by Duffy Brown
Zo gazed toward the ceiling and made the sign of the cross, only she did it backward like someone who didn’t do it all that often, probably never, and this time was just for effect.
“Fiona robbed me of my favorite piece of jewelry and my beloved Peepy and my luck,” Zo sobbed, a tear trickling down her cheek. “She even stabbed a knife into the pillow on my bed to prove just how much she hates me. She’s a full-fledged lunatic. First she got Peep out of her life, and now she’s going after me. I think she wanted Peep for herself, that has to be it. When he, like, chose me instead, she left L.A., and now that we’re here she’s jealous that we were, like, so happy. Oh, the shame of it all.”
“You’re the lunatic,” Walt growled.
“I’m not the one accused of murder and stabbing pillows,” Zo blubbered.
“We should take this into my office,” Penelope interjected, looking pale and nervous. “This isn’t the sort of thing to be talked about in public at the hotel.” She hooked her arm through Zo’s and faked a sweet smile. “We’ll give you some privacy so you can collect yourself and sort this all out and—”
“Like, I don’t want privacy.” Zo yanked her arm away and jabbed Sutter in the chest with her index finger. “I want justice, like, right now for my Peepy, and I want my luck back. I want everyone to know Fiona for the kind of person she is. You’re the law around here; like, arrest her.”
“We don’t know who’s responsible for what,” Sutter insisted in his flat cop voice, his face unreadable except for a little vein throbbing at his temple. “But we will look into the matter, and you need to go down to the police station and give us a formal statement about the theft. Maybe you just misplaced it.”
Zo’s face turned the color of the geraniums in the carpet. “Like, you’re going to wait till that woman puts a knife in me before you do anything about all this?”
“One can only hope,” Penelope muttered under her breath.
“Like, I heard that,” Zo huffed. “You’re probably in cahoots with Fiona. You didn’t like Peep any better than she did, I could tell. You put us in a crappy room.”
Penelope smacked her palm against her forehead. “There are no crappy rooms at the Grand Hotel. You got the room you paid for; if you wanted a better room you had to pay more money. I personally gave him that option when he checked in, so quit your whining.”
Sutter held up his hands as Molly made her way through the crowd. “Miss Zo, you go with my sergeant here to the police station and give a statement.”
“And you’ll find Fiona,” Zo insisted as Molly led her out of the lobby with Zo still calling over her shoulder. “She took my bracelet and she took my Peep. She should pay for her sins.”
The crowd paused for a beat, then burst into wild applause. “That was the best performance yet,” Gabi insisted as bravo, bravo erupted from the rest of the onlookers. “I think Zo should get the award for best actor. She’s fantastic.”
“Our own little Penelope here should get an award too,” one of the Body Baggers chimed in, patting Penelope on the back.
“Or you, Mr. Dreamboat,” a brunette gushed. She gazed up at Sutter and batted her eyes, both hands perched on his chest. “You’re as good as that Hugh Jackman guy any day of the week.”
“Are you kidding, he’s so much more handsome than that,” a blonde panted. “I think we should put up a poster here in the lobby and let people vote on who they think is the best actor and supporting actor and”—she looked to Sutter and sighed—“the most handsome.”
“I’m ordering the trophies tonight,” Gabi added. She turned to Penelope. “We need to have a banquet for the presentation at the end of the week. We can have it as part of the dinner hour right here in the hotel with an open bar and a red carpet right down the middle of the dining room. We all want the red carpet; it makes it official looking.”
The blonde glanced at me and snickered. “You sure won’t be walking on any red carpet or winning any awards; you’re always a mess. Just look at you now. I think you look this way ’cause you want people to feel sorry for you. Well, honey, it’s not working. Get a life and take some acting lessons, and you really need to clean yourself up.”
“And with a little luck maybe you’ll be the next one on the slab over at the morgue,” I offered with a fake smile, every bone in my body hurting. “That would get the award for best live-action scene for sure.”
Sutter hauled me toward the hall behind the reception desk with an Employees Only door on one side and farther down the hall Annex 1 and Annex 2. “You’re not helping to calm things down here.”
