by Cindy Bell
Once Vicky was alone with Freida, she felt her heart sink. She remembered the phone call that she had overheard. To think that she had been so concerned about Roman Blade without ever knowing that her life was nearing an end. There was nothing to indicate how she had died. Her face was pale, her skin was cold. Otherwise, she appeared to be perfectly fine. There wasn’t a trace of blood or a hint of a fight. Vicky looked up when she heard someone walk in the door.
She expected it to be the paramedics, but instead it was Blake, the new bellboy. He stood frozen in the doorway of the room. His eyes widened with horror at the sight of the dead body. Vicky was sure it was the first time he had ever seen one.
“Blake, you shouldn’t be here.” Vicky frowned. “Please go downstairs and see if Sarah needs any help.”
Blake only continued to stare, as if in a trance, at Freida’s body.
“Blake!” Vicky raised her voice slightly to try to break him out of the dazed state that he was in. “Please, go see if Sarah needs help with Monica.”
“Is she really dead?” Blake was finally able to speak.
“Yes, Blake. But we need to keep that under wraps for now. If it gets out, then her family won’t be notified of her death before it ends up on the news. Understand?” She narrowed her eyes.
“Her family,” Blake repeated. “Wow.” He shook his head. Vicky could see that he was not processing the situation very well. She cleared her throat and stood up. As she walked towards the door she placed a hand on Blake’s shoulder. She turned him around towards the hallway.
“You’re not helping me here, Blake. I need you to do what you can to help Sarah.”
Blake nodded slowly. “Of course. Anything I can do.” As he began going down the hallway Vicky caught sight of the paramedics approaching. Vicky gestured to them.
“In here,” she kept her voice soft. She didn’t want to alert the other guests to what was happening. It was nearly impossible to keep the kind of secret that she was trying to, but she was putting in her best effort. The paramedics eased Freida’s body out of the chair and onto the floor. They checked her vitals. Vicky wasn’t surprised when they declared the woman dead on arrival. She assumed that Freida had been dead since the night before. As the paramedics prepared her body for the coroner, some officers arrived. After they had spoken to the paramedics one of them swept the plate of food into one zip lock bag and the basket of fruit into another. Vicky was surprised by this.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
The officer looked up at her. “In a case where there is an unknown cause of death, we keep whatever food or drink is nearby. The death appears to be natural, but they’re considered potential toxins until the cause of death is determined.”
Vicky raised an eyebrow. She had never heard of that before. She saw no reason to protest. “Anything you need to find out what happened,” she said. She doubted that the food had anything to do with Freida’s death, but she wanted to cooperate. She stepped out of the room to wait for the coroner’s van to arrive. Sarah met her in the hallway.
“We’re going to have to say something to the guests.” Sarah frowned. “They are going to see the gurney and the van.”
“Yes, we better be prepared.”
“What are you thinking?” Sarah asked.
Vicky rubbed her hands slowly along the smooth surface of her pants. She was trying to get her palms to stop sweating. The more she wiped them, the more they seemed to sweat.
“We’ll just stick to what we know. Some of the guests won’t see what’s happening. For the ones that ask we’ll let them know that someone has passed away.” Vicky lowered her voice slightly. “We don’t know anything else at this point, do we? For all we know she could have overdosed on some drugs.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Sarah agreed.
“Okay, so if you can man the front desk to field questions, I’ll wait here by Freida’s room in case anyone needs anything.” Vicky tilted her head towards the end of the hallway. “Trevor is out walking, but you might want to stop by Roman’s room and let him know what is happening. He will want a heads up if any media shows up about this.”
“You don’t think he’d try to spin it into some kind of campaign promotion do you?” Sarah scrunched up her nose with disgust at the idea.
“I don’t know, but I think it’s best we warn him.” Vicky looked towards the closed door of the room that she knew Roman was staying in. She was surprised that all of the commotion hadn’t drawn him out of his room already. Thinking of that, made her wonder where Ida was. She was always the first to show up when there was drama. Hadn’t she heard the scream?
