Sudden Vacancies

by James Kipling

  “Well…the police are asking questions. You were here a few nights ago when that man died, right?”

  “What?” Carla immediately became extremely defensive. “Let me guess—I know what this is about. I can probably guess where it’s coming from as well.”

  “Carla…” Sandra began, only to be cut off by Carla waving her hands.

  “I guess it’s better to know where I stand with you. Are you saying that you cannot trust me for who I am? I’m definitely not someone with a clean record. But you obviously need to figure out that I-”

  “Carla, this is-”

  “NO! I busted my ass to become a new person and the minute something happens, everyone wants to point the finger at me. I expected more from you than that.”

  Sandra took a breath – this conversation was not going the way she had hoped. “Carla, I’m going to ask you to go home if you-”

  “Fine! But I swear, if you look at every single place around the kitchen you’ll see there’s no way that poisoned food came out of that kitchen. Not during my watch.” Carla turned on her heel and quickly made her way out of the hotel.

  Sandra watched her leave and hoped that the investigative team would find nothing amiss in the hotel kitchen. However, it didn’t look likely.

  *****

  As the investigative team worked alongside the overnight maintenance crew, samples and swabs were taken throughout the kitchen. All of the appliances were found to be in proper working condition, and much to Sandra’s relief, the logbooks showed that to have been the case in the preceding weeks. The samples were taken back to the lab where they were tested.

  By 7 am the next morning, the results indicated that everything in the kitchen was bacteria and toxin free. The samples taken of the remaining fish came back free of contamination as well.

  So, the question on everyone’s mind was how did this hotel guest come down with food poisoning because of eating contaminated fish?

  The police started to toss around rumors that someone could have doctored the fish after it was prepared and before it was delivered to the man’s room.

  Maybe it was a revenge attack on Carla?

  The police determined they didn’t have enough evidence for Carla D’Angelo, but her past pushed her to the top of their list. Carla was questioned and notified that she should remain in Columbus for a while, as they may have additional questions for her as they completed their investigation.

  Chapter 9

  Randall Foley arrived the next morning to find the hotel staff agitated again.

  It was a surprising thing to hear from a guy who spent his day as a glorified janitor. He took his job very seriously, and expected those who worked in housekeeping to do the same. It’s not like he had much beforehand.

  Randall came from a tough background and didn’t have the money for college. While he did graduate from high school, he never thought about a college education because he felt there was no way he could afford it. The fact that he didn’t have a real compelling backstory only made things worse, as he felt it would keep him from getting scholarships or financial aid. In fact, every single application he filled out for such aid was rejected.

  Deciding to find a job and make his own happiness, he took a job at the Paradise on the janitorial team. It took just one year for him to be promoted to assistant to the maintenance crew manager. His work consisted of dealing with digital TVs that refused to show the correct channels, broken boilers, that sort of thing.

  “Randy, I really think you are smarter than all the others around here, I won’t lie,” old manager Jeffrey Thorn had told him. “I mean, look at these other people we’ve got. I don’t think half of them know what in the hell I’m even saying to them. Then again, they didn’t grow up with the language either so I bet they wouldn’t know regardless.

  “But listen, I need someone to help me out. The sooner, the better. I don’t know how much time I have before I really wear out. I’m getting up there in age, you know.”

  “Well, you could stop smoking,” Randall replied. “I mean, look at you. And didn’t you hear what those officials are saying about that stuff?”

  “Look, you ain’t gonna tell me to stop.”

  “I just did,” Randall replied, but quietly.

  “Those stories they’re telling about smoking are just media stories they made up because they need to fill news space and sell ads.”

  Randall had tried numerous times to convince Jeffrey that smoking was going to kill him early, but he would hear nothing of it. He had developed a fondness for Randall, and quickly moved him into more responsibilities, overseeing other employees.

  Three years later, Jeffrey was rushed to the hospital with lung failure. He had insisted on working at the hotel until his death two months later. He always felt that the “condition” he had could not have come from cigarettes. He kept on denying the problem even to his death.

  After Jeffrey’s death, Randall was named the new head of the housekeeping crew at the Paradise Hotel. It was not only his biggest achievement yet, but it was something no one else in his family had ever risen to. In fact, he was earning slightly more each month in his job than his father. In Randall’s family, that was the true measure of success.

  *****

  It seemed as though Randall was far removed from his family. His father had won a sports car in a lottery draw three years back, and hadn’t even bothered to tell Randall about it until almost a year had gone by.

  Randall used a large portion of his money outfitting himself in the latest fashion, and making himself look professional. His hair was always perfectly styled, and always looked as if he had just received a haircut. He was meticulous about shaving each morning, and had been seen in the employee locker room, shaving again in the late afternoon to maintain a smooth, clean look.

  He enjoyed his position at the hotel, and the presence of Tina Allison was an added benefit. The cute, perky little blonde always brought a smile to his face. He knew that at some point she would leave to pursue her career. She still had a chance to make something of her life.

  Realizing that he had spent the better part of half an hour reminiscing, he grabbed his two-way radio and headed toward the receptionist desk. If there was information to be had, Sally was the one to ask.

  As he approached her receptionist counter, he interrupted a conversation between Sally and Tina. The topic seemed to be how much money might have been stolen from the wallet of the dead guy on the ninth floor. Sally was of the opinion that it took a real lowlife to rob someone; either before or after you killed them.