“Hey, that woman started it, and will you slow down?” I whined. “This isn’t exactly my best day ever.”
“Maybe you should just hide under your bed and do us all a favor.” Sutter entered the Employees Only room as Madonna was coming out. She waved a stack of papers at Sutter. “All this legal stuff about Peep has to be faxed to L.A. I need a death certificate; I need the doctor to sign off on the body. When can I take Peep’s sorry cheating butt home and get out of here?”
Sutter hunched his shoulders. “When we catch the killer.”
“Fiona is the killer.” Madonna slammed the door shut behind her, and Sutter tramped across the room. Guess that flat cop voice and bland look was more of a front than I thought. “How’d I ever let you talk me into this murder weekend idea?”
“At the time it beat yelling killer on the loose, barricade the doors.”
“And it’s good for business,” Sutter ground out.
“There is that.” I sat at a desk cluttered with printers, fax machines and telephones. Office supplies lined the far wall; a small table with breakfast goodies sat off to the side next to the utility box and a stack of bottled waters. A well-hydrated staff is a happy staff. “I just hired Cal and all the shops are making money. Think of it this way, you’re our hero.”
“I’d rather just be the police chief, and what the heck happened to you? You look like you fell in a blender.”
Lying to Sutter was always a little tricky, but if I told Sutter the truth, that someone had tried to run me down, he’d either toss me in jail again and this time not let me out or stick to me like white on rice. With the possibility of needing to hide Fiona in the attic, I didn’t need Sutter hovering.
“An accident.” When you’re lying, a partial truth works best. Another little something I learned from siblings Trevor and Lindsey and one of the reasons why they were really good attorneys. “Bikes and I aren’t a great mix.”
“You should put that on a T-shirt.” Sutter pulled tissues from a box on the desk and handed them to me. “I’m guessing the reason you showed up here is that Cal mentioned the bracelet being stolen.”
“He said you were up here and I knew you’d think Fiona took the bracelet, and that’s crazy. Why would she do such a thing? It makes her look guiltier. She’s too smart for that.” Oh, I so hoped I was right.
“Or after knocking off Peep, Fiona figured stealing a bracelet is no big deal.”
“What about Walt and Geraldine?” I swiped at my knees to clean out the scrapes and bit back a string of ouches so as not to look like a wuss in front of Sutter. “Those two are out there in the lobby right now and would steal the bracelet they gave Fiona in a heartbeat. And they hated Peep.”
“But they love Fiona. Love trumps revenge. They wouldn’t do anything to get her accused of murder or robbery.”
“Idle Summers sure would. Maybe she’s setting up Fiona. It gets her off the hook. Or maybe Peep and the bracelet gone aren’t related, what about that, huh? Madonna could take the bracelet to drive Zo bonkers, and then there’s the maid. If I had to clean Zo’s room I’d knife her pillow too, and something’s going on with that Luka guy. I don’t think he’s just an engineer.”
Sutter wandered over to the breakfast table, no doubt to take the chocolate bagel I had my eye on. Instead
he stared out the window and started folding the paper napkins into neat triangles and arranging them into a circle. “Neither do I.”
Agreement? Well, dang, that got my attention, and so did the napkin thing. “What does Molly say?”
“Molly’s taking Italian classes, and I can’t understand a word she says half the time; she’s waltzing around the office singing ‘That’s Amoré’ and answers the phones with ciao baby. When she signs her name the end of the y forms a little heart.”
Sutter lined up all the coffee mugs, then turned the handles in the same direction. He started for the door. “I got to get back.”
“To set out the dinner plates and ring for the butler?” I nodded at the napkins and mugs. “Are you moonlighting as a waiter or something?”
A blush inched up his neck. Sutter never blushed. Sutter growled and swore and grumbled. “I really have to go. When I left Molly she was on her third double espresso and reorganizing the office. By noon I won’t be able to find a blasted thing, and you need to stop off at the medical center and get cleaned up, you’re still bleeding.”
“Ah, you’re worried about me?”
“Heck no, you’re upsetting the fudgies and that makes you bad for business.”