“Can you handle it, Vicky?” Sarah asked.
“Sure, of course.” Vicky nodded. Sarah headed off down the hallway. Vicky nervously walked up to the door. She hadn’t really spoken directly to Roman Blade since he had arrived. She was used to dealing with the wealthy, and even some celebrities, but this was the man who, if elected, would be making decisions for their entire state. She walked up to the door and knocked lightly, twice.
As she waited for an answer, she caught sight of something fluorescent yellow out of the corner of her eye. She turned her attention fully to it and discovered that it was Ida dressed in the brightest jogging outfit that Vicky had ever seen. Right by her side was Roman Blade, dressed in a much more conservative, navy blue jogging suit.
“Aunt Ida.” Vicky hurried to her side. “Were you two out jogging this morning?”
“Yes.” Ida looked at her with concern. “I saw the coroner’s van pull up. What’s happened?”
Vicky looked from her aunt, to the man standing beside her. She didn’t think about it, she just blurted out the truth.
“Freida Frans is dead.” She stared at Roman. “We found her this morning.”
“Oh no!” Ida clasped a hand over her mouth in shock. Roman returned Vicky’s steady stare.
“How did she die?” he asked.
Vicky was a little startled by the question. It wasn’t what she was expecting from him.
“We’re not sure. But most likely from natural causes.” Vicky continued to study Roman intently. “I thought you should know, in case there is any media attention.”
“Good thinking.” He nodded. He flashed her a brief presidential smile. “I’d better call Trevor and let him know.”
“Let him know what?” Trevor asked as he walked down the hallway towards them.
“Oh Trevor, just who I wanted to see.” Trevor looked at Roman with a puzzled expression. “Freida Frans is dead.”
“What?” Trevor grew pale. He moved out of the way as the fruit basket and food were carried past them. He looked at them with wide eyes.
“Come to my room so we can discuss this.” As they walked away from Ida, Vicky watched them enter Roman’s room. When she turned back Ida was peering into Freida’s room.
“How awful,” she sighed.
“It is.” Vicky frowned. “Sarah is not taking it well.”
“Of course not.” Ida swept her hand back through her hair and pulled off her bright yellow headband. “Poor Freida. It’s so shocking when someone in the prime of their life suddenly passes.”
“It is.” Vicky nodded.
Vicky stepped aside as Freida’s body was wheeled out of her room. She was relieved that there were no guests out in the hall to see it. The officers followed behind her.
“Just a precaution in case this wasn’t a natural death,” one of the officers said as he put police tape across the door.
“We’d better take a quick look at the room, make sure everything is in order,” Ida spoke casually once the officers were out of earshot. Vicky couldn’t help but smile a little. She knew that her aunt wanted to get into the room and snoop around a bit. She didn’t see anything wrong with it either. She had been too shocked to take a good look. Although, it was very likely that Freida had passed from natural causes, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look. You never know what you might find.
Chapt
er 9
Vicky and Ida pushed aside some of the crime scene tape and stepped inside Freida’s room. One of the first things Vicky noticed was the empty food tray on the table. Vicky knew that the food had been collected out of caution, but it still made her a little uneasy. She couldn’t imagine taking a bite of food one moment and then dying the next. At least she was certain that Chef Henry’s pasta was some of the best that Freida had likely ever eaten.
“Look at this, Vicky.” Ida hovered beside the bed.
“What is it?” Vicky joined her. Ida pointed out some papers that were sticking out from under the bed. Vicky found this odd as the staff kept the rooms impeccable, and that included under the bed. Ida crouched down and pulled the papers out. They were crumpled up. Ida handed one of the papers to Vicky and began smoothing out the other one herself. Vicky read over the text on the paper. It seemed to be the introduction of an article.
With the number of lies being bantered about on the campaign trail, please allow me to interject some honesty.
