“I put them back in the bag,” Finn replied, motioning to the shopping bag on the room’s desk. I took the notecards out and peeled the cellophane off of them. Taking out a glittery pink gel pen next, I got to work.
On the first card, I wrote John Doe. I thought it was more appropriate than writing Freezer Man. On another notecard, I wrote Carmen Davis. I laid the two notecards out beside one another. Were these two individual murders somehow related? At this point I couldn’t answer that. I assumed so, but I had no evidence. However, I remembered what Detective Hart of the Las Vegas Police Department had once told me. She didn’t believe in coincidences. Not where murder was concerned.
On another notecard, I jotted down what we knew of Carmen. She was a scholar. Treasure hunter. Curious. This could very well be a case where curiosity got the poor girl killed. Then I wrote Mariah’s name on a card. Mr. Alvarez said her last name was Boulet. I still needed to do some research and see why that name was familiar to me. Maybe my dad would know. History was his thing.
What did we know about her? She was betrothed to a Roberto, and as far as we knew, he was the only suspect in her death. I wasn’t sure how to find out any more information on her case, but maybe Google had something.
Next, I took out a green glitter pen to write out a list of suspects. It was surprisingly short. Mr. Roberto was the first, and only, name I jotted down. His motives? For that I wrote family legacy. Business reputation. Perhaps even greed. Who were my other suspects? I felt that Angel and Miguel had both checked out. Perhaps Miguel even more so seeing he seemed to have a crush on Carmen. I remembered once again him calling her Shorty. Also, he was surprised to hear that she had quit. I don’t think he could have faked that expression, but I could be wrong.
“What about AJ?” Finn said over my shoulder.
“I don’t know.”
“Think about it. You said he was surprised when you asked about Carmen and that he looked like he had a lot on his mind. Maybe it was guilt, and he played it off as worry.”
“What’s his motive then?” I asked Finn.
“The gold. They could have found it and he killed her to keep it all for himself.”
“Okay, I guess I can follow that, but how did they both get into Mr. Hayden’s room? What were they doing there in the first place?” I couldn’t forget that’s where the initial attack had taken place. That was crucial, and I didn’t know why.
With that last thought in mind, I wrote another name on a notecard. James Hayden. Maybe I was being biased because I didn’t like the man, but if I could somehow make something stick on him, I would love it.
“Speaking of which, we never did check out his room with a black light,” Finn said after reading the name over my shoulder.
“No, we didn’t, but with my aunt gone, I’m not sure how we’re going to gain access to his room.” I looked at the time. It was just after 8 PM. This was turning out to be the longest day of my life. However, the timing would be perfect for a little breaking and entering. With any luck, Mr. Hayden would be out with his colleagues. We just had to get into his room. Then I had a great idea.
“Maybe Piper would be willing to help us out.” I sincerely hoped the girl had some resolve and she hadn’t gone running back to Mr. Hayden the second he called. I’d like to think my talk had made a difference, but then again, I didn’t know Piper well enough to make that sort of a judgment call.
Piper opened her hotel room door wearing a comfy pair of jammies with a pint of ice cream in her hand. Her eyes were a little pink and puffy, but her resolve seemed solid. “I’ve been updating my resume. I should be able to send it to you tonight.”
“That’s awesome. I look forward to checking it out. How are you holding up though?” I asked.
“Fine, I guess. I called it off with him. He laughed. Thinks I’ll change my mind by tonight. Men are such jerks. Present company excluded,” she said to Finn.
Finn nodded.
I laughed. Except for her insult to the opposite sex, her reply was just what I had wanted to hear. “Can we come in for a minute?” I asked.
Piper opened the door the rest of the way and led us into her room.
“Remember when I thought someone had been attacked in Mr. Hayden’s room?” I asked.
“Yes, but I swear we never saw anything,” Piper replied.
“That’s fine, but I still want to check it out.” Finn held up the black light. “This light can detect evidence that can’t be seen with the naked eye. I’d like to cast it around their room and see if anything turns up. Do you happen to know if he’s in?”
“He’s not. He took Kitty—that’s his wife’s name—out to an anniversary dinner. He asked if I’d be up for a rendezvous with him later tonight.” Ugh, that man was disgusting. I saw Finn punch his fist into the palm of his other hand. Yeah, he felt the same way. “He said he’d leave the door open for when I changed my mind,” Piper added.
“Well, it looks like his arrogance just cost him his privacy,” I replied.
“That it did,” Piper replied.
Piper went through the adjoining room door first to make sure the coast was clear. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be as unexpected if she was the one who showed up in their room. “All clear” she hollered back to us.
The Haydens’ room looked much the same as it had the first time I was in it. Well, except that Mrs. Hayden’s cosmetics were no longer in the guest bathroom. I had no idea what evidence we would possibly find given they had hosted a party in the room the night before, but hopefully we would find something. Finn handed me the black light while he walked over and closed the wall of curtains. As the room became enveloped in darkness, I sincerely hoped Mariah wouldn’t make another appearance, or worse yet, Carmen. Not going to lie, I refrained from looking into any mirrors while we were in there. I wasn’t going to chance it. Instead, I focused on casting the light where it needed to go. And I hit pay dirt.