I hurled a poppy seed bagel at Sutter’s big thick head. He snagged it right out of the air, laughed, took a bite, opened the door and left. I started to follow, but there was a chocolate bagel that needed eating, or so my stomach insisted. My hips totally disagreed, and my head had no idea who to listen to as Penelope’s voice drifted in through the partially open door.
“Okay,” she whispered. “That Peep’s history, but I still can’t find that dang phone and I’ve been through her room twice.”
I grabbed the bagel and crept closer to the door as Penelope continued with, “What if L.A. girl out there has the phone and starts blackmailing us? It’ll wipe out all that we’ve worked for.” There was a reply I couldn’t make out, and then Penelope added, “We’re shorthanded tonight and I don’t get off till after the last show up at the Cupola Bar. Without the big bosses hovering around, it’s better for us. We’ll talk then.”
The door opened more and I darted under the desk as Penelope walked in. Well, dang. Peep really did have something on Penelope? How’d that happen, and what could it be? The guy was one fast operator; he was only here a few hours before he croaked. Maybe Penelope orchestrated the croaking, and who the heck was she talking to in the hall?
Penelope walked around the room, her footfalls heading for the breakfast table. With a little luck she’d get her coffee and leave. Her cute black shoes with little tan bows passed in front of the desk, heading for the door. They looked expensive; in fact, I think Mother had a pair. If I were on my feet as much as Penelope, I’d get good, expensive shoes too. I heard the doorknob turn and held my breath. I was almost home free till the phone rang on the desktop right above my head and Penelope’s footsteps hurried back my way.
Okay, don’t panic, I reassured myself as she picked up the phone. If Penelope didn’t sit down at the desk, I was okay. She’d never know I was here, and I could find out what she was up to and what Peep had on her. And was it enough to do the old boy in. Penelope gave information on reservations and location and spieled off a list of things to do on the island, and for crying out loud, couldn’t whoever was on the other end of the phone just Google Mackinac Island?
Penelope hung up, started for the door, came back and sat in the desk chair, our knees touching. She bent down, eyes huge, her gaze fusing with mine.
“Hi.” I held up the chocolate bagel. “I dropped it and it rolled under the desk. Slippery little devil.”
Penelope backed up the chair and I crawled out. My poor knees would never be the same. “So,” I said, all smiles and happiness as I stood and dusted myself off, though, considering my ripped blouse and muddy jeans, it was an exercise in futility. “You think it’s going to rain today? I see some clouds out there on the horizon.”
Penelope cut her eyes to the door, then back to me, her lips forming a sour pout. “Where I come from it’s not healthy to stick your nose where you shouldn’t. Sometimes it can get shot right off.”
“It’s all the bagel’s fault. Next time I’ll try toast; toast doesn’t roll.” Hobbling, I took the steps down to the congested back parking area, where I’d left Nancy Drew. Banged up like we both were, I didn’t think the front door entrance was appropriate. The morning sun had managed to burn off most of the fog, but pockets still swirled around the delivery drays and bike racks for the employees. I started for Nancy and spotted Zo and Idle behind a discarded refrigerator. From the looks on their faces they weren’t about to hold hands and skip off to have breakfast together.
Stooping down, I crept behind a red-and-green dray. Peep had something on Idle and Idle hated Peep, I got that, but how did Zo fit in with Idle? I clam-crawled under a gray dray and worked my way over to Trayser’s Trading Post’s carriage, which was probably dropping off a purchase to one of the guests.
“I got your note and I’m here,” Zo hissed. “What do you want?”
“You have that phone,” Idle said in a low voice. “I know you do, and you’re going to blackmail us all just like Peep did. You were his secretary; you know the business. You’re not as stupid as you’d like to have people believe you are.”
“Now that you got right, I’m not stupid.”
“Well, I’m done paying. I’m through.”
“We’ll see about that.”
The trading post carriage started to move and I jumped back as it took off, leaving me right out there in the open air face to face with Idle and Zo. “Lost my contact lens. It rolled over here. Sure hope that buggy didn’t flatten it like a pancake.” I hunkered down on the ground and started patting the ground. “Where could it be?”