“What does yours say?” Vicky asked. She peered over her aunt’s shoulder.
“It’s similar, just worded differently. She must have been trying to figure out the best introduction.” Ida set the paper down under the bed where she had found it. “I guess this article isn’t ever going to see the light of day.”
“I guess not.” Vicky frowned. A buzzing sound alerted Vicky to a cell phone ringing. She followed the buzzing and crouched down to see the phone on the floor. It had fallen under the bedside table. Vicky picked up the phone nervously. She didn’t want to be the one to notify next of kin, but she knew that if she was a friend or family member, she would want to know. The caller ID indicated that it was ‘Heather’. She answered the call.
“Hello?” Vicky spoke tentatively.
“I’m sorry I must have dialed the wrong number, I’m trying to reach Freida Frans.”
“You have the right number. May I ask who’s calling?”
“This is her editor, Heather. Why do you have Freida’s phone?” The woman’s voice raised with urgency.
Vicky cringed as she knew that there was no easy way to put this. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but Freida passed away this morning.” Vicky tried to be as gentle as possible.
“What? Is this some kind of joke?” Heather demanded.
“No, I’m sorry it’s not. My name is Vicky, I’m one of the owners of the inn she was staying at. I’m afraid we found her this morning, she had passed away some time during the night.” Vicky looked over at Ida who nodded her head in support.
“Oh no! This can’t be happening! I knew it! I knew that bastard would kill her!” Heather sounded hysterical. Vicky couldn’t understand everything she was saying.
“So far it looks like she died of natural causes, there’s no indication of foul play.” Vicky tried to get her message across, but Heather had already hung up the phone.
Vicky felt a dull ache begin in the center of her chest. Was Heather the same person that Freida had been on the phone with when she said she wasn’t afraid of Roman Blade? Vicky pushed the thought out of her mind. The clearest assumption was that Freida had died of natural causes. She led a very stressful life, and perhaps that stress had finally caught up with her.
“What did she say?” Ida asked. She could tell from Vicky’s wide eyes that it had been unexpected.
“She said she knew that bastard would kill her,” Vicky explained. “At least that’s what I think she said. It was hard to tell as she was so upset.”
“We’ll know soon enough if there was anything suspicious about her death.” Ida sighed. “It looks like there isn’t much more to see in here.”
“She hadn’t even slept in her bed.” Vicky looked at the perfectly made bed. “We’d better get downstairs, I have a feeling a few guests are going to want to check out.” Vicky headed for the elevator. “We also don’t want to be caught in here.”
“I’ll be right down, I’m just going to change.” Ida headed for her room.
Alone in the elevator Vicky thought about the last time she had spoken to Freida. It hadn’t been a very pleasant exchange. She wished that she had been a little kinder to the woman. Perhaps she had been too quick to judge her. Just because she promoted gossip, that didn’t make her a bad person. As Vicky stepped out of the elevator on the ground floor, she felt an increasing sense of dismay. She didn’t want to face the guests who would have plenty of questions.
As she walked out into the lobby she noticed there were a few people milling about. They seemed to be watching the coroner’s van and gossiping to each other. Vicky caught sight of Monica sitting at a table outside. She was stirring a cup of coffee and staring at the table. Vicky pushed open the glass door and walked quickly over to her.
“Are you doing okay, Monica?” She sat down beside her at the table.
“I don’t know.” Monica shook her head. “I just can’t believe this.”
“Maybe you should go home.” Vicky offered the suggestion gently. “You’ve had quite a shock.”
“No, it’s better if I keep working.” Monica winced. “Trust me.”
Vicky raised an eyebrow. “Is something wrong at home, Monica?”
“No, it’s just I’m so tired, and the baby is very clingy. I think it would just be better if I stayed until I was in a better state of mind.” Monica finally took a sip of her coffee.
“All right. Whatever feels right to you.” Vicky gave Monica’s hand a light squeeze. She remembered how difficult it was for Sarah with two young kids. The infant stage could be trying at times.
