Buried Roots

by Cynthia Raleigh

  “Junk?” Perri asked.

  “Yes,” Archer responded. Seeing Perri’s expression, he explained, “The stuff Felix Tyndall was selling online was low-end repro. And most of it was small stuff: leather pouches, pocket-style knives, buttons, ornamentation. He had a few replica weapons he dealt in, but not many. But this, this is an oddity.”

  “Tom says you are going to go through the remaining inventory. What are you looking for?” Nina asked.

  Archer thought before he answered. “First, we want to see if there are more authentic relics mixed in with the reproductions.”

  Tom asked Archer, “What about this?” Tom pointed to the knife. “Will you get back with me to let me know what you find out? Nina bought this for me as a gift and I understand we may not be able to keep it, but if not, then I’d like to know about settling on the cost of the item if possible. I don’t want to be crass in light of the death of Mr. Calder, but, well, I’d like to be reimbursed if possible.”

  “Oh definitely, I will.” Archer moved the knife and scabbard to the credenza behind his desk. He turned back and asked Tom, “Are you going back to camp tonight?”

  “As soon as I leave here. I’ll have Nina drop me off.”

  “Ok good. Keep your eyes and ears open. Let me know what you hear.”

  “Are you expecting something to happen?”

  “No, I just want to know if there is any talk that might point us in the right direction on this case.” There was an awkward pause. “That’s all I can say right now.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll let you know if I hear anything. Can we expect to see you there tomorrow?”

  Archer put his hands in his pockets and nodded, “Yes, I’ll get some sleep and head out there as soon as I can.”

  “Ok, see you then.”

  The three left Archer’s office. He escorted them to the door, waved, and walked back down the hallway.

  Once everyone was buckled into the Explorer, Nina asked, “So you want to go back to the event site now?”

  Tom replied, “Yes, I would like to spend the night there. That ok?”

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll drop you off and drive us back to the hotel. Perri and I will probably go into Richmond tomorrow for a while.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Chapter 11

  “I’m toast.” Nina sighed as she maneuvered into an end parking spot at the hotel. The arc of the extended curb stuck out far enough that she had to pull forward and back a couple of times to get the long SUV into the space. After shifting into Park, her shoulders slumped, hands loose at her sides, “I want a hot shower and bed.”

  “Me too. I’m not sure I can haul my carcass up to the room.” Perri stepped onto the sidewalk and headed for the side door where she could use her key card to enter the hotel without going around to the front. She swiped it and the door clicked, a small green LED light flashed above the door handle. Perri pulled the door open and was greeted by a blast of air. It smelled like chlorine and disinfectant. The pool was located in a glassed-in area behind another door immediately to the right as they entered the hallway. There were five people in the pool, it looked like a family, two adults and three children, playing a game with a ball. Their shouts rose to the glass panels overhead and reverberated back down, sounding hollow and far away.

  The elevator was at the end of the hallway and around another corner. Perri stared at the parti-colored carpet as they walked. “You know, I’m glad I don’t have a seizure disorder, because this carpet would be an amazing trigger. Where do they get this, and why is it made?”

  “I have no idea. Casinos use the same carpet, I think.” Nina reached the elevator first and pushed the button. “It probably was created after a marketing company researched what color combinations and designs were the most eye-catching, not necessarily pleasing, but attention-getting. What place it has in a hotel, I have no clue because we’re already staying here.” There was a mechanical room next to the elevator; clangs and thunks emanated from within. It sounded like plumbing. “I’m glad we aren’t on this hallway if that goes on all night.”

  They rode the elevator to the third floor in silence, both exhausted. The door slid open to another confetti-style carpet in a different colorway than that of the first-floor hallway. As they approached their room, Perri touched Nina on the arm and stopped. Nina had continued walking a few steps but she stopped and turned back, “What?”

  “Our door isn’t closed all the way.”

  Nina’s head whipped back around, “You’re right, it’s open just a bit.”

