by C. Fennessy
Chapter Six
Fifteen minutes later there as a knock on the door, and Kacey answered it.
A stocky man with dark brown hair and eyes stood before her.
"I'm Chief of Hotel Security, Miss," he announced, holding up his I.D. Kacey examined the photo identification and decided it looked authentic.
"Come in, Mr. Rivers, and thanks for coming so quickly after I called."
"You reported to the front desk manager that some things are missing from your room?" he asked.
"Yes, a necklace and a camera."
"Could you describe these items, please?" he asked. After Kacey and Emma each gave a description of their items, he asked, "And when did you notice that they were gone?"
"This afternoon, about five-thirty, while we were getting ready to go to dinner."
"When was the last time you saw the items?" Chief Rivers asked.
"Well," Emma replied, "I haven't really thought about my camera since we arrived here on Saturday."
"But I wore my necklace this morning and took it off to go swimming this afternoon."
Chief Rivers nodded and asked, "And you've searched the room thoroughly?"
"Yes!" Emma replied enthusiastically. "We've looked through everything in the whole suite and can't find either of these things."
Chief Rivers turned to Ava, asking, "Have you looked to see if you are missing anything?"
"Yes, but I didn't bring a camera or jewelry, except my earrings, and I‘ve kept them on all day."
"What about cash or credit cards?"
The girls admitted that they hadn't checked their wallets and went to get them.
"My cash and cards are all here in my wallet," Ava reported.
"So are mine," Emma agreed, but Kacey frowned as she looked in her wallet.
"The last time I checked there was about fifty-eight dollars here, but now my wallet's empty!"
"When did you last check it?" Chief Rivers asked.
"Just before we left the mall this afternoon, "she answered.
"And have you had your wallet with you all afternoon?"
"Ah, no. Actually, I left my purse here in the room while we were at the pool."
Chief Rivers asked the other two girls if they had left their wallets in the room.
"No, I took my purse with me to the pool," Ava reported, and Emma said the same thing.
"When were you at the pool?" he asked them.
"From about four, or a little earlier than that until after five," Kacey replied.
Chief Rivers nodded, "Well, someone may have come in while you were at the pool."
"But who could get into our room besides the hotel staff?" asked Kacey.
Chief Rivers shrugged and admitted, "I have no idea at this point, but we will conduct a thorough investigation to find out who did this. We'll file a police report so your items and cash will be returned if the thief is apprehended. I'll keep you informed of our progress. In the meantime, I suggest that you keep all of your valuables in your room safe."
"Room safe? Where's that?" Emma asked.
"In your bedroom closet," he said, and showed them where it was and how to open and lock it with their own number combination.
"Thanks, Chief Rivers. We'll use the safe from now on," Kacey assured him.
Ava asked him, “Chief, have you found out what happened to that woman who lost her diamond ring?”
The Chief paused a moment, then replied, “We’re still investigating that incident.”
“Maybe this robbery is connected to it,” Ava suggested.
The Chief looked uncomfortable, “Well, we’ll keep that in mind, Miss.”
“Was Latanya working today?” Ava asked.
“Who?”
“Latanya, the maid who was accused of taking the diamond ring.”
“Er, no, she’s on leave until the matter is settled,” he told her.
Kacey said, “Then she couldn’t be the one who’s stealing things from the rooms. It must be someone else!”
Chief Rivers looked annoyed as he said, “We aren’t sure that there have been any robberies yet. Sometimes people lose things and think they’ve been robbed. It happens all the time.”
“Well, I know I put my necklace in my makeup case, and when I came back it wasn’t there,” Kacey pointed out.
Emma added, “And I know I packed my camera in my luggage, but now it’s missing. How else could it have disappeared?”
The Chief stood up straight and said, “I promise that we will look into both incidents and keep a special watch on this floor. This is the only floor that has had any problems. We work very hard to make sure this hotel is safe and secure.”
“I’m sure you do a wonderful job,” Kacey said sincerely, “But sometimes people can be very sneaky.”
“If this was a robbery, I assure you that whoever is doing this will be caught, and hopefully, your items will be returned,” Chief Rivers told them.
He said goodbye and left the room.
"A room safe!" Emma declared, "I wish we'd known about that sooner!"
Ava picked up a leather-bound portfolio from the desk and looked inside.
"Yeah, well, it would've helped if we had read the hotel guide here where it has the information about the room safe and how to use it."
The girls groaned in disgust over their own failure.
"I sure hope I get my camera back. I've got some pictures of Dave and me on it that I don't want to lose," Emma said.
"And I feel terrible about losing the gold cross Aunt Mary gave me," Kacey said, "I wonder if I'll ever see it again."
"You might," Ava said, "If they catch the thief before he or she sells it for cash. Sometimes they try to sell the stuff online, so I'll search for it after dinner."
The girls felt sad over being robbed, but Ava suggested that they go to dinner and try to forget about the incident. They decided to eat at one of the hotel restaurants, and were able to get a table at Chez Maurice, a French restaurant that featured excellent food and live music in the evenings.