“Thanks, Vicky.” Monica grasped her cup of coffee tightly. “I just keep thinking about that poor woman. Maybe if I had just…”
“There is nothing that you could have done, Monica.” Vicky met her eyes with a sympathetic smile. “This was in no way your fault.”
Monica looked back at her with a guilty frown. “I guess you’re right.” She looked past Vicky towards the front desk. “It looks like someone needs you.”
Vicky turned to see a couple waiting impatiently at the front desk. “Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Vicky.” Monica took another sip of her coffee.
Vicky walked inside and over to the front desk. She put on her most pleasant expression and prepared for the worst.
“How can I help you?” she asked.
“We would like to check out.” The woman smacked her room key down on the desk. Vicky jumped a little at the sharp sound.
“I understand. This morning’s events were disturbing.” Vicky used the room number to pull up the identity of the couple. The room was registered under Chandler Millers. “I’ll get you checked out as quickly as possible.”
“We aren’t leaving because of that,” the woman said with a snooty tone to her voice. “People die you know. That’s just a thing of life. But I can’t believe that you would allow such people to stay in your inn.” She raised her nose into the air.
“What?” Vicky was confused. “Who do you mean?”
“I mean that scoundrel, Roman Blade, everyone knows that he is a common criminal. Allowing him to stay here with his deceitful campaign manager is like promoting him and his campaign. When I heard that he was staying here I told my Chandler that we had to go right away.”
Chandler, who had yet to speak, lowered his eyes. Vicky grimaced. “We haven’t endorsed anyone for governor.” Vicky did her best to explain in a neutral tone.
“Like I said, renting him a room is the same as endorsing him. We will not stand for it.”
Vicky narrowed her eyes. “How do you know that he’s a criminal?”
“I can read, can’t I?” She laughed. She signed the receipt that Vicky handed her. “In fact I read all about the way he covered up his criminal activity. We don’t need more liars in positions of power, now do we?”
Vicky thought that she was being very harsh. But she knew that there were many people who were very passionate about the politic
ians they supported. She had no idea that Roman was such a controversial figure, but that would not have stopped him from being able to stay at the inn. Sarah and Vicky agreed that it wasn’t their place to judge a guest.
“Well, I’m sorry that we couldn’t continue to accommodate you.” Vicky handed them a business card. “If you’d like to stay with us in the future, please feel free to contact us at any time.”
“Hmph, I don’t see that happening.” The woman marched away from the front desk. Her husband trailed quietly after her. Vicky looked at them with dismay as she watched them go.
As she finished typing their reason for leaving in the records on the computer, her cell phone began to ring. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out. She could see that it was Mitchell calling. She smiled at the thought of hearing his voice.
“Hello?”
“Vicky, I’ve got something I have to tell you.” Mitchell rushed forward without even greeting her. Vicky knew instantly that it must be serious.
“What is it?” She listened closely.
“I just spoke with the coroner.” Mitchell’s voice was weighted with concern.
“What is it?” she asked again. “Not natural causes I guess?”
“No. It’s worse than that. Freida was poisoned.”
“Oh no! That’s horrible.” Vicky grimaced as she wondered who would do such a terrible thing. “I guess the police will have to investigate. How was she poisoned?”
“Vicky, Freida was killed by ingesting poisonous berries.” Mitchell paused a moment as the revelation sunk in. “They were in the fruit basket.”
“No,” Vicky said with disbelief. “How terrible!”
“Do you know where the fruit came from?”
“No idea, I found the basket on the front desk.” Vicky sighed with dread as she realized that the fruit basket she had asked Monica to deliver to the room had killed Freida. “Monica delivered it. I asked her to.”
“That’s strange!” Mitchell exclaimed. “The card that came with the basket said ‘With Compliments from the Management of the Heavenly Highland Inn. Sorry for any inconvenience caused by the disruption to dinner service.’”