Supernatural Psychic Mysteries: Four Book Boxed Set: (Misty Sales Cozy Mystery Suspense series)

by Morgana Best

  “Skinny’s going to kill us,” Melissa said casually as we inspected room numbers, keys in hand.

  “Why is that?” I looked at Melissa, and then slapped myself on my forehead. “That’s right. We were supposed to call as soon as we got in.”

  “Technically, we just checked in. Our rooms weren’t ready,” Melissa pointed out. “But there are cell phones.”

  “We couldn’t be overheard talking to her, though?” I chewed my lip thoughtfully. This wasn’t the first time we’d had to brainstorm ways to avoid the wrath of Skinny.

  “That should work. We could invent a haunted room to sidetrack her with. She loves a good story about that sort of thing. Maybe she’ll extend our stay,” Melissa said hopefully.

  I was distracted for a moment by an oil painting of a man hunting a lion. I hoped the lion had gotten away. “I wouldn’t count on it. I think we used up our luck by having our own rooms.”

  Melissa gave me a sly smile. “Good point. Chances are we’re going to be working nonstop once we call in. I vote we wait and enjoy our rooms a little bit before she rubs our noses into the grindstone. I’m dying for a good bath.”

  “Oh, that sounds nice, but part of me doesn’t want to chance it. Still, it’d be lovely to enjoy an oversized bath tub before the illusion of a vacation is broken.”

  Melissa smiled conspiratorially as she saw me wavering. “Come on. She’s going to give us grief, anyway. What’s thirty more minutes before she warns us not to waddle into work fat on bonbons?”

  That bath was sounding better by the minute. It would feel so much better without Skinny’s remarks and twenty deadlines. I felt like I was a teenager trying to sneak out of class. Bath or Skinny? Bath or Skinny?

  I agreed. “I guess a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt,” I said, getting a grateful smile from Melissa as we looked for our rooms. “I wonder if there’s a room that no one stays in due to ghosts.”

  “We’ll ask house keeping later. They’re always good for friendly rumors and gossip.” Melissa gave a small hop as she spied our room numbers. “Finally.”

  I unlocked my room, and turned to speak with Melissa, but she was already gone, the door swinging shut behind her.

  I took her cue and escaped into my room. I paused in the doorway as I stared in awe. The room was absolutely gorgeous, with fresh flowers by the bed and jade statues decorating the shelves. Long, satin curtains graced magnificent crystal-clear windows.

  It was still hard to believe that this was an assignment. I had to wonder where the budget was for all this. I crossed the room to a dark polished chest of drawers and wondered whether I should unpack now, but instead, I looked out the window at the rolling landscape and deep valley below. Sure enough, Melissa had been on the money. Even in the afternoon sun, I could already see mist gathering in the distance.

  I let the curtain fall and then glanced at the phone. I felt a guilty twinge over not calling in right away, but a few minutes wouldn’t kill anybody.

  I turned on the light to my bathroom, holding my breath in anticipation, and let it out in a high pitched cry of surprise as I dropped my things on the floor, stumbling backward as I took in the scene.

  A gorgeous, picture perfect bathroom, with a tub the size of a small pool, sumptuous Victorian wall mirrors, and a dead man lying on the mosaic-tiled floor.

  Chapter 4

  I gasped as I stumbled backward, my hands trembling as I looked at the lifeless man. His empty eyes seemed to stare into mine with puzzlement from his blue-tinged, sunken face. I tried to scream, but no sound came from my open mouth.

  Suddenly, my heart sank as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

  In that moment, my mind went blank and a feeling of horror gripped me. Gasping for air, I ran out of the bathroom and grabbed the phone that rested on the table beside the large bed. I dialed the front desk and then waited for the clerk to put a stop to the incessant ringing as images of the dead man flashed by in my mind, reminding me of the terrifying discovery that sat in the next room.

  “Hello, this is the reception desk. What can I do for you?” the cheerful voice replied.

