Designer Detective (A Fiona Marlowe Mystery)

by Thelen, Marjorie

  “I’d hate to see you go to jail. But something doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “Yes?”

  “How did you set the fire?”

  “Accomplices,” he said in a mere whisper.

  “And they will go un-named.”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you going to tell me who’s black mailing you and why?”

  He cleared his throat. “Jake wants to talk to you.”

  “Hudson, wait . . . . .”

  “Fiona,” Jake said, “are you going to help us? What can I promise you?”

  “You don’t seem to understand that I am trying to separate myself from the Wild West show.”

  “Opal said she’d give you a nice little place she has on the ranch and a few acres, if you’ll help us out.”

  That was a clever bribe. I didn’t answer and Jake said, “She also needs her house redecorated. She’d like to engage your services.”

  “Really?” I said. This sounded lucrative. I’d never been bribed before, but I could see its advantages. I’d always nursed a hankering for a place out west. I wondered what Opal’s spread looked like. I pictured herds of cattle, cowboys on horseback looking like the Marlboro Man, big skies, rattlesnakes.

  “She says you have free reign, no budgetary limits. What do you say? A nice decorating job, a little place out west, get away from the big city.”

  The lure was too good to pass up. “What’s my guarantee that you’ll make good on these bribes.”

  “Bribes? Fiona, these are incentives.”

  “What’s to keep you from backing out after I show up and perjure myself?”

  Jake didn’t answer at first. I pressed the phone closer to my ear. “Jake?”

  “How about my word?”

  “How about a signed contract for redesigning Opal’s house and a deed to her little place. Photos would be nice, too, just to make sure I like it. Let me talk to Opal.”

  “Right, here she is.”

  “Fiona, it’s true. I want you to have this nice bunkhouse that’s sitting empty on my place. It’s got a pretty view of the mountains and a tree. It doesn’t sit too close to my house and is on a little knoll so you won’t have to worry about spring flooding. You’ll like it. I’ve been meaning to find just the right person to live there. I’ll write out a contract and a letter deeding the place to you.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  Chapter 14

  The drive around the Capitol Beltway gave me time to have second thoughts. It was late. I was tired. By the time I arrived at the Marriott Tysons Corner in Virginia where the Wild West show was staying, I had decided my return was a bad idea. As I drove by the front entrance in that humongous truck, looking for a parking space, I spotted Alice under the portico. I did a double take. She was in profile, standing alone by the door. But it was her. I needed to talk to that woman.

  I found a place to park which, unfortunately, was at the end of a long row of fancy cars, the only place big enough for the monster truck. Even though it was dark, I put on my sunglasses, shouldered my bag, and, carefully, made my way toward where I saw Alice standing. She was gone. I hurried inside, gyrating in all directions but at the same time trying to be cool behind the Hollywood glasses. I almost collided with Jake who came into the lobby from the bar.

  “Fiona, you are a princess.” He pulled me into his arms and hugged me till I cried time out.

  “Wait,” I said, “I’ve changed my mind. I can’t do this. I could end up in jail.”

  “We all could. But let’s not worry about that now. The important thing is that you are here.” He released his grip and his hands drifted down my arms. “You want to share my room? It has a king bed,” he said, with a twitch of his lips. “We wouldn’t have to get close. We could just be friends.”

  I laughed. “Is this part of the incentive package?”

  “Part of my incentive package.”

  I studied him and saw hope in those big browns. I hated to turn him down but I had my standards. Trouble was they were slipping. But I had to be strong.

  “Thanks, but I snore, and I always sleep alone.”

  “Too bad.” He still held my arms, seeming reluctant to turn me loose. “You’re going through with the alibi, aren’t you? We’re counting on you.”

  “I have to think it over. We need to talk about how this is going to play out and when I have to perjure myself and what the consequences are. Our stories all have to be straight.”

  “Right. No problem. Opal, Hudson and I have already thought it through. You tell the police that all of us including Hudson were at your place for a little party and that we all had a little too much to drink so we all stayed over. Very simple.”

  “Sounds more like an orgy than a party.”

  He shrugged. “Whatever. I know how much you like Hudson. You’d be saving his ass.”

  “Put it that way, I have to do it.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  “By the way, you didn’t see Alice around here, did you?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re back on Alice. You have Alice on the brain. Why would she be here?”

  “That’s what I want to know. I saw her when I pulled in. She was standing out front, alone. I went right by her. By the time I parked and came in, she was gone. I thought maybe you saw her in the bar.”

  Jake looked around. “I was the only person I knew in there. But let’s look again. I’ll buy you a drink. You could probably use one.”

  The No Name Lounge, as it was oddly called, featured the elegant carved wood look. We settled at a high top table for two.

  “This is a stake out,” I said, pulling my sunglasses down to look around.

  “Fiona, take off the shades. You’re overdoing it.” Jake said, signaling for the waiter.

  “Sure.” I slipped them into my purse. “We don’t want to draw attention.”

  “Red wine for the lady,” he said, “and a Sam Adam’s on tap.”

  I smiled at the waiter who looked no more than ten years old. I contemplated carding him.