The restaurant was not yet crowded, and they were given a table near a window overlooking the lake. The girls discussed the menu, with Emma explaining the meanings of some of the French foods.
"I always knew our high school French classes would come in handy someday," Ava teased her.
“Well, I don’t remember much about high school French, but I know about cooking,” Emma said.
While waiting for their food, the girls chatted and checked their messages. Friends from home were curious about their rescue adventures and wanted to hear more details.
After dinner, the girls saw three young men sit down at the table next to them. The girls noticed that the three good-looking young men were speaking in Spanish. Finally, one of them called over to their table,
“Kacey! Ava! Hello!”
Kacey and Ava took a closer look and recognized the young man named Juan, who they had met at the pool. They waved back and said ‘hello’. Juan said something to his friends, and then got up from the table and walked over to them.
“Hello again!” he greeted them. Kacey introduced Juan to Emma and they exchanged greetings.
“Would you girls like to join us for a drink?” Juan asked. The girls looked at the young men and then at each other. Kacey said, “Thanks, but I have to get back to our room and call my boyfriend.”
“Oh, I’m very sad to hear that. What about you, Ava and Emma?”
The girls smiled but also said they had boyfriends who were waiting for their calls.
Juan shrugged and said, “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. We’ll be here for the rest of the evening, so maybe after you call your boyfriends you can come back down, si? There will be music and dancing at nine o'clock. We’ll be happy to dance with you since your boyfriends are not here.”
“Thanks, anyway, Juan. We’re pretty tired, so I don’t think we’ll be back tonight.”
He nodded and walked back to his own table.
The girls left their table and h
eaded back toward their room. On the way, Emma said,
“Maybe we should have stayed for just one dance...just to be polite.”
“I thought you and Dave were like practically engaged or something,” Ava replied.
“Well, you don’t see any ring on my finger, do you? Maybe if he heard that I’d been out dancing with three handsome guys, he’d appreciate me more.”
Kacey laughed, “Or maybe he’d be really mad and break up with you.”
“Don’t you care about Dave?” asked Ava.
“Of course I do! It’s just that...well,” Emma admitted, “I guess I’m a little angry that he’s not coming down here on Thursday with Josh and Rick.”
Kacey replied, “But he said he couldn’t get time off from work to join them.”
They entered the elevator and the doors closed silently.
“I know. I guess I’m wondering how hard he tried to get time off. Maybe it was just an excuse to not come down here and be with me,” Emma admitted sadly.
Kacey felt bad for her friend, and put her arm around her shoulder.
“Hey, don’t think like that. Dave cares a lot about you, and you know it.”
Emma brushed away a tear as she said, “Yeah, I guess so.”
Ava said cheerfully, “Of course he loves you! He’s always hanging around your house when he’s not working, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that he’s in love or anything,” Emma pointed out.
Kacey said, “Why not give him a call when we get back? The sound of his voice will cheer you right up.”
Emma nodded, “Yeah, okay.”
When they got back inside their room, Emma dialed Dave’s number and it went to his voice mail. She left him a message and then sent him a text. After waiting twenty minutes for a reply, Emma began feeling sad and thought that maybe Dave was getting tired of her after all.
The next morning as the girls were headed to have breakfast at the hotel, they passed Latanya as they exited the elevator.
"Hey! Tanya! You're back!" Kacey greeted her.
Tanya looked up and smiled, "Oh, hello, Kacey. It's good to see you again. But I'm afraid I'm not here to work. The housekeeper called me to say she doesn't need me anymore. I am here to pick up my last paycheck and return my uniform and I.D.. I've been laid off."
"Laid off?" Kacey asked, "You mean, fired?"
"Well, not quite as bad as that, but I still don't have a job."
"That's awful!" Kacey declared, "But once they find the real thief, maybe you'll get hired back."
Ava said, "Maybe you can get hired at another hotel, now that you have experience."
Tanya nodded, "Yes, today I'm going to each of the hotels in the area looking for work."
"I hope you find something soon," Emma said.
"Me Too," Tanya nodded sadly.
Ava said, "Did you hear that our room was robbed yesterday while we were at the pool?"
Tanya's eyes widened, "No! What happened?"
The girls told her all the details and Kacey said, "We told Mr. Rivers that you couldn't have been involved since you were not working here yesterday. I hope they catch whoever is doing this and that your name will be cleared soon. Hey, do you have a cell phone? I'd like to keep in touch," Kacey said.
"Sure!" Tanya replied, and the two girls exchanged phone numbers.
"I'll let you know if we find out anything about the robberies."
"Yes! Please do! I hope they catch the robbers soon," Tanya said hopefully.
"Yeah! We'll keep in touch. Good luck on finding another job! Bye, Tanya!" Kacey said, waving as they left her.
After Tanya disappeared down a hallway, Emma said, "Poor Tanya! It's awful that she's lost her job over something she didn't even do! It's so unfair!"
Kacey nodded, "I know the hotel has to protect its guests, so they can't take any chances that Tanya might be involved. But there must be something we can do to help."