  “Hello, I need an ambulance and police to room 217 right away,” I blurted out, gasping for air as the words left my lips. “There’s a dead man in my bathroom.”

  “Excuse me, ma’am? Did you say that there was a dead body in your hotel room?” the voice said.

  “Yes, that’s what I said. Please send for help right away!” I could hear my own voice was hysterical, but that was precisely how I was feeling.

  The clerk said something and the line went dead. I placed the phone back down on the table near the bed. I tried to stop trembling. What was going on? Of all the rooms in the grand hotel, I just had to have the one with a corpse in my room. As I waited for a knock on my door, I thought about the man. Was it Lucas Wallace, the missing lawyer? I was a journalist. I had to get control of my emotions and look at the body.

  I poked my head inside the suite’s bathroom, my eyes shut tightly to keep out the fear until I was ready to face it. When I felt brave enough, I slowly opened them and had a quick look at the body. The man wore a dark suit and tie. Was it Lucas Wallace? I thought so. I had seen him on TV from time to time, but couldn’t quite remember what he looked like.

  I hurried from the bathroom and walked over to the bed, sitting at its edge to wait for the police. My hands trembled violently.

  It seemed like an age before there was a knock at the door. I pulled open the door to see several people standing in the hallway. I assumed the man in front was in charge as he had a small notepad ready to scribble in.

  “You found a deceased person in your bathroom,” he said. It was a statement rather than a question.

  “Yes,” I said, standing aside to let them all in.

  “Was this man someone who was staying in the room with you?” the officer asked.

  “No!” I clutched my throat. “I’ve never met the man before. I don’t know anything about him.”

  “Well, you sit out here and we’ll take a look, okay?” he said, pointing toward a large chair. He then turned to another officer and whispered, “Carl, you should go out in the hall and call in the forensic team. If the look on that girl’s face is any indication, we’re going to need them.”

  “Yes, sir,” the cop said before heading toward the exit.

  Pretending I hadn’t overheard their conversation, I turned toward the chair and walked over to it. I sat down and watched as the cops disappeared into the bathroom. After a few minutes of inaudible chatter, several flashes of light flickered from inside the bathroom.

  Finally, the first officer reappeared. He approached me with a solemn look on his face. “May I please have your name, miss?” he said, flipping open his notepad.

  “Yes, of course. I’m Misty Sales. My friend, Melissa, is staying down the hall. We literally just got to the hotel and were given our rooms. When I came in, I found the man lying there. I didn’t know what to do, so I just called reception right away. I didn’t touch him or anything of the sort,” I explained, swallowing the lump in my throat.

  “Ah, I see,” the officer replied, scribbling intently in his pad. “What did you and your friend come here for?”

  I was caught off guard by the blunt question. “Excuse me?”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but these are just routine questions that we need to ask everyone. It will help point suspicion away from you, that’s all.” His voice seemed sincere, but I wasn’t sure what he was actually thinking. Did he assume I might be involved?

  I sighed and shook my head. “The magazine sent us. My friend and I work for a magazine and our editor sent us here to do an article on…” I hesitated, not wanting to say the story was on Lucas Wallace “…the Hydro Majestic.”

  “Magazine’s name?’ the officer barked.

  I sighed. “Horrors and Haunts.”

  The officer’s eyebrows rose, but he did not comment. “Okay, and was this friend of yours here when yo
u discovered the body?”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “She doesn’t even know.”

  “All right, so you haven’t been in this suite prior to finding him, correct?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I literally just got the room,” I said, watching the officer as he stared at his pad and wrote in it some more. “Is he famous or something?” I asked without thinking, but as soon as I saw the cop’s eyes light up, I regretted the question.

  “Famous? Why would you ask that?” he said, now watching me closely.

  “I thought he looked a bit familiar. I think I’ve seen him on the news a few times. I could be wrong, though.”

  The officer shook his head. “I can’t discuss his identification.”

  The officer referred to as Carl returned, followed by several people in white outfits and blue gloves. “Come in,” the first officer said, motioning for them to enter. He turned to me. “I have some more questions, if I may.”

