by C. Fennessy
Chapter Eight
The next morning, the girls had breakfast in the café and talked about the robberies.
"I haven't seen anything that looks suspicious since we reported our robbery to Mr. Rivers," Ava said, "What about you two?"
"No, I haven't seen anything," Kacey admitted and Emma agreed.
Ava went online to look at the police reports, but found nothing new reported for their area.
"Well, maybe whoever it was has left the hotel for good," Kacey suggested.
"Maybe," Ava agreed, "But I still can't figure out how they got into the rooms or how they knew the rooms would be empty."
"You'll figure it out," Kacey smiled, "You're a detective, remember? And even if the robber has left the hotel, we still have to prove that Tanya is innocent so she can get her job back."
The girls finished eating and the waitress brought their bill. She smiled at them and asked,
"Would you like this put on your room card or would you like to pay for it here?"
"Well, actually, we are supposed to have our meals free," Kacey replied, "If you talk to Mr. Robinson, he'll explain everything."
The waitress looked surprised, "Oh, okay. I'll just write your room number on here and write 'no charge' on this."
She took out a pen and Emma said, "We're in 220."
The waitress nodded and wrote their room number on the bill and added 'no charge - Mr. Robinson' at the bottom. The girls gave her a generous tip.
"Oh, thank you!" she beamed.
As the girls were leaving, Ava turned and went back to ask the waitress something.
"Pardon me, but I was wondering. When people charge their meals to their room card, do you always write the room number on it?"
"Yes," she nodded, "And then they sign the bill to confirm the amount that is charged to their hotel bill."
"Hmm...thanks," Ava said before she joined her friends.
Kacey asked, "What was that all about?"
Ava shrugged, "I'm just trying to put pieces together and come up with a theory about how the rooms are being robbed."
"Okay, Sherlock. While you're working on that, what are we doing today?" asked Emma.
"We have to pick up the guys at the airport at one o'clock, so we should leave here by twelve fifteen to make sure we have enough time to find a parking space," Kacey replied.
"That only gives us about two and a half hours," Ava said, "Why don't we just hang our here until then?"
"We can work on our tans!" Emma suggested, "Let's go to the lake. They have a sandy beach there!"
Kacey remembered that the hotel backed up to a small lake with a sandy beach.
"Great idea!"
On the way to the beach, Kacey's phone rang. It was Tanya.
"Oh, hi, Tanya! How are you doing?"
"Not very good, I'm afraid."
"Oh, what happened?"
Tanya told her about her unsuccessful attempts to find another job.
"And the last hotel manager said that he would have to call my old boss to find out about my job performance. Once they tell him that I am a robbery suspect, he'll never hire me, and neither will anyone else!"
"Oh, Tanya! I'm so sorry! This must be so frustrating for you! But Tanya, I have faith in you and faith that God has a plan for your life. If you trust in Him, he'll help you through this."
"I tried to pray last night, but I don't know what to say," Tanya replied.
"Just ask God to guide you in your search for a job. Ask him to place you in a job where you can be helpful to other people and do His work. He knows that you are saving your money for college education. Thank Him for the opportunity to come here to the U.S. and study. Tell God that you believe He will help you."
On the other end, she could hear Tanya sniffing, as if she were crying.
"Okay," Tanya replied, "I'll do that."
"And if you need anything in the meantime...a place to stay or some meals, we can help you. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind if you came and stayed with us for a few days."
"That's very thoughtful of you," Tanya said, "But I have my rent paid for the rest of this month, and I have enough groceries to last me a couple of weeks."
"You might find another job soon," Kacey said, "Don't give up trying. Keep in touch and let me know how it's going, okay?"
"Okay," Tanya agreed, "Has there been any progress on the robbery?"
Kacey told her everything that they had done, and that she was confident that the real robber would soon be found.
"Well, thank you for helping to clear my name. Maybe once the thief is caught I can come back to my old job. I really liked working there."
"I'm sure we'll catch him, and I'll be sure to talk to Mr. Robinson about getting you back to work here as soon as possible."
"Thank you, Kacey! You're a real friend!"
Kacey said goodbye and ended the call. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer for Tanya, asking God to help her and to help them solve the robbery soon.
Twenty minutes later, the girls left their suite and headed to the lake. They followed the signs to the beach on the stone path that wound around through tropical gardens and palm trees. The path was bordered by colorful broad-leafed plants and huge-leafed banana trees.
Finally, the beach appeared, populated by hotel guests.
"Hey! This is really cool!" Emma cried, "What a beautiful lake!"