  “Excuse me,” I said. “You didn’t happen to notice a striking woman in here who looks a lot like Elizabeth Taylor.”

  “Elizabeth who?”

  “No, you’re too young. You wouldn’t remember. She has black hair, wears lots of makeup, dresses nice.”

  He crinkled his wrinkleless brow. “We have a lot of ladies come in here look like that. I’ll get your drinks.”

  He scurried off, probably to report us to the police.

  “So much for our stake out,” I said and scanned the room which for the lateness of the hour was pretty crowded. The younger set was in predominance, and they were the usual loud bunch. The waiter was half right. Every girl in the room seemed to have black hair and wore layers of makeup in a rainbow of color. I couldn’t say a lot for their skimpy dresses, because there wasn’t much to them.

  “Will you tell me why you are so fixated on Alice?” Jake asked as we waited for our drinks to arrive.

  “Jake, don’t you get it? Alice is the key. The man in the fedora who we fled from in the garage was last seen in the company of Alice. She was the woman at the door when Cody answered. Cody said so himself. Cody reminded me several times that the man wanted me disappeared, as he put it. Alice is connected to that man. I want to know how. I want to know what she is doing here, the same place you, me, Opal, and Hudson are tonight.”

  “You better stay in the room with me. I can protect you then. Besides I doubt they have any more rooms. There’s a big dentist convention in town, and people with perfect smiles are here from all over.”

  I considered his suggestion, believe it or not, more seriously this time. “You think she might try to abduct me if I stayed in a room by myself.” I’d heard this line before.

  Our drinks arrived, and the child hurried off before I could quiz him again. Smart boy.

  “You bet. She may try. Or one of those guys will try. I think you need my protection for the night.”

&n
bsp; I sipped my wine and knew that if I had too many of these, my morals would slip again. I frowned. My thinking ran wild.

  “You’re just saying that because you want me in the sack.”

  He shook his head. “I’m serious. If you think Alice is a threat because she’s connected to Cody’s business associates, we better take precautions.”

  “Good. I’m glad you’re finally coming around to my way of thinking. I propose we ask if there is a woman named Alice registered here and search the hotel.”

  “We don’t know her last name.”

  “Yes, we do. Her last name is Wonderland. She’s Alice Wonderland. Don’t her parents have a great sense of humor?”

  “More like strange sense of humor. Okay, we can give it a try.”

  “Bottoms up. We’ll do some sleuthing. Are Opal, Hudson, and the boys tucked in for the night?”

  “Opal went to bed,” Jake said. “Hudson and the boys went out carousing.”

  “Hudson carousing? That seems out of character for him.”

  “He’ll be fine. He’s in good hands. They promised to have him back by the stroke of midnight.”

  “It’s way past midnight.”

  “Then I’m sure they’re back.”

  “Is Opal’s room beside yours?”

  “No, we’re all over the place. The boys and Hudson are in one room.”

  “Maybe we should all stay in one room for the night. I worry about Opal.”

  Jake didn’t look like he was too pleased with that picture. “Let’s see if we can scare up the mythical Alice,” he said.

  * * * * *

  We checked out the exercise room, sauna and steam room and scared two nude guys wrapped around each other in a serpentine embrace, checked out the restaurant but it was closed, went to the bar again, but no Alice.

  “Do you have a woman registered by the name of Alice Wonderland?” I asked the attendant at the front desk, who maintained a plastic smile on his youthful face.

  “Alice Wonderland,” he said as he read the computer screen. “No, I’m sorry we don’t.”

  “How about just Alice?”

  He widened the smile. “I’m sorry but I can’t search on just a first name, we file by last name.”

  “Too bad,” I said.

  Jake and I stepped aside to consider our options.

  “Of course,” I said, “if she were staying, she may not be registered in her real name. Maybe Alice Wonderland isn’t her real name. She may have a hundred aliases.”

  Jake yawned. “How about we get some rest and resume our search in the morning?” He checked his watch. “I guess that will be in just a few more hours.”

  I looked at him. “You’re right. I’m dog-tired myself. This has been too exciting a day.”

  “We’ll go to my room and do nothing but sleep. I can look after you better that way.”

  “I think we should check on Opal. We should probably camp out in her room for the duration of this night.”

  “She’s been in bed for hours.”

  “I know, but I’d feel better if we checked to make sure she’s okay.”

  Jake led me by the hand to the elevator.

  “Has anyone seen Cody?” I asked as the elevator zipped up to Opal’s floor.

  “Not a sign. Vanished.”

  We got lost in the endless morass of look-a-like hotel doors and corridors, had to backtrack several times, but finally found the right room number. Jake knocked softly at the door, and we waited.

  “Better rap louder. She might be in a deep sleep,” I said.

  Jake rapped, then pounded, but still no answer.

  “Do you have her room key?”

  Jake shook his head. “I brought her to the room, and she said she’d be fine. I never thought to ask for an extra key for her.”

  “How are you at breaking into a room?”

  “Through these doors? They make them practically burglar proof now.”

  “I heard you can open them with a credit card.” I rummaged in my purse and pulled out one. “Let’s see if we can get it open.”