  “Yes?” I asked, my chest growing tight. I was innocent, of course, but the scrutiny made me feel guilty.

  “Where were you today, until you got to the hotel?”

  “On a train,” I said, frustrated by the pointless questions. I understood that they were just doing their jobs, but I had nothing to do with the man in my bathroom. “We were on the train for a few hours and then had to wait in the hotel for our rooms to be ready. As soon as the reception desk got word that they were, they handed us our card keys and sent us up.”

  “Hmm, so there’s no way anyone got into this room after housekeeping did and before you did?”

  “I, I don’t really know,” I stuttered, my throat tightening as I spoke.

  “That’s how it looks. Hotel staff members usually use a skeleton key that allows access to most, if not all, guest rooms. That means that you’re the only one other than hotel employees who could have gained access to this suite in the last few hours. I’m going to take a quick look around the rest of the suite while the team is working in the bathroom. Then we can finish up, and you can go find your friend or wait in the lobby until we’re finished,” the officer said. He nodded before walking over toward the small closet and looking inside.

  I sat in silence as the room around me buzzed with discussion. I couldn’t make out any particular sentences. One of the people in white appeared to be dusting for fingerprints on the door frame that led to the bathroom, while the others were still inside, presumably examining the body in depth.

  After several minutes or so, the lead officer walked back over to me and sat down on the chair beside me. “So, from the look of the room, nothing seems out of place other than the corpse. It looks like the maid cleaned up and then you walked in, with no room in between for the body to have found its way into the bathroom. We’re going to speak with the hotel staff, but we still have a lot of work to do in here. You will need to vacate the premises.”

  “Of course,” I said. “Should I take my things? I didn’t even have time to unpack.”

  “No, that’s fine. Your belongings will be fine. We need to secure the integrity of the scene, so unfortunately I can’t let you remove anything, even if I wanted to,” he said, his tone serious.

  I shrugged. “Okay.” I stood up and took one last look at the bathroom. They hadn’t removed the body yet.

  “If there are no signs of anything abnormal outside the bathroom, why are they looking for evidence in here?” I asked.

  “Ma’am, it’s all just part of the process,” the one called Carl said, interjecting himself into the conversation as he walked up behind me. “We cannot miss clues and end up hurting the investigation. We will have the scene cleaned up as soon as we’re able to, but for now, we do need you to leave us to it.”

  I nodded at both officers and then walked toward the door. I wondered what Melissa would think of what just happened, but for now, I needed to get as far away from my suite as I could.

  Chapter 5

  I wandered away from my room, still dazed by the discovery I had made. I figured I’d be moved to a new room, so headed toward the reception desk. The clerk was speaking to a police officer. I waited patiently until the cop gave the woman a nod and left her side.

  “Hello, are you the guest from room 217?” she asked me.

  “Yes, I am,” I said.

  “I’m so sorry for the inconvenience. Because the suite’s now a crime scene, the police are going to be occupying it until their investigation is closed. For that reason, we will be transferring you to another room as soon as we’re able to have it ready for you. It shouldn’t be much of a wait. We’ll let you know as soon as your new suite is prepared.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Thank you.”

  “Again, I’m so sorry. Here’s a voucher,” she said, extending a small, bow-wrapped envelope toward me. “And here is a map of the hotel. You can use it to find several dining areas, events, and even day spas, if that’s your thing.”

  I thanked her again, taking the voucher and map and sliding them into my purse. I watched the clerk walk away until she disappeared into a back office behind the reception desk. As I stared off into the distance, images of the body flashed back into my mind.

  “Misty?” a voice called, startling me from the renewed horror.

  I turned to see Melissa running across the room toward me, arms out wide like she was about to lift me off my feet. I gasped as I braced for impact.

  Melissa then collided with me, wrapping me up in her arms and hugging me tightly. “What happened in your room? I came down to see you, and the corridor was full of police and people in white hazmat suits or whatever they are,” she said, her forehead filling with wrinkles. “They said something about a dead guy being in your bathroom.”