"It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be," Ava said.
They found a place near the shore to spread out their blanket and towels. After applying sun screen, they lay out on the blanket, soaking in the sun's bright rays. A group of children played in the water and two couples played volleyball in the sand. The beach was much less crowded than the one at the Cocoa Beach pier.
"Hey! Kacey! Ava!" someone called.
They looked up and saw Juan waving to them. He looked bronzed and healthy as he approached the girls. He was wearing shorts and a bright T-shirt. They said hello and introduced him to Emma.
"I haven't seen you girls around lately," he commented, sitting on the sand next to them.
"Well, we've been pretty busy," Kacey said.
"Yeah? That's great."
"What have you been doing?" Kacey asked.
"Oh, just hanging out around the hotel...playing some tennis, hanging around the pools, you know. We like to go out at night to the clubs. They have lots of clubs around here. Have you been to any yet?"
"No, we're waiting until our boyfriends get here this afternoon," Kacey explained, hoping Juan would get the message.
"Oh," he nodded in understanding, then took out his phone.
"Excuse me, I need to take a call. I'll see you around later!" he said, walking away and talking on his phone.
Ava and Emma called 'goodbye' to him as they left.
The girls stayed a while longer and then waded into the water, spraying each other and laughing. Afterward, they headed back to their room.
As they stepped off the elevator, they heard someone knocking on one of the doors at the opposite end of the hall. They looked to see a young man carrying a tray. He knocked on a door again and said, "Room service."
The girls turned away and headed in the opposite direction toward their room. While Kacey was unlocking the door, Ava looked down the hall and noticed that the room service guy was gone.
"Hey, that room service guy is gone," Ava remarked. The other two girls looked down the hall and Kacey said, "He's probably inside the room and getting a tip."
"Yeah, probably," Ava agreed.
"Boy, you sure are suspicious!" Emma remarked, "Poor Rick!"
"What do you mean, 'Poor Rick'? I don't suspect him of anything...yet!"
The girls laughed and decided to get dressed and get ready to leave for the airport.
The girls found a parking spot in the multi-story parking garage and took the glass elevator down to the tunnel that ran under the road next to the airport. They used the escalator to ride up into the main terminal of the airport.
The girls found the arriving flights listed on the large electronic board and checked the gate number for the boys' arrival.
"Over a hundred gates!" Emma remarked, "I hope we find the right one!"
"We can only wait at the areas where they come through security," Kacey told her, "And since they're arriving at gate 129, we have to go to Area B."
"Area B is this way," Ava said, leading them to a long, wide corridor. There was a walking escalator, and they hopped on so they could enjoy the sights while moving down the corridor.
"This airport is one huge shopping mall," Kacey said, "I think it's even bigger than the airport in Boston!"
"It's a lot more modern, and prettier, too," Emma replied.
The girls passed many stores and walked through the huge food court to continue their journey through the next corridor. More stores lined the wide corridors, tempting shoppers to step inside. The girls finally reached the next large area.
"Gates 99 through 129, over there," Ava said, reading the signs. The girls crossed the large open lobby and arrived at an area among palm trees and water fountains where other people were waiting. Two glass elevators overlooked the huge atrium as they rose up to the top floor of the hotel above them. Waves of passengers came through the security exit, and the girls waited anxiously for their friends to arrive.
Ava's face grew a mischievous grin as she said, "Hey, let's play a joke on the guys!"
Kacey and Emma looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"When the guys come out, we'll let them get a look at us, but then we'll pretend we don't see them and walk away. We'll keep hiding until they find us! Come on, it'll be fun!"
A few minutes later, the guys came through the door, pulling luggage and waving to the girls.
The girls pretended not to see them and turned away. They could hear the guys calling their names, but acted as if they couldn't hear them in the surrounding crowd. The girls quickly headed for the elevators and got inside. As the guys were racing to catch up with them, the doors slid shut.
"Oh no!" Josh cried, "Now what'll we do?"
"Let's call them," Rick said and dialed Ava's number. The call went to her voice mail, so he left a message for her to call him immediately.
Josh tried to reach Kacey and got the same result.
"Well, should we wait here or go back to the exit?" Josh asked.
"Let's take the elevator down. Maybe we'll find them down on the main level."
They pushed the elevator button and waited. When the doors opened, they stepped inside.
"Surprise!" the girls yelled. They had been hiding in the corners behind the door.
"What?" Josh exclaimed. By the looks on their faces, he knew the girls had been fooling him and Rick.
"You're going to regret this!" Josh teased.
