left the same way she came.
Sarah, plastering a big smile on her face, stood and approached the desk. Her gaze fell to the nametag on the woman’s blue blazer for a moment before moving up to Maggie’s hazel eyes.
To her surprise, Maggie’s face instantly relaxed into a friendly smile. “Hello,” she said softly and to Sarah’s ears almost shyly. “May I help you?”
“I certainly hope so. I …” Sarah paused not quite certain how to begin. She had rehearsed a couple of different openings while waiting for Maggie to arrive, but now that she was face to face with the woman, she wasn’t sure what to say.
Her throat started to close up with nerves as she debated whether to be subtle or direct. The last thing she wanted was to scare Maggie off or give her a reason to throw them out. No, she had to approach this situation with the utmost care.
Sarah cleared her throat. “It’s a pretty day out, isn’t it?” She winced as thunder, from the torrential downpour that had started last night, rumbled in the air.
Maggie’s brow furrowed. “Um, why yes. I just love the rain.”
“It is very calming,” Sarah muttered.
“Yes, very,” Maggie said. “I like to listen to it when I sleep.”
“Oh, me too,” Sarah gushed.
Maggie smiled.
Sarah smiled back.
After a moment, Maggie asked, “Would you like to check in?”
“No, I have a room.” Sarah bit her lip. “Um, I was just wondering.” She tilted her head to the side. “You know you look so familiar—”
Ashton stepped up to the desk. “Hello, my name is Ashton Love. I’m an attorney,” she said passing the young woman her card, “and I’m looking into the death of Robin O’Malley. I understand that she was a friend of yours.”
Sarah gratefully stepped to the side as her sister took over.
Maggie looked at Ashton in surprise. “Oh, yes. Robin. We were the best of friends when we were young.” A sad look crossed over her face. “I miss her.”
“I’m sure,” Ashton said with a nod. “I understand that she called you the night she died. Is that true?”
Maggie started to open her mouth to say something, but then snapped it shut as a wary look entered her eyes. She lowered her gaze to the desk. “Um, yes, she was looking for a room.” She nodded to herself as she shuffled some papers around. “Unfortunately, I didn’t even realize it was her that I had spoken to until the police came by asking questions a few weeks later.”
Ashton looked confused. “Oh? I had heard that you two were friends.”
“We were when we were kids, but we grew apart.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Ashton said. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened? Did you two have a falling out?”
“No,” Maggie said with a quick shake of her head, “no, it wasn’t anything like that. We were just interested in different things. To be honest, my parents didn’t want me to see her anymore, so they discouraged us spending any time with each other. We ended up developing other interests and sort of drifted apart, but there wasn’t any bad blood or anything between us.”
Ashton frowned. “It’s a shame your parents didn’t want you two to associate with one another. Why was that?”
Maggie lowered her voice
. “Because of Robin’s dad and the people he hung around with. I’m sure you’ve heard about him. He wasn’t a very nice man and my folks thought Robin might be a bad influence on me because of him. Robin was really a sweet girl though. She didn’t deserve to die.” That same sad look that crossed her face early came back. “I wish I could have helped her.”
“Well, you tried,” Ashton said.
Maggie froze. “Um, I don’t … know what you mean.”
“Well, when she called, you told her you had a room available, didn’t you? If she had lived, I’m sure you would have helped her check in.”
Maggie looked relieved. “Oh yes.”
“Can you tell me a little bit about the phone call?” Ashton asked.
“Sure.” Maggie tilted her head to the side as she thought for a moment. “Let’s see, she asked whether we had a single room to rent and whether we had a room facing the garden and I told her that she was in luck. We had one room left.”
Ashton looked surprised. “You only had one room left?”
“The Wildcats were playing that night. All the big hotels were booked solid. I had been getting calls all night from people looking for a room.”
“Really?” Ashton asked in surprise.
Maggie blew out her breath. “One after the other.”
“Huh, I’m surprised Robin didn’t ask you to hold the room.”
“I told her she should, but she said no that she was going to check around a few more places first. That was it.”
“You two didn’t catch up on old times or—”
“Like I said, I had no idea it was Robin I was speaking to that night. It was only when the police came asking questions that I realized who she was.”
The phone rang and Maggie excused herself.
Sarah and Ashton waited quietly by the desk as Maggie took a reservation. When she was done, she walked back to them, but then immediately turned around as the phone rang again.
Sarah drummed her fingers on the desk. “She knows more than what she’s saying,” she whispered.
Ashton shushed her as Maggie returned.
“I’m sorry about that,” Maggie said. “We have a quilting festival in town this weekend and things can get a bit busy this time of year. Well, is there anything else I can help you with?” she asked, clearly hoping they would say no.
Ashton paused for a moment as she looked around. She turned back to Maggie. “Do you always work the front desk at this time?”
“For the last month I have.”
“Oh,” Ashton said. “Do you remember taking a phone reservation five days ago right around this time, give or take an hour or two?”
Sarah glanced to her sister wondering what she was talking about.
Maggie’s eyes widened. “Valentine’s Day? Oh gracious, no, I’m sorry, I don’t.”
“You worked then, didn’t you?” Ashton asked.
“Oh, I took several calls that night. The phone was ringing off the hook.” Her hands hovered over the keyboard. “Did you make a reservation then? If you give me your name again, I could look it up if—”
Ashton shook her head. “I was just wondering.”
Maggie’s brow furrowed.
Sarah stepped back up to the desk. She flashed a confused look at her sister before turning to face Maggie. “Did Robin say anything else to you when she called? Anything at all?”