  “I know Tom closed it securely, because he rattled the handle.”

  Nina added, “And he pushed on the door to make sure it was closed. He always does in hotels.”

  They stood and watched the door for a couple of minutes. Perri whispered, “I don’t think there’s anyone in there. I think they’re gone, whoever it was.”

  Nina gave Perri an unconvinced look. “I don’t know. I think we should go to the lobby and report it. Hey, wait, what are you doing?”

  Perri was inching toward the door, listening, wagging her hand behind her at Nina to be quiet. Nina stomped her foot to get Perri’s attention. “Hang on,” Perri mouthed.

  “If you think no one is there, why are you being so quiet?” Nina demanded.

  “So I can listen!”

  “Stop hissing.”

  “I’m not hissing. Oh, good grief.” Perri stopped mincing down the hallway, walked over and shoved open the door, stepping back quickly. Nothing happened. Perri peered around the edge of the doorway, then stepped through the door.

  “Crap. Hang on!” Nina jogged up behind her. “Oh man. Look at this!”

  The room was a shambles. Perri just stood and surveyed the ransacked room. The contents of their suitcases had been dumped out on the bed and floor. It appeared the person responsible had then kicked through the pile or slung each item because there were articles of clothing up against the baseboards and walls; a bra hung from the knob of one of the dresser drawers. Toiletries were strewn around the bathroom, even the clothes hanging in the closet had been pulled off the hangers and thrown on the floor.

  “I do not have good luck with hotel rooms.” Perri observed. She wasn’t sure if she was scared or mad, probably a combination of both. “I wonder if this was a random thing or if someone was looking for that knife and scabbard you bought. I’m betting on the weapon.”

  “We need to call the police. Let’s call Archer. Then I’ll call Tom. If I call Tom first, he’ll want to leave camp and get someone else to drive him here, but if I tell him I’ve called Archer he may stay put. There just isn’t any need for him to come back here.”

  “You have Archer’s number?” asked Perri.

  “Yes, Tom put it in my phone.”

  “Ok. You call Archer and I’ll go report it to the desk. They should be told about it before the police arrive.”

  ***

  Archer Vaughn and another uniformed policeman appeared at the open door of the hotel room to find Perri, Nina, and the very flustered night manager standing on the opposite side of the discarded empty suitcases, near the room’s window. The manager, a slender, bespectacled man who looked to be in his mid-40s, immediately started toward Archer with relief. “I just can’t believe this. We’ve never had this happen before. I don’t understand how this happened. How did this person get in the building? I didn’t see anyone come through that looked like they didn’t belong here. I…”

  “Ok, slow down.” Archer held up both hands, palms down, to try to calm the manager. “Let’s go through it from both you and the occupants, and then let’s see if anything is missing, or anything has been left behind.”

  “Ok, but I don’t understand it. I just don’t! This is terrible. I’m probably going to get fired for this.”

  “No, I don’t think you will.” Archer pointed to one of the two chairs positioned at the table near the window. “Just have a seat here, Mr…?”

  “Leland, Gary Leland.”
He sat in the nearest chair, anxiously surveying the room. “This is not good.”

  “No, Mr. Leland, it isn’t good, but no one was injured and hopefully, nothing was taken.”

  The manager nodded enthusiastically, “Oh yes, yes, definitely. What do you want to know from me? I really need to get back to the desk.”

  Archer sat in the chair on the opposite side of the round table. He flipped open his notebook and clicked his pen as he kept an assessing eye on the distraught manager. “The first thing I need to do is request the security camera footage, Mr. Leland, from the lobby all egress areas, elevator, and the hall here on the third floor if you have it.”

  “Oh, certainly, yes, I’ll arrange for that, but we don’t have a camera trained on this hallway, only the hallway visible right outside the elevator doors.”

  “Ok, thank you. Now, this break in happened between eight and ten o’clock p.m. Were you at the desk in view of the lobby throughout that time, or did you step away from the desk at any point?”