“One of these days,” Idle said, coming over to me, “you’re going to hear something you’d be better off not knowing and it’s going to bite you right in the butt.”
Zo headed for the front of the hotel and Idle folded her arms, her eyes narrow slits as she watched me. “I guess it’s gone.”
I stood, unwedged Nancy from the bike rack and started for town. Idle was right in that Zo probably did know what was on Peep’s phone and she wasn’t nearly the airhead she pretended to be.
It took a lot to shove Nancy along. Her front tire was flat, handlebars bent, basket squashed and she needed a new paint job. I wasn’t the only one who got wrecked today, and Nancy was one of my favorites. I read her books when I was a kid and used to get so involved in the mystery I did the flashlight-under-the-blanket trick. Nancy was my hero. She was smarter than the guys, braver than the guys and she had a really neat car.
After the fifth person stopped me to ask if I was okay, I turned down Market and made for the medical center. For sure I was getting too close to the truth or this bike thing wouldn’t have happened. But what was the truth? I didn’t even feel close to having an answer, but someone thought I did. I needed to get patched up and it would also give me a chance to chat with Sparkle. She was the nurse/receptionist and dating Fiona’s brother when he wasn’t away at a blacksmith convention.
The Stang and the Village Inn were hubs of gossip for sure, but it was the same crowd. On the other hand, everyone went to the medical center and Sparkle knew all. Most of the time she kept to that patient confidentiality thing, but after a handful of Oreos the girl was known to let a few things slip. Maybe she knew why Fiona and Idle were such good friends, and maybe she knew what Penelope was up to.
I had no idea what Sparkle’s real name was, but she wore sequins on her jeans and beads on her smock, and on holidays she had tiaras to liven the place up. I loved the Valentine one with the springy red hearts and dancing cupids.
“Hey,” I said to Sparkle as I came in the door. “How’s it going?”
She helped Mrs. Witherspoon into a side room and
called over her shoulder, “Take a number, take a magazine and if you can take two aspirin and call me in the morning that would be great.”
“It’s morning now.”
Sparkle stopped in the doorway and looked at me, her eyes bloodshot, her clothes wrinkled. “Really? What happened tonight?”
“I ask myself that every time the alarm goes off. Are you okay?”
“You’re not. What happened? Never mind, I know it’s a bike thing, with you it’s always a bike thing and I swear if Doc doesn’t get back soon I’m going to row across that lake out there and drag his bony behind back here myself.”
“Where is he?”
“He won’t tell me.” Sparkle shrugged and gave me a lopsided grin. “Smart man. He hasn’t had a vacation in years, so he’s got one coming. I did rent-a-nurse, but she keeps sneaking out for lilac lectures and flirting with one of the dray drivers. You should make us tea.”
“Tea?”
“Yeah, trust me, you really want tea.”
“Sure, I’ll make tea.” I headed to the small kitchen area, where Fiona sat at the round wood table munching Oreos. She had on clean clothes that were a little big and the blouse had rhinestones around the collar and down the front. She looked tired, the kind of tired that came from worry with no answers. “Fancy meeting you here.”
Fiona held up an Oreo in salute. “One of the advantages of Sparkle dating my brother, and lucky for me she feeds felons.”
Fiona gave me a second look. “And lucky for you she has an endless supply of Band-Aids and Neosporin. You got to put training wheels on one of those bikes, girlfriend; the summer’s just starting and you’re not going to make it to August at this rate. So, what did you find out about my turtle bracelet being stolen? Mrs. Witherspoon told Sparkle all about it when she came in for her vitamin B shot, and I’m guessing you weren’t riding around in the fog this morning just for kicks. You were up at the Grand. What’s going on?”
I got a mug that had Classy, Sassy, Mackinac Smarty-assy scripted in red from the shelf over the sink. I added water and Earl Grey and hit the two on the nuker. “I have no idea where the bracelet is,” I said while watching Smarty-assy rotate on the glass tray. “Did you know Sutter’s into folding napkins?”