“Bingo,” I said.
“Well, will you look at that,” Finn replied.
“What is that?!” Piper asked.
“I think it’s blood,” I replied. A glowing, splattering trail led from the window, across the carpet, and to the fireplace where it ended abruptly.
“What do you make of that?” Finn asked me.
“I have no idea.”
The three of us were left staring at the fireplace. The mantle and the adjoining bookcases looked completely spotless. I was going to ask someone to turn on the light when the black light picked up the faintest set of fingerprints on one of the accent tiles. I looked closer at the bloodied print, trying to make sense of it. This time I did ask someone to turn on the light.
“On it,” Piper said.
Finn picked up on why I was examining the tile so closely. It appeared to be recessed ever so slightly.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Finn asked. His eyes were now bright with excitement.
“Only one way to find out,” I replied.
“What are you guys even talking about?” Piper asked.
I used my elbow to push in on the tile, careful to avoid the evidence. There was a click, and the bookshelf on the other side of the fireplace swung inward.
Piper jumped back. I think I might have too.
“Cool,” Finn whispered to himself.
“Now we know how Carmen’s body left the room,” I replied. I then thought back to the other night when I had heard someone speaking through the walls and the thumping sounds. Could the killer have been moving Carmen’s body? Or maybe the mystery man’s? That thought freaked me out even more than a ghost.
“Let’s see where it goes,” Finn said. He had poked his head inside the opening and was already exploring. I was pretty sure I knew exactly where it went.
“Don’t we need flashlights?” Piper looked apprehensive.
“No time. Who knows when the Haydens will be back,” I said, sounding braver than I felt. I took out my personal cell phone and clicked the flashlight app on. “Let
’s roll.”
The bookcase whooshed shut behind us. A spring locked it in place. The secret passage entrance made a right angle to the left and revealed a set of stairs. On one side of us were large stone bricks and the ocean. On the other side were two-by-fours and drywall. The space was tight. I couldn’t have extended my arms out all the way if I had wanted to.
The passage was as dark and dingy as you would expect one to be in a two-hundred-year-old hotel. The wooden stairs were covered in dust. Cobwebs floated in the air and clung in between the open-backed steps. We were literally walking between the walls. I shuddered. I really, really, really hated spiders. It was almost bad enough for me to turn around and go back up the stairs and tell Finn that I would meet him in the arcade. Unfortunately, I had a feeling that room was now crawling with cops.
“Babe, maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” I said. Piper, who had been walking behind me, agreed. Her face glowed white from the light of her cell phone. She looked about as comfortable as I felt.
“I just want to see if the passage has more than one exit,” Finn replied.
“Okay, but if it doesn’t, I don’t think we should be walking out of some secret entrance where Carmen’s body was just found. The detective would book us for murder for sure.”
“Murder?! Why us?” Piper asked incredulously. I smiled inwardly. Piper really was young and innocent. I could see how easy it was for Mr. Hayden to take advantage of her. Finn explained why it would make us look bad while we continued to descend the stairs. Meanwhile, I wondered if Piper’s innocence transferred over to the charges against Mr. Hayden.
“What do you know about Mr. Hayden’s legal trouble?” I asked Piper. I was careful to keep my voice low so none of the other guests in their rooms would hear us.
“Oh, I know he’s guilty. What do you think the topic of this week’s powwow has been?” Neither Finn nor I said anything. “They’re trying to cover their tails. I felt so sorry for everyone when I heard they were in trouble, but you know what? It’s not my problem.”
“You don’t think that you could be implicated in any way?” Finn asked.
“No, if anything, I could be an asset to the prosecution. I have all the original communications.” I nodded my head in approval even though I doubted she could see me.
The stairs ended at a flat narrow hallway. Finn had been right. The passage had several exits.
“Which one do we choose?” Piper asked.
It was impossible to know the answer, having no idea where any of the doors led to. Finn held his ear up against one of the wooden door frames. I was glad he offered, seeing as I had no intention of putting my face that close to where spiders were sure to reside.
“I think it’s the dining room.” Finn listened closer. “Oh wait, make that the kitchen. I can hear dishes clanking. There’s a lot of chatter.”
I closed my eyes and pictured the layout of the hotel. Down the hallway was a lounge and restaurant area, followed by the coffee and dessert stand, and then came the game room.
“That would make sense. I’m betting this is how they got the mystery man into the freezer,” I offered.
In front of us, the passage made a sharp turn to the right and revealed another set of stairs going down. I did not want to go into the basement again. “Let’s not and say we did,” I said to Finn.
He laughed. “Come on, girls. It’ll be fun.”
“The hotel has a basement?” Piper asked.
“Yes, and it’s super creepy.” I could only imagine how much creepier the secret passage was down there. Not only were we in a tight space, but now we were headed below ground. It seemed like the perfect place for a vengeful ghost to hang out, too.
“It makes sense,” Finn said on our way down. “The passage can’t go straight across the restaurant. Remember, there’s that wall of windows with the outdoor patio?”
