Web of Deceit

by M A Comley

  “All right, Megan, there’s no need to get shirty. I’m sure Cleo didn’t mean any offence by the question.”

  Cleo shook her head and sucked in her cheeks. “No, I no mean offence. I like you girls. You is very beautiful,” she said, again trying it on with Tina. “You wear pretty black undies, yes?”

  Megan puffed out her cheeks and shook her head in disgust. She slammed her hand on the table, and her plate and cutlery jumped into the air, frightening the other two women. “That’s enough. You’ve gone too far. Look around you, Cleo. Is this why your restaurant is empty? Do you treat all the guests at the hotel in the same way?”

  The receptionist and the waitress poked their heads around the doorway to the restaurant and looked embarrassed by their boss’s outrageous behaviour. Megan couldn’t really tell if the woman was guilty of being overly friendly or if she was actually drunk. She had no intention of getting close enough to smell the woman’s breath, either.

  “I’m sorry. I’m just being friendly. Let me buy you both a drink to apologise. Or better still, you come up to my room and we have a little party together. You get free drinks galore up there, I promise you.”

  Jesus, woman! Don’t you ever take no for an answer? Megan was tempted to be really rude to the woman, but Tina issued her a warning look. “We’re going to have to refuse your kind offer. We’re tired. We’re going back to our room to rest. It’s been a very long day.”

  Cleo frowned and tutted. “Phooey, you can rest when you’re dead. Come, ’ave some fun in my room.” She leaned in close to Tina. “You’ll come, won’t you?”

  Tina’s cheeks coloured up. “No. Maybe some other time. Like Megan said, we’re both exhausted from the travelling.”

  Cleo beamed and tapped her nose. “I understand. You want to be alone. But three can have just as much fun as, if not more than, two. I’m going now. Here’s my room number in case you change your mind.” She pulled a pen and a business card from her pocket then wrote on the back of the card. With a wink, she handed it to Tina. “Anytime. You hear me?”

  “Thank you. You’re very kind,” Tina said calmly.

  Megan watched the woman wind her way back through the empty tables into reception and heard her issuing orders to the staff before she departed. Then she heaved a huge sigh. “Jesus, persistent little shit, wasn’t she? How embarrassing!” She shuddered. “She made my bloody skin crawl. Looks like she took a real shine to you, hon. Love that ‘black don’t crack’ bit.”

  Tina chuckled. “What a bloody carry-on. No wonder this place is empty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hotel’s restaurant so deserted before. Have you seen how many cars were parked in that car park?”

  “It is bizarre.”

  The waitress appeared to remove their plates. “Would you like a dessert, ladies?”

  “I don’t think I have any appetite left after that unsavoury incident. Is she always like that?”

  “Sadly, yes. She drinks a lot, you see. I’m so sorry it has spoiled your evening. She’s my boss. It is difficult for me to tell her to leave the restaurant.”

  “It’s not your fault. I completely understand your embarrassment. Does she do this sort of thing often? Your food is superb, and yet your restaurant is empty. Is she the reason for that?”

  The waitress’s awkward smile spoke volumes. “My hours are the same, but she has cut my wages because of the lack of business. I’m stuck. I live here at the hotel in a very cramped room with some of the other staff. I have no way of getting away from here. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be telling you this.” She bowed then swiftly retreated from the room.

  Megan and Tina looked at each other and shook their heads.

  “It’s incredible to think she’s punishing the staff for the way she’s behaving. If I wasn’t so tired, I’d pack up and leave,” Tina whispered.

  “I’m with you on that one. Jesus, am I really doing the right thing, coming to this area? After what we’ve been through in the last forty-eight hours, I’m beginning to wonder if I wouldn’t be better off staying in France.”

  “I don’t blame you for thinking that way. I can’t even reassure you, either, as I’m not from around here. Let’s go to our room. At least we won’t be interrupted by crazy hotel owners up there.”

  “You hope,” Megan said, pushing back her chair and leaving the table.