  However Tina replied, “I don’t know if that police report is true or if someone really snuck in and stole that guy’s money. Hope they don’t look at me, I’ve got a student loan to pay back and all.”

  Everyone at the hotel knew that Randall was almost religious when it came to spending, or saving, money. He even went as far as to hire people from outside the country who were willing to work for cheap. Sandra had tried to discourage this dubious practice, but with over 65 employees working in housekeeping, she wasn’t able to monitor everyone.

  Randall’s attention was diverted from the conversation by two employees who were struggling to move a rather large potted tree from one side of the foyer to the other. The fools had forgotten to bring straps to use with the hand truck, and the rounded shape of the pot was headed for calamity.

  Sally and Tina watched Randall berate the employees and demand that one of them go retrieve the straps and perform the job safely. “I bet Randy would have taken that money if he was there,” Sally said to Tina.

  “Come on, really?” Tina replied. “Look at him. He looks pretty clean and friendly. It’s not like he’s going to go out and kill people and take their money or anything.”

  “Yeah, but when you look at what he’s done in his life, you know he could have done something like steal that guy’s money,” said Sally quietly.

  “In fact, I bet Bruce would have done the same. I mean, how mu
ch is he really getting these days out of his music? And don’t you think that he would be tempted to steal if he wasn’t able to pay his bills and the opportunity presented itself?”

  “Stop it!” Tina ordered. “We can’t just go round accusing...”

  “There aren’t any customers or guests around here. I think its fine to say it. Look, I know more about this place than you or Andrew or anyone else. Don’t you see how people are?” Sally defended herself.

  Tina became angry. “So, are you also going to try and hurl Carla under the bus too?”

  “I didn’t say that, I mean she’s had a hell of a life as it is. And I wouldn’t blame the police if they took a closer look at her.”

  “Do you honestly believe there’s someone out there who’s hurting people around here?” Tina asked. She was quite intelligent, but just didn’t want to be anywhere near a murderer.

  “I can’t say for certain but I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if someone did come around to hurt people. I mean, you know what things are like around this town.”

  Randall returned and leaned against the reception desk. “Those idiots are going to seriously hurt themselves one of these days,” he told the girls, shaking his head.

  Sally and Tina both laughed and agreed with him. “So, what’s on the agenda for this coming weekend? Any conventions or special groups coming in?” Tina asked.

  Sally gave both Randall and Tina one of her special looks, and with raised eyebrows, she informed them, “The kinky group will be arriving tomorrow afternoon. They have requested the entire sixth floor this year.”

  Tina looked stunned, “The entire floor, but that’s….”

  Sally nodded and finished her statement, “…around 15 rooms, including the suites and meeting rooms.”

  Randall cringed and hoped that things would go nice and smooth this year. Last year, he had been called numerous times to help free people who had gotten themselves handcuffed, and then not been able to get free. His bolt cutters had seen more action that weekend, than the entire rest of the year. He grinned at the memory.

  Chapter 10

  The next afternoon, the participants in the kinky convention, also known as Xbo, started to check in. To the casual observer, most of them looked like ordinary people taking a break for the weekend. However, a few women wore visible emblems to signify the lifestyle they practiced, much to the distress and delight of the other guests.

  The people who attended this particular convention, all belonged to an online community that practiced and promoted BDSM lifestyle. The convention was not only a way for everyone to get together once a year, but many vendors of sex-oriented products showed up and advertised their products. Whips, restraints and other pieces of bondage gear were only a few of the items to be displayed this year.

  The motto of the community was “Safe, Sane and Consensual,” and as such, most convention participants came with the partner of choice. Those new to the community would often invite one of the local street girls to join them, but those times were very rare. The lifestyle tended only to work well when all parties knew about the rules of how to work with bondage and how to control things.

  Randall was pleased when Sunday arrived and the group began checking out. Per the group’s request, no housekeepers had been allowed on the sixth floor since Friday morning, other than Randall who had only been called one time to present himself with his bolt cutters in tow.

  *****

  Sunday afternoon, while cleaning out the rooms on the sixth floor, one of the housekeepers made a startling discovery in room 601.

  When she had approached the bed, it appeared to have the bedding from numerous beds piled atop it. Having received confirmation from the front desk that all the rooms had been checked out, the housekeepers had not bothered knocking on doors prior to gaining entrance. There was supposed to be no guests left on the sixth.

  As the linens were gathered up, a man’s body was found. It was lifeless and initially showed no obvious signs of trauma. Then again, the man was covered from head to toe is some sort of latex suit.

  Was it rough sex or was it something else? There was no sign of blood and without removing the latex suit, it was nearly impossible to determine the cause of death. Only the police could move the evidence, after all.

  This death created a great deal of concern among both the employees and the community. How could a second person die here in such a short time span? It’s one thing for a person to be found dead in one’s hotel once every couple of years, but the frequency of these tragedies had everyone involved very concerned.

  Once again, the entire sixth floor was sealed off and investigators descended upon the hotel, taking pictures, asking for copies of security footage, and interviewing anyone who might have encountered the deceased man.

  The coroner was tasked with determining the cause of death. The coroner’s findings indicated that the latex covered man had died in a similar fashion to Mr. Brandon from the ninth floor. Somehow, the jugular veins in