The others agreed. They arrived at the cafe and were seated immediately. Emma and Kacey picked up their menus, but Ava sat deep in thought.
After a while, Ava said, "I just remembered something I learned in my Criminal Investigations class."
Kacey and Emma put their menus down and asked what she meant.
"I remember something about crimes being repeated if the heist was successful. Like a bank robbery, for instance. The robbers will pull the same job but at a different bank."
Emma asked, "So you think bank robbers robbed our room?"
Ava frowned, "No, of course not! What I meant was that whoever robbed our room will probably use the same method to rob other rooms or other hotels. We just have to figure out how they're doing it."
Kacey asked, "How do we do that?"
"We look for clues and common factors," Ava continued, "We look at all the details on each case, and then we compare them to see how they're similar. We look for a pattern. Once we can figure out the pattern, we can determine where their next robbery will be."
Kacey shrugged, "I don't think Mr. Rivers would appreciate us getting involved in his investigation."
"We can do our own investigation," Ava said, and asked, "Where was the room where that diamond ring went missing?"
Kacey thought a moment, and then replied, "I think it was the second room on the right at the end of the hall from our room."
"Well, why don't we stop by there after breakfast and talk to the woman who lost the ring? We can get the details straight from her without asking Mr. Rivers for help."
Emma asked, "Will that be enough information to figure out who's robbing the rooms?"
Ava shrugged, "Maybe not. But maybe there have been other robberies that we don't know about.
Emma asked, "What about other hotels? Shouldn't we ask them, too?"
Ava replied, "We can ask, but do you really think they would admit it if they did have a robbery? Most hotel managers like to keep that secret. It's bad for business."
"Yeah, I guess so. What about police reports?" Kacey suggested.
"Good idea," Ava nodded, taking out her cell phone. "There must be a website where they file those reports for public access. I'll check while you two order. Get me two scrambled eggs, coffee, and whole wheat toast."
Kacey and Emma ordered breakfast while Ava searched the Internet for police reports. By the time their breakfast arrived, Ava found a website by the local police where all local crimes were reported. After scanning through them, she declared,
"Here's something! A man reported that an i-Pad was stolen from his car in the parking lot of this hotel! It happened the night before yesterday. His name was George Winters. I wonder if he's still staying here."
Kacey said, "I can probably find out at the front desk after we finish breakfast."
As soon as their meal was done, the girls headed to the front desk and waited to speak to one of the receptionists. Kacey spoke to a young woman named Jennifer.
"We'd like to know what room George Winters is in, please."
Jennifer smiled and said, "For privacy, we don't give out room numbers of our guests. I'm sorry."
"Oh, it's okay. I'm Kacey Carlson, and my uncle owns the hotel. We just want to talk to Mr. Winters."
"Oh, I see," Jennifer replied, "Perhaps I can give him your message and have him call you if he is interested."
"Yes, please. My cell number is 765-987-3211. Please tell him I want to talk to him about his missing i-Pad, and ask him to call me any time."
Jennifer promised that she would relay the message immediately. The girls thanked her and headed back to their floor to find the room where the ring was reported stolen. After the elevator doors opened, Kacey led her friends down the hall toward the room. She stopped in front of 212 and said, "I think it was this room here."
Kacey knocked and waited for someone to answer. Finally, a woman's voice asked,
"Who is it?"
"My name is Kacey Carlson. I was here yesterday after your room was robbed. Our room was robbed, too
, and we wanted to talk to you about it."
The chain rattled behind the door and it opened, revealing a stocky, older woman with blonde hair.
"What do you want to know?" she asked suspiciously.
"We were wondering if you could tell us approximately when you think the ring might have been stolen," Ava said.
"Well, I'm not sure, but I noticed it was gone after I came back to my room after breakfast. I went downstairs to the café to have breakfast, and when I came back here to put on my jewelry, I noticed it was gone. I looked everywhere for it, but it wasn’t in this room.”
"About what time was that?" Ava asked her.
"Hmm, about ten o'clock, I think."
"And you're sure the ring was in your room before that?" Ava inquired.
"Yes, of course! I remembered I had left it on the counter next to the sink when I went to wash my hands before I left my room. When I came back to get it, it was gone."
Ava asked her, "Did you tell anyone that you were going down for breakfast?"
"No. I'm here alone, so I didn't tell anyone. You said your room was robbed, too. What did they take?"
Emma replied, "My camera, her gold necklace and some cash."
The woman shook her head and said, "Well, I guess this place isn't as secure as I thought it would be. I still have two more days to stay here, and then I'm leaving and never coming back here again!"
Kacey said, "I hope you get your ring back. If you think of anything that might help us figure out who's doing this, please let us know. We're in room 220, just down the hall."
The woman nodded in agreement as they thanked her and left.
As they walked back to the elevators, Emma said, "Gee, Ava, you sounded just like a real detective back there!"
Ava smiled, and Kacey added, "Yeah. You're like a professional already!"
"Yeah, well, I guess my college classes are starting to pay off," Ava replied.
"You are going to be one awesome detective by the time you graduate!" Kacey commented.