  When they reached the receptionist, she apologised again for her boss’s behaviour.

  Megan smiled. “It’s not your fault. No real harm done. Will you put the meal on the invoice, and we’ll pay for it in the morning?”

  “Of course, consider it done. Good evening, ladies. Sleep well.”

  They entered their room and flopped onto their separate beds. Megan switched on the TV. The mindless karaoke show that she really hated was on the first channel she tried. “No thanks!” She flicked through the other channels, only to be disappointed. Her eyelids began to droop. “Sod it! I’m ready to turn in for the night. Are you?”

  “Definitely.”

  Megan was the first to use the bathroom and hop into bed. She checked her messages on her phone while Tina brushed her teeth. She was almost asleep by the time her friend came out of the bathroom.

  “Are you awake?” Tina whispered.

  “Not for long, I hope. I’ve never been so tired.”

  “Must be all the excitement we’ve experienced over the last couple of days. I’m used to travelling, but I have to agree, I’ve never felt so tired, either.” Tina packed her toiletry bag in her holdall and removed the clothes she intended to wear the next day.

  “God, you’re super organised.”

  “Habit, I suppose. Goodnight, Megan. I hope you don’t have any nightmares about the delectable Cleo.”

  “Gosh, thanks for the reminder. I probably will now that you’ve mentioned her.” Once Tina was settled in bed, Megan reached out and turned off the bedside light.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The clock on the bedside table read seven thirty. Megan lifted her head to see if Tina was still asleep; she wasn’t. She strained an ear to see if she could hear the shower running—nothing. Megan twisted her neck to relieve the knots there and checked her phone for messages. She had none. The lack of messages wasn’t all that strange, considering the only person who ever really contacted her was actually sharing a room with her right at that moment. She yawned several times, sat up and propped the pillows against the headboard behind her. Ten minutes passed, and still, no sign of life had come from the bathroom.

  Megan tiptoed across the bedroom floor, stubbing her toe on her bag near the bottom of the bed, and tapped on the bathroom door. “Morning, Tina. Are you all right?”

  When no answer came, Megan tried the handle on the door. It opened. Tentatively, she walked into the bathroom to find it empty. She rushed back into the bedroom, and her gaze immediately went to the floor. Tina’s bag was missing. What the fuck? Where the hell has she gone? Why didn’t she wake me? Megan shook aside the worrying thoughts and picked up the room’s phone.

  “Hello, reception. How can I help?”

  “Hi, I’m in Room 207. I can’t find my friend. Can you tell me if she’s in the dining room eating breakfast, please?”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Tina Lloyd.”

  “One moment.”

  The phone clattered onto the desk, and Megan drummed her fingers on her knee as she waited for the receptionist to return.

  “Hello? I’m sorry. She’s not here.”

  “What? Can you tell me if she booked out?”

  “No, no one has booked out of the hotel this morning. Is there anything else you need?”

  Megan shook her head in disbelief and hung up the phone without saying another word. She rushed over to the window. “Damn, I can’t see the car from here.” After spotting her coat on the small sofa in the room, she searched the pockets for her car keys and let out a relieved breath when she found them. She was disappointed in herself for thinking that her new-fo
und Facebook friend had swiped her keys and stolen her car. She chastised herself for being so selfish.

  What do I do now? She must’ve crept out of the hotel in the early hours of the morning. Or did she? What if someone has abducted her? Cleo perhaps? Jesus, what can I do? I can’t see the hotel staff helping me look for her if their boss is involved.

  She sat on the edge of her bed for another half an hour while she decided what her plan of action should be. In the end, she showered and dressed quickly, then picked up her phone, Googled the local police station, and called them.

  “Hello, I need help. My friend has gone missing.”

  “When was this, ma’am?” an officious-sounding policeman asked.

  “During the night.”

  “Ah, then it’s far too soon to file a missing person report, I’m afraid. Call back tomorrow and we’ll look into it.”

  “But you don’t understand. So many strange things have occurred in the past few days, I genuinely think she might have been abducted. Please, you have to help me.”