  “Well, I’m sure I did. I go into the office frequently.”

  “Where is the office?” Archer asked.

  “Right behind the lobby desk, but I can’t see the whole lobby from there, and I’m not usually trying to either. I have to go in there for all sorts of things, making copies, taking calls, paperwork. I assure you, Sergeant, that I don’t just leave the desk unless I have a very good...”

  “I completely understand Mr. Leland. Did you see anyone in or near the lobby whom you did not recognize as a guest or who appeared to be out of place?”

  “No. Well, no I don’t believe so. I can’t stop and question every person that I don’t immediately recognize, and I certainly don’t know every guest who checked in by sight. I work nights, so I only see a portion of the guests. But no, I didn’t see anyone who seemed shady or sneaking about.”

  “Alright. How about the people you did see in the lobby? Did anyone seem to be searching around or unsure of where they were going?”

  “There certainly was! Most guests haven’t been here before and they get disoriented or can’t find the elevator, especially if they exited one way and came in a different way. The sign for the elevator is too small and located way over by the entrance to the conference area. I’ve told the management before that it needs to be moved or made bigger.” His face flushed as he warmed to what must have been a pet topic.

  Archer continued his questions before the manager could shift into a higher gear. “Did you give any of those people directions or assist them to find what they were looking for?”

  Mr. Leland appeared ruffled, “That’s my job. Of course I did. I just don’t see why…”

  “Mr. Leland, I’m not trying to insinuate you don’t do your job. I’m just going through the questions that I need to ask you to find out as much as possible. Hopefully, we can find the person who did this and keep it from happening again. Okay?”

  “Yes, yes, I’m sorry, this just has me flustered. I’ve never had something like this happen on my shift.”

  Archer smiled, “I understand that. Believe me, this isn’t as unusual as I wish it was. Let’s finish up the questions and you can get back to your post.”

  “Certainly.”

  Perri and Nina were going through what was left inside their luggage, which was very little, and searching through their belongings while Archer questioned Gary Leland. They cast occasional glances over to the manager when his voice elevated to a shrill range that Perri figured would be troublesome to some canines. “Excuse me,” Perri leaned across the table between the two men to remove a small tote bag from the far side. She was facing Gary Leland as she did so and smiled warmly at him, then took the bag to the bed to go through it. He watched Perri as she perched on the bed, folding her legs in front of her, his lips parted just a little bit. Perri side-eyed him as he continued to stare at her.

  “What about people you didn’t talk to?” Archer waited for a response. Not receiving one, he leaned forward and cleared his throat, “Gary?”

  The manager rapidly turned back to Archer, his teeth clicking together as he closed his mouth, “Yes? Oh, I’m sorry, yes?”

  “What about the people in the lobby you did not talk with? Anyone stand out in your mind, even if it was just a quick thought or a glance that seemed odd?” Gary’s mouth opened wide prefacing another gush of sentences. Archer held one hand up and continued, “Just take a minute and think about it. Don’t answer yet. Think back over the time since you came on shift.”

  The manager closed his mouth again and bit his lower lip with his teeth. He squinted at the green-gray carpet in concentration. After a few moments of various facial expressions of intense focus, Gary slowly drew out his words, “We-ell, I don’t know if this is anything at all.”

  “Please, I’m interested in hearing anything you can think of that might be relevant.” Archer tried to urge him on without seeming impatient. Gary had rapidly shifted from agitation with the situation to what might be described as relishing it.

  “I do remember one particular man who came through the lobby.” He pursed his lips and nodded to himself.

  “Yes?” prodded Archer.

  “I was walking back to the check-in desk from the breakfast area — we serve a wonderful breakfast here — I was checking on the supplies for the morning. As I walked past the main lobby doors, they opened and a man very nearly walked into me. He was walking quickly and he didn’t even slow down. I stopped just short of colliding with him. He looked back over his shoulder at me and mumbled, ‘Sorry’ or something like that, then just kept going.”