“No, she just asked about a room for rent. That was it.”
“Did you hear anything in the background when you were talking to her?” Sarah asked. “Could you tell if there was anybody with her?”
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear anyone but her.”
“What about her voice? How did she sound? Was she—?”
A distressed look crossed Maggie’s face. “Honestly, there’s nothing else to tell. It was just an average everyday phone call. The kind I’ve taken a thousand times in my career. There was nothing strange about it.”
Sarah looked away in disappointment. She had so hoped they would be able to learn something new. Something that would lead them to Robin’s killer, but Maggie hadn’t said anything different from what she had told the police the night they questioned her.
Ashton looked at Maggie in wonderment. “You have an excellent memory.”
The wary look returned to Maggie’s face. “Um yes. No different from anyone else’s, I guess.”
“No, you do. The police asked pretty much the same questions I just asked you and you gave me the exact same answers. You were even able to answer a few new ones with such certainty that my sister asked you.”
A haunted look came into Maggie’s eyes. “You don’t forget something like that.”
“No, you don’t, but you know memory’s a funny thing. The cops didn’t interview you until two weeks after she died and yet you remembered that one average, everyday phone call,” she said repeating Maggie’s own words, “that you’ve had thousands of times in your line of work with who you thought was a stranger in a surprising amount of detail. Yet, when I asked you whether you remembered a phone call you took only five days ago, you didn’t even try to remember.”
Maggie turned pale. “I—I guess it’s been a rough week,” she said with a helpless shrug.
“It’s about to get rougher.” Ashton’s eyes narrowed. “You said you were getting calls all night from people looking for rooms. How did you know which one of those calls was Robin’s if you didn’t recognize her voice?”
“The police told me she had called,” Maggie said in a soft voice. “They had her phone records.”
“All they knew was that someone had called the Howard Hotel from the pub at three in the morning. That’s it. They didn’t know who called or why. For all they knew the murderer had called, not Robin. They came to you almost two weeks later to see if you remembered taking a phone call at that time, and lucky for them, you not only knew which of the many phone calls you took that night came from the pub, but you could repeat back exactly what was said.”
Maggie suddenly blurted out, “It was only because I knew something was wrong. I could hear it in the girl’s voice. She sounded scared. That’s why I remembered it so clearly.”
“Huh. That’s new. You didn’t mention that to the police and you just told my sister just a few seconds ago that there wasn’t anything strange about the call.”
Tears sprang to Maggie’s eyes. “I mean, subconsciously, I knew something was wrong. Th-th-that’s why I was able to remember so well.”
“Then why didn’t you mention anything about the girl sounding scared to the police?”
Maggie’s mouth opened and then closed. “I … I forgot.”
Ashton’s eyebrows rose. “You forgot?”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Maggie said in a small frightened voice.
“Sure you do,” Ashton said. “You can start telling me the truth. You knew it was Robin on the other end of that phone call.”
Maggie shook her head as a tear slid down her face.
“Robin didn’t call looking for a room. She called because she knew you were working at the Howard. She knew that you were only a few blocks away. She knew that you could give her a ride home when your shift was over. That’s why she called. What happened when you went to pick her up? Did you two have an argument? Did—”
“No,” Maggie said quickly practically lunging over the desk. “No, she did want a room. She did.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t say.” She wiped away a tear. “I’m telling the truth. She did want a room that night.”
Ashton reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. “Do you remember the detective in charge of the case?”
“Yes,” Maggie said hesitantly.
“Do you know it’s a crime to lie to the police during a murder investigation?” Ashton said pressing a number into her phone.
Maggie reached out and cupped her hands around Ashton’s phone. “Please don’t. I don’t want—” She looked helplessly at
Sarah, clearly looking for an ally.
Sarah looked back at her in sympathy.
“Don’t want what?” Ashton asked. “You don’t want to go to jail? You don’t want the real killer caught?”
Maggie jerked back in surprise. “Real killer? What are you talking about? They caught Robin’s murderer. His name was James Murphy.”
“How do you know that?” Sarah asked.
“Because I…” Maggie pursed her lips together for a moment. “Because that’s what the paper said. They said he pled guilty. They found him next to her body.”
“Someone knocked Jamie out when he entered the room,” Sarah said.
Uncertainty flickered through Maggie’s eyes. “That was just an excuse. He was there.”
“Did you see him there?” Ashton asked.
Maggie slowly nodded.
“What happened that night, Maggie?” Sarah asked.
When Maggie didn’t answer right away, Ashton turned back to her phone.
“Please,” Maggie said, “I don’t want to get involved.”
“It’s too late for that,” Ashton pointed out.
Maggie started to say something but was interrupted by the hotel’s phone.
Sarah mouthed a grateful, “Thank you,” to her sister as Maggie walked away.
“Well, what do you know?” Ashton whispered in amusement. “It seems you were right. Maggie does know something.”
“How are we going to get it out of her?”
“Don’t worry, she’s about to crack,” Ashton whispered as Maggie hung up the phone.
“Why don’t you want to get involved, Maggie?” Ashton asked when the young woman returned.
“I know enough about the O’Malleys to know it doesn’t pay to be too observant sometimes.” Maggie closed her eyes. “If I tell you what I saw, do you promise not to tell anyone I was there?”
“We already know you were there,” Ashton said. “Promises don’t—”
Sarah laid a hand on her sister’s arm cutting her off. “Yes, we promise. You have my word if you tell us the truth none of us will say anything.”
“Even you?” Maggie asked looking at Ashton.
Ashton sighed as she put her phone back in her purse. “So, what happened when you got to the pub that night?”