  “Wait, what if we have the wrong room.”

  “You mean you aren’t sure this is the right one?”

  “Maybe we should check with the front desk to make sure. Remember this room number.”

  “501,” I said, writing it down on my hand for safekeeping.

  Down we went to the front desk.

  A new receptionist was on, a young woman with piercings and maroon hair. She matched the décor. Her smile revealed two steel tipped teeth. Our standard of beauty these days escaped me.

  “We’re looking for our friend, Opal Crawford, who should be in room 501. Could you confirm that number for us? We’ve come to pick her up.”

  “Certainly. One minute.” She ran Opal’s name through the computer. “Yes, that is correct, she is in room 501. You can call her on the house phone.”

  Jake followed me to the house phone set in a lighted alcove, and I dialed the number. No answer. The phone rang and rang. I shook my head at Jake and hung up.

  “She isn’t answering. I’m worried.”

  Jake chewed his cheek. “I know I put her in that room. I carried in her bag myself.”

  I tried the number again. No luck.

  “I vote for breaking in,” I said. “She may be having a stroke or something. She is in her eighties, you know, and this has been a stressful week for her.”

  “Let’s try the credit card thing.”

  Back we went and I pulled out the card again. “I’ll take the first pass.”

  “Let’s knock again.” Jake pounded away.

  No answer.

  “Have you ever done this before?” Jake asked.

  “Of course not. I’ve never associated with people like you and your friends before.”

  I knelt before the door and slipped the card between the frame and the door latch. We worked every position, being as quiet as possible, afraid we’d wake someone up.

  “What if someone kidnapped her,” I said, voicing my worst fears.

  “How would they get in, if we can’t? Let’s go to my room and re-group. I’ll call the boys. Maybe they have Opal with them for some reason. We can’t keep banging and trying to break in without someone calling security.”

  In the quiet of his room, he dialed one of the boys cell phone number.

  “Hey, give me a call. We want to know if Opal is with you.” He closed the connection. “He’s not picking up. It went to his answering machine. “I’ll try the other guy.” He listened. “Call me.” He closed the connection again and shook his head.

  “No luck. And Hudson has no phone.”

  He dialed their room. “No answer. I’m going to their room and see if I can rouse them. They rented a car. I can check the parking lot to see if the car is back but who knows where they may have parked. You wait here.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “No, if Opal or any of the guys show up, someone has to be here. Fiona, promise me you’ll stay here. This is getting weird, and now you have me worried.”

  “All right. But call me with reports, will you?”

  I stretched out on the bed, thinking to rest my tired eyes for a minute. I dozed off and snapped awake to a tap at the door. I struggled up, disoriented from the new venue and lack of sleep. Jake had the key, so why would he be tapping? Maybe it was Opal or Hudson or the boys. I checked the burglar hole but saw no one. I cracked the door.

  A small woman in black with huge dark glasses, red lips and violet headscarf stood in the hall.

  “Hello, Fiona, may I come in?”

  “Who are you?” I said through the crack in the door.

  She removed the glasses and pulled off the scarf.

  “I’m Alice. I understand that you are looking for me.”

  “Holy Smokes. How did you know?”

  “Are you going to keep me standing in the hall?”

  “Can we meet in the restaurant in about fifteen minutes?”


  “We could but it’s closed and I have only a few minutes. If you don’t want to see me, I’ll be on my way.”

  “No, wait, come in. Yes, I want to talk to you.”

  She pushed past me and walked to the room phone. “I’m calling room service. I could use a latte. You want anything?”

  “Sure,” I said, wanting to be agreeable. “Same for me. Won’t you have a seat?”

  After ordering, Alice sat at the little table for two and indicated I should do the same. I eased into the seat and sat on the edge. I had trouble thinking of what to say now that the real Alice sat across from me. She checked her appearance in a hand mirror she pulled from an expensive leather purse and pushed her hair around a little.

  She looked at me. “Well?”

  I launched in. “How do you know I was looking for you?”

  “A little bird.”

  “And here you are.”

  She smiled. She really did look like Liz Taylor in her younger days. Alice may have been about forty, no wrinkles, dark violet eyes, black hair with not a hint of red in it. Expensive short haircut. Perfect teeth. Perfectly applied make up, lots of it.

  She checked her watch. “I don’t have much time. I wanted to meet you, too.”

  That was intriguing. “What do you want with me?”

  She smiled again. “I don’t know how much you’ve figured out about Albert Lodge’s demise.”

  “I have more questions than I have answers.”

  “Yes. I assume you wanted to find me because my name came up on the radar.”

  I nodded.

  “Whatever it is you know about me, it doesn’t matter. I’ve found out a lot about you since you appeared on my radar screen. Frankly, I don’t know what to do with you outside of warning you to back out of your meddling and take a flight to Sydney tonight.”

  “I’ve been trying to extricate myself from this family mess, but I keep getting sucked back in.”

  “I’m here to take you out permanently. We don’t intend to kill you, though that is an option. Don’t look alarmed. I mean to take you out of this operation. We don’t need you mucking it up. And you are mucking it up.”

  “Can I inquire as to the nature of the operation?”