  I looked around the vast room and shook my head. “The clerk gave me this voucher and a list of what’s in this hotel,” I said, opening my bag and showing Melissa the envelope and brochure. “We should go somewhere else to talk.”

  “Okay, well let me see that brochure,” Melissa said, taking the brochure from me. “Okay, how about we get some tea at the Salon du The? We can talk about it there.”

  “All right,” I said. I was still in a bit of a daze. Everything felt surreal.

  We walked along, following the map. As we approached the bar, I noticed the magenta walls that lined the Salon du The and led into an open space referred to as Cat’s Alley, according to the brochure. “I think this is the place,” Melissa said, as we walked through the main entrance.

  I shot her a quick look and nodded. “I think so,” I said, looking around the room with awe. “Look at the carpet! It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” The dark carpet was filled with bright, reddish flowers set off by the vibrant magenta walls and off-white ceilings.

  “It sure does have one of those exotic vibes, that’s for sure,” Melissa said, her eyes darting around the room.

  I nodded to a table. “Let’s sit back here in the corner.”

  “Great,” Melissa said. “I’ll go get us some drinks. What would you like?”

  “I’ll just have a regular tea for now, please. You should grab a menu, though. The smell in this place is amazing. I wasn’t hungry until now.” I sat on the chair closest to the wall. “I’m not sure what it is, but I want to try some of it.”

  Melissa chuckled as she took two menus from the counter. “It kind of smells like spring rolls to me. Would make sense given the Oriental theme,” she said, sitting across from me and handing me a menu.

  As I flipped through the menu, thoughts of the body came again. I sighed, shaking my head in an attempt to rid it of the haunting memory. The excitement of the beautiful bar had briefly taken away the torment and fear.

  “Hey, you!” Melissa called, “Wake up!”

  Startled once more, my subconscious faded away as I snapped back to reality. “Oh, I’m sorry. I was daydreaming,” I replied.

  “Well, here is our tea.”

  “Oh,” I said again, as I looked up to see Melissa pouring the warm liquid
into the small teacups on the table before us. The steam billowed from the cups, and the delightful aroma wafted through the air, a pleasant smell that helped keep my mind off unpleasant things.

  “So, tell me what happened up in your hotel suite,” Melissa insisted, sipping from her cup of tea. I watched as her lips puckered as she yanked her head away from the teacup. “That is hot!”

  I laughed, despite the way I was feeling. “Did you need a written warning?”

  “It’s not funny,” Melissa said with a glare. “Anyway, go on with the story. What did he look like?”

  “You mean what did the dead body look like?” I asked, flinching as the sight of the dead man came flooding back.

  “You know what I meant!” she whispered. “Was it Lucas Wallace, the guy we’re writing about?”

  “I think so,” I said. “I can’t be sure, but from what I can remember from TV, I think it was him. And when I asked one of the police officers if he was someone famous, there was a strange look on his face.”

  “And? How did he die?”

  “That’s something I don’t know,” I said. “I didn’t exactly give him a full health exam. I walked into the bathroom and when I saw the corpse, it nearly scared the life out of me. I couldn’t see any obvious signs of trauma or any injuries, but then again, I didn’t really get a good look. I did manage to send Skinny a few pictures that I snapped with my phone, but I haven’t heard back from her yet.”

  “Oh,” Melissa replied, her eyebrows dropping as she bit her lip.

  “What?” I asked, able to tell that something was fighting to escape from my friend’s lips.

  “I don’t know. It’s just kind of strange,” she said, pausing as she glanced around the room. “Don’t you think it’s odd that we were sent here to investigate this guy’s disappearance, and then you go and find him dead in your suite? That’s like something you’d see in a horror movie or something.”

  “Yeah, it’s almost like Skinny had this planned,” I said in a sarcastic tone. “Well not really, but she sure will benefit from it,” I added.