  Archer stopped writing and looked at Gary. “What time was that. Do you know?”

  “It would have been around nine o’clock, because that’s when I usually check the morning stock.”

  “And then where did he go?”

  “Down the central hallway.”

  “Did you see him go into a room in the hallway or did he continue on?”

  “I did stand there and watch after him for a minute. He didn’t go into a room in that hallway. I stopped watching him just before he got to the end of the hall.”

  “Would that be where the elevator is located, at the end of that hallway?”

  “Yes, and around the corner to the right.”

  “You can’t see the elevator from the desk, is that right?”

  “That’s correct, yes.” Gary nodded.

  Archer jotted some notes and asked, “Mr. Leland, can you describe the man? What was he wearing? Physical appearance?”

  Gary tipped his head back and gazed at the ceiling, exhaling slowly. “Oh, I’ll try. I would say he was at least five-eleven or maybe six feet tall, he seemed about the same height as myself. He was wearing just regular casual clothing, I mean, some jeans and a white and denim blue striped button-up shirt. His hair was brown, on the light side of brown, more a sandy color. It hadn’t been cut in a while, so it was a little long over the ears. He had a day’s worth of stubble, but not scruffy looking. He seemed rather fit, walked fairly briskly.”

  Archer’s eyebrows were raised, “You have a detailed memory, Mr. Leland, that’s a great help.”

  Gary smiled, “Thank you, I try to be observant.”

  “And you’ve not seen this man before? Here or anywhere else?”

  “Oh no, no, I’m sure I haven’t. I certainly don’t think so, no.” He shook his head. When another question didn’t follow his answer immediately, Gary asked, “Do you need anything else from me?”

  “Only to ask if you saw this man leave again.”

  “No, I didn’t see him again after that. Guests sometimes leave through the side doors though rather than through the lobby.”

  “Alright, Mr. Leland, I think I can let you get back to your work now. We’ll call you if we need more information.”

  “Thank you very much, I really hope you catch this person.” Mr. Leland stood, pushed the chair he been sitting in up to the table’s edge and turned, looking back and forth bet
ween Perri and Nina, “And I want to apologize again wholeheartedly for this horrible intrusion. This is not customary here. I will report this to the owner immediately. Let me know right away if there is anything missing or damaged that we can replace for you.”

  Perri and Nina, both sitting on the bed nearest the bathroom listening to the interview, replied that they appreciated his concern. Perri added, “I think what we would like right now is a different room.” She paused, Gary looked at her perplexed, blinking, then she continued, “The door has been breached or broken into, whatever you want to call it. I don’t want to stay in the same room, if you don’t mind.”

  “Oh! Oh yes, of course. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. This hasn’t happened to me before. I’ll go down to the desk and register you in another room, right away.” The manager headed for the door, stepping gingerly over the scattered clothes, pointedly keeping his gaze from straying to the undergarment hanging on the dresser. Once in the hallway, he turned, hesitated, gave an awkward wave and left.

  Archer turned the chair toward the two and said, “Alright, on to the next thing. Can you tell if anything is missing?”

  Perri shook her head, “There isn’t, as far as I can tell. My e-reader and laptop are still here.”

  Nina also replied in the negative. “No, nothing of mine is missing, just thrown all over the place. I bet the burglar was a man, because this looks like our house after one of Tom’s football Sundays with friends, stuff all over the room.”

  Perri agreed and Archer grinned, “We can’t use that as evidence, Nina.” He laughed, “But you might be right. However, it can’t be ruled out. It could just as easily have been a woman.”

  “Maybe.” Nina sniffed.

  Perri asked, “Archer, it could be, but doesn’t it seem like a major coincidence that someone tried to rob us right after Nina ended up with that artifact. Don’t you think this person was probably looking for the knife and scabbard? That’s the only thing I can think of someone wanting to take. They obviously didn’t break in here to steal just whatever they could find because our electronics are still here. They had to be after something specific.”