"Did you see us coming through the exit?" Rick asked.
"Of course we did!" Kacey laughed.
The guys laughed and admitted it was a pretty good joke.
Kacey said, "Well, it was Ava's idea! How was your flight?"
"It was great. We had a direct flight and got here in a little over two hours," Rick said.
"Yeah, and no seat-kickers," Josh added. The girls laughed and then told them they had parked in the parking garage. They talked as they headed back down the escalator, through the tunnel under the road between the airport and the garage, and up a glass elevator again into the parking garage. After putting their luggage into the trunk, Kacey suggested that they check into the guys' hotel first and then go to their own hotel for lunch.
Josh turned to Emma, "Sorry that Dave couldn't come. His boss said he had to work this weekend."
Emma shrugged, "Yeah, I know. That's okay."
Kacey looked at her and saw that Emma looked a little down.
"Hey, we'll still have fun, Emma. Tomorrow we're all going to Disney World!"
"And surfing the day after!" added Ava.
The guys said they were looking forward to it. The top was down on the convertible and the sun was shining brightly as they left the garage. Kacey drove the guys to their hotel which was not far from where the girls were staying. After checking in, the guys left their luggage in their room and unpacked their swim suits. Kacey drove everyone back to the resort where the girls were staying.
"This place is beautiful!" Josh remarked as they pulled up to the hotel ten minutes later.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool, except for the robberies," Ava replied.
"Robberies?" they asked.
"Yeah. We'll tell you all about it," Kacey said.
They went to the café for lunch and after placing their orders, the girls told them all about the robberies.
"Ava is trying to solve the case." Kacey said, "And I think she will."
"Maybe we can help," Rick said, "Who do you think is robbing rooms?"
"Well, I think it's somebody who works here because the lock wasn't forced on our door. Somebody used a key card, and the only people with access to those are employees."
"Yeah," Emma interjected, "And that only includes Security, Housekeeping, and the manager."
"But in a hotel this size, that could mean a lot of people," Rick said.
Ava nodded, "Yeah. Hey, Kacey, how many rooms are in this hotel?"
Kacey replied, "About six hundred, I think."
"Okay, so if each maid has to clean fifteen rooms a day, let's say, then divide that into six hundred..." Ava did some mental math and said, "That's forty maids a day!"
Kacey asked, "But didn't Mr. Rivers say that the robberies have all taken place on our floor?"
"Right! I wonder how many rooms are on our floor..." Ava ventured.
"I saw on the signs outside the elevator that the room numbers go from two hundred to two-fifty," Emma told them.
Josh said, "So that means three or four maids work on each floor to clean fifty rooms."
"That certainly narrows it down," Kacey said, "But who wants to stay in the hotel all day following the maids around to see if they're stealing? We came down here to have a little fun."
"Yeah," they all replied.
"If we only had a security camera-" Kacey began.
"We do!" Ava said suddenly, "The hotel Security must have cameras on every hallway! If they recorded something happening on the day of our robbery, then we can watch it!"
"Great idea, Ava, but do you think Mr. Rivers will let us see them?" Kacey asked.
"Well, seeing how your uncle is the owner of this place, I think he might," Ava said with a grin on her face.
After lunch, the group decided to go for a swim at the hotel pool while Kacey and Ava talked with Mr. Rivers. Emma, Josh, and Rick headed toward the pool as Kacey and Ava found the Security office. Ava knocked on the door, and then tried the door.
"It's unlocked," she said, and pushed it open slowly.
A young receptionist sat behind a desk, typing on her computer. When the girls approached her desk, she smiled, asking, "How can I help you?"
Kacey said, "We're staying in room 220, and a few days ago we reported a robbery to Mr. Rivers. We'd like to ask him a question. Is he available?"
The secretary picked up her phone and said to them, "Let me see if he's available."
After speaking to Mr. Rivers, the secretary told them to go into his office.
The girls felt a little nervous approaching Mr. Rivers, but he smiled at them and asked them to take seats, and asked how they were doing.
"We're fine, thanks," Kacey replied, "But we were wondering if you have learned anything new about the robbery in our room."
"We're still investigating," he told them, "I will let you know as soon as anything develops on this case."
Ava asked, "I was wondering if the security ca
meras in the hallways record any activity."
Mr. Rivers nodded, "Yes, they do."
"And I wanted to know if anything showed up on them while we were out of the room during the robbery."
Mr.Rivers leaned forward and said, "Of course, we've looked at them several times and saw nothing suspicious at all."