  “Hold the line a moment.”

  Megan closed her eyes and held her breath. Please, please, please change your mind.

  “Can I have your address, miss? You’re in luck, one of our best officers is willing to assist you.”

  “I’m staying at the Elsa Lee Hotel. Do you know it?”

  “That I do. DI Sally Parker will be with you shortly. Can you wait in reception for her to arrive?”

  “Of course. Thank you, thank you so much. I really appreciate this.”

  “Expect her in fifteen minutes,” the officer told her before he disconnected the line.

  ***

  DI Sally Parker was walking through the reception area of the police station, when the woman’s frantic call came in. She made it her business to always be vigilant at work and soon picked up the need to help the caller the desk sergeant had been speaking to. She ran up the stairs to inform her partner. Jack was already at his desk, sorting through the morning’s post and distributing it into various piles. She spotted the largest pile from the doorway. “Morning, Jack. Don’t tell me that one is intended for me.”

  He nodded. “Yep, how did you guess?”

  “Because it’s the size of Mount bloody Everest. Okay, that’ll have to wait. Come with me.”

  Jack slipped on his jacket and pushed away from his desk. He caught Sally up in the hallway at the top of the stairs. “What’s going on, boss?”

  “We have a missing person on our hands, and before you say that’s not our department, I’m saying we should forget the rules on this one and take a look. According to the desk sergeant, the caller—a woman called Megan Carmen—sounded distraught and said that strange things had happened to her and her friend over the last few days. That’s led her to believe her friend has been abducted.”

  “Oh right! Not another alien abduction case to bin after the caller has wasted several hours of our time,” Jack complained.

  “Stop whining. We won’t know what the true circumstances are until we get there. Let’s keep an open mind on this one until then, eh, partner?”

  At the hotel, which was a ten-minute drive from the station, Sally and Jack walked up the steps and into the reception area.

  He let out a muffled whistle. “Posh pad.”

  “I think I read somewhere that it had recently been refurbished. I bet that’s Megan Carmen over there.” Sally pointed at a woman in her forties sitting on one of the elaborate gold two-seater sofas, clutching her bag on her lap. “Miss Carmen? I’m DI Sally Parker, and this is my partner, DS Jack Blackman.” Sally flashed her warrant card as proof.

  The woman stood up and gave them a relieved smile. “I’m so glad you’re here. Tina still hasn’t shown up. I’m so worried that something dreadful has happened to her. Please, you have to help me.”

  “We’ll promise to do our best. I’m going to see if the hotel has a spare room we can use to have a chat. Actually, Jack, can you do that for me?”

  He walked over to the reception desk and swiftly returned. “The receptionist told us to go through to the banqueting hall next door. We shouldn’t be disturbed there.”

  Jack picked up Megan’s holdall and led the way. Once the three of them were seated at a table situated in the centre of the room, away from prying eyes and ears, Jack took out his notebook and began taking down notes.

  “So, why don’t you tell us why you believe your friend Tina has been abducted? Do you live far?”

  “I live in Normandy, France. Tina and I are Facebook friends. This is the first time we’ve met in real life.”

  Sally glanced at her partner, who had his head down and an eyebrow raised. “I see. So your friend could’ve easily just taken off without telling you. Is that what you’re saying?”

  Megan shrugged. “I suppose so. We were just getting along so well, I really can’t see why she would do that.”

  “So you haven’t had an argument?” Sally asked, perplexed.

  “No. Nothing like that at all. Why don’t I start at the beginning and let you decide for yourselves? I’m not making this up or reading things into this, I swear, Inspector. Hear me out and then decide, okay?”

  “Very well. Take your time.” Sally watched the woman intently as she painstakingly ran through the events she’d encountered during the past forty-eight hours. The woman seemed genuine enough—confused by her adventure at times, but genuine. However, Sally had enough experience to always look at a situation from different angles. Why meet up with a perfect stranger and volunteer to spend time with them, alone?