I hated how calm Finn sounded when I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. But the outside dining? Now that I did remember. The restaurant’s oceanfront patio was amazing. We had taken advantage of it a few times this week. Of course, that’s when we were still relishing in our honeymoon bliss. Was that just a couple of days ago? It seemed like ages. Murder investigations had a tendency to warp time.
Finn had been right. Once we were down the stairs, the passage leveled off and turned to the left after a short distance. Another left-hand turn was up ahead. It appeared were making a giant rectangle. At the end of the hallway was another staircase headed up. I looked behind me to make sure no ghosties were trailing us and headed up the stairs as quickly as possible. Piper was right on my heels. Up top, there was a door to the left.
“That has to be the arcade,” I said.
Again, Finn put his ear up to the door frame and nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, I can hear Miguel talking.”
“What’s he saying?” I asked.
“Not sure. I think he’s trying to describe what the witness looked like.”
“That would be me,” I said. Hopefully Miguel would make up a good one. “Now what are we going do? Go all the way back down and around?” That prospect didn’t have much appeal, but I didn’t see any other exit. I had a feeling that the Haydens would be back in their room by now. But I didn’t want to spend the next several hours hiding out in the secret passage either. I looked at my phone. The flashlight app was quickly draining my battery.
“What about that other door?” Piper asked.
“What other door?” I asked.
“The one that was down in the basement,” she said.
I looked to Finn. I had no idea what she was talking about and it looked like he didn’t either.
“Here, I’ll show you,” Piper said.
We followed Piper back down the stairs. The small exit she had found was not more than two feet wide. It was made out of stone. I was betting that from the outside it blended right in. I put my hand up to the door’s frame, but couldn’t feel any air. Finn pushed hard on the door, but the exit didn’t budge.
“Here, let me help.” I turned and put my shoulder into it. The stone dug into my skin. My lacy tank top had not been the best choice of wardrobe. From now on, I was packing my mystery-solving ensembles whenever we traveled.
“How about we all put our weight on it and push, on the count of three, okay?” Finn asked.
I moved over so Piper could gain purchase. We turned to face the exit and put our palms on the door. “One, two, —” together we came flailing out of the hidden stone door. I fell hard on the packed dirt floor.
16
It was a root cellar, but instead of being filled with food, it was stacked to the ceiling with boxes and crates. Finn had helped me up and together we explored the room.
“What did you find over there?” I asked Piper.
“Just junk.” Piper was rummaging through a crate and held up some old dishes and a rusted-out pot.
I echoed Piper’s sentiments. The box I was searching through was full of hardware—doorknobs, sconces, cabinet pulls, coat hooks. It seemed the Robertos never threw anything away.
“Why keep all this?” Piper asked.
“I have no clue,” I replied. I turned and started sorting through a stack of old mirrors that had been propped up against the wall. The mirrors seemed old and heavy, and were probably left over from a past remodel.
“Look at this one,” I said to Finn. It was a heavy gold-plated mirror with fancy flowers and leaves etched into it. I recognized its sister mirror hanging in our room. And then I shuddered. It was the same mirror that Mariah had popped up in. I quickly pushed the mirrors back against the wall, not chancing it.
“What’s that?” Finn asked.
“Nothing, never mind,” I said.
Finn swiped his finger on the exterior wall and rubbed it together with his thumb. You could feel the moisture and smell the mustiness in the air.
I continued to look around the room, but didn’t find anything of interest. Any excitement I had at finding the
secret room was replaced with dread when I realized we were still stuck between the walls.
“What do you think, chance the Haydens’ room or wait it out?” I asked.
“Neither. I found a plan C,” Finn said. He pointed to a ladder tucked in the corner and a trap door in the ceiling.
Piper and I gathered and watched Finn head up the ladder. He pushed on the trapdoor, lifting it up and sliding the wood over inside. He pulled the top half of his body up and looked around. “It’s the gardening shed,” he said back down to us.
“Really?” I replied.
Finn walked the rest of the way up, and Piper and I followed after him. Finn was right, the storage shed was full of gardening tools, the lawnmower, and the bags of lime that Mr. Roberto had been so upset about. I walked around the shed for moment until my cell phone battery died and I lost my light.
“We’re going to have to head back soon—” But as I said the words, I stopped short. “Oh my gosh, look at that,” I said to Finn.
Hanging up on a nail above his shoulder and illuminated from his light were the binoculars.
“Your binoculars, babe.”
“How in the heck did they get in here?” Finn asked.
“Angel must have picked them up.” Honestly, I didn’t care where they came from. I was just glad to have them back.
“You guys ready to head back?” Piper asked.
“Absolutely,” I replied. I turned to Finn, but his mouth was frozen in horror. I looked over my shoulder and wish I hadn’t. Carmen’s ghost was standing behind me. Her fists were balled up and her look was murderous. Piper shrieked and raced to stand at my side.
“Where’s the gold?” Carmen’s voice was low and raspy.
I swallowed hard trying to find my voice. Finn shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “I don’t know.” I think Piper was in shock.
“We…we don’t have any gold,” I said.
Beauty & Bloodshed: A romantic, cozy mystery: Beauty Secrets Mystery Book 5 Page 11