"It might be a good idea to let us see the recordings of when we were out of the room. We might see someone we recognize," Ava said.
Mr. Rivers frowned, "Why? Do you suspect someone?"
"No, not specifically," Ava admitted, "But it doesn't hurt to try. Could we see the recording?"
Mr. Rivers was about to speak, but then he looked at Kacey, who tried her best to look hopeful. She smiled and wondered if he was recalling that her uncle owned the hotel.
"The hotel prefers to keep our guests' activities confidential. I'm sure you understand," he said politely.
"But when a crime has been committed," Ava replied, "Isn't it more important to find the perpetrator? Besides, anything we see on the recording will remain absolutely confidential."
Kacey said, "I understand your need to protect the hotel guests. I certainly don't want anything bad to get out about my uncle's hotel, and we're just as anxious to clear up this robbery as quickly and quietly as you are. We want to help in every way we can."
Mr. Rivers thought for a moment and said, "All right. I'll show you the recording, but you must promise not to tell anyone else what you see. Hotels are sometimes meeting places for secret affairs, if you know what I mean."
Ava smiled, "We certainly do, and our lips are sealed!"
Mr. Rivers led them through another door, into a dark room where another security officer sat at a computer before a wall of security monitors.
"Wow!" Ava exclaimed, "This is quite a system!"
Mr. Rivers grinned, "Yes, it is. We can see every floor inside this hotel, all the restaurants, the lobby, the pools, tennis courts, beaches, and parking lots."
Mr. Rivers asked the security officer to pull up the images from the day the girls' room was robbed. He nodded and searched for the files on his computer. Soon, he had the recordings playing on one of the monitors.
"This is from about three o'clock until the time you returned," Mr. Rivers said. The computer operator sped up the recording to make it go faster. The girls watched the screen and saw themselves and Emma heading out to the pool, carrying their towels and beach bags. There was no other activity at first, then a young woman with two children passed through the hall on her way to the elevators. Next, an older man passed by going in the opposite direction, away from their room. As the time and date stamp approached four-thirty, the girls noticed someone coming from the elevator towards their room, carrying a tray.
The young man with the tray was wearing a hotel uniform: a short jacket and black pants with a white shirt and bow tie. He stopped in front of room 220 and knocked. Then he used a key card to unlock the door.
"Look!" Kacey exclaimed, "Someone's going into our room!"
“It’s just a waiter from Room Service,” Mr. Rivers said.
“But we never ordered room service that afternoon,” Kacey said.
"Stop the recording!" Mr. Rivers ordered, "And run it back again slowly to see if we can get a look at his face."
The security officer tapped on the keys and replayed the scene frame by frame, but the young man in the video never looked up. Only the top of his head and his profile could be seen.
"Take a print of him...the best view you can get, and then copy it and send it to me immediately," Mr. Rivers told the officer.
"Do you recognize this man?" Mr. Rivers asked.
"No. Doesn't he work here at the hotel?" Kacey asked.
"We'll find out. Did you order any room service at all during the day of the robbery?"
The girls thought a moment and then Kacey said, "Yes, we did order breakfast that day. It came to our room and we ate it before going out."
"Did you order anything else later in the day? Extra towels or something for the mini-bar?" Mr. Rivers asked.
"No," they replied, shaking their heads. Ava continued, "We went to Sea World, then came back in the afternoon to change and go for a swim at the pool."
"Are you sure that the missing items were in your room before you went to the pool?" he asked.
Kacey nodded, saying, "I took off my necklace before I went to the pool, and when I came back, it was gone, along with the cash in my wallet."
"So the robbery must have happened during the time of this video," Mr. Rivers concluded.
"Yes," Ava replied, "And it looks like we have a suspect."
Mr. Rivers looked at the girls and said, "I apologize. I assumed someone had ordered something to be delivered. I should have asked you about it sooner."
Kacey and Ava smiled. Kacey said, "That's okay. At least we now have a lead."
"Would it be possible for me to have a copy of that photo sent to me?" asked Ava, "I can keep my eye open for this guy and let you know if I see him. If he works here at the hotel, I might see him again."
"Of course," Mr. Rivers nodded, "Where would you like it sent?"
"You can text it to me," Ava replied and gave him her number.
As the girls left his office, Ava asked him, "Would it be all right if I called you tomorrow to find out if you located this man?"
"Why don't I give you a call as soon as I find out if he works here or not? I have your cell number."
"Great! Thanks!" Ava smiled and shook his hand.
After leaving the office, Kacey turned to Ava and said, "Way to go, Sherlock! You're cracking this case!"