  “So, you say you had problems at the first hotel—the rabbit incident, and the owner of the hotel and Tina both regarded that as what? Just one of those things that goes on in the countryside?”

  “I was shocked, but yes, they seemed to shrug off the incident without a second thought.”

  “Then there was the episode with the man sitting in his car. You say Tina didn’t really baulk at that problem, either?”

  “No, and when I mentioned that I saw the same man at the first house we went to view, she treated me like someone who had escaped from the local mental hospital or something. I swear I’m telling you the truth, Inspector.”

  “Okay. Then you said that you and Tina had encountered a sour-tasting incident right here in this hotel only last night.”

  “Yes, and when I woke up this morning, Tina was missing. Don’t you see how bizarre all of this is? If we’d stumbled upon just one of those strange events, I wouldn’t be thinking anything about it, but to have all those things occur to us within a few days is worrying, don’t you think?”

  “Well, I have to admit that it all sounds a little strange. Thinking logically about things, yes, Tina is now missing. However, the other occurrences might not be linked. They can hardly be deemed as crimes of the decade, can they? So you’ll have to forgive my unwillingness to delve into those other events, but we can certainly look into what occurred here last night and see if we can connect the dots to where Tina is now.”

  Megan sighed and relaxed against her chair. “Thank you. For a moment there, I was beginning to think I had lost my mind.”

  Maybe you have, but for now, I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, lady. “Have you checked your car this morning?”

  “No. I ensured my keys were where I left them in my pocket, but it was too cold out there to check first thing. Should I? Do you think she might have left me a note or something?”

  “I’m not sure. Jack, can you go take a look for me?”

  Jack held out his hand for Megan’s car keys, slid his notebook across the table to Sally and left the hotel. A silence filled the room until he reappeared. “Nothing.”

  Sally returned his notebook to him. “Right, we’ll start by questioning the staff here, see if anyone saw your friend leave the hotel or wandering around the hallways during the night. I’ll need you to stay in the vicinity. Is that okay with you?”

  “I had a few appointment
s booked to visit some houses, but I can cancel them. I’d feel uncomfortable staying here, though, being under the watchful gaze of the staff who I’m accusing of abducting Tina.”

  “I can understand where you’re coming from. Let’s see how things go for the next hour or so and revisit the situation. How’s that?”

  “Fine. I’ll ring the agents now.”

  Sally and Jack left the table while Megan used her mobile.

  Jack leaned in and whispered, “What do you think? Has she lost her marbles? Is this going to turn out to be a wild goose chase or what?”

  “I haven’t got a clue, Jack. Let’s see first if anyone who was on duty last night can corroborate the story she gave us about the hotel owner. Then we’ll re-evaluate the facts, all right?”

  “Yep, sounds good to me. Want me to ask the receptionist if they’ve got a spare room we can use to question the staff?”

  “My guess is she’ll tell us to question people in this room. If she does, what shall we do with Megan over there?”

  “You want to keep an eye on her at the same time, I’m guessing.”

  “I’d like to, but then I want the staff to speak openly with us. They might not do that if she’s in the same room. Maybe she should sit in reception until we’re finished.”

  “You’re on the ball as usual, boss. I’ll go back to reception and get a list of the staff who were on duty last night and go from there.”

  “I’ll try and find out a little more about Megan Carmen in the meantime.” Sally withdrew her phone from her pocket and called her team.

  Stuart answered the call.

  “Stu, do me a favour and run a background check on a Miss Megan Carmen. She lives in Normandy, France.”

  “Is that it? Can’t you be more specific, boss?”

  “Hold on, I’ll ask, even though I was trying to do this discreetly.” She walked back to Megan, keeping Stuart on hold. “Can I have your address in France, Megan, just for our records?”

  “It would be better if I wrote it down for you.”

  “I’ll call you back, Stu.” Sally gave Megan her notebook and watched the woman write out in capital letters her French address. “Crikey, I’m not surprised you suggested that. They sure make it complicated over there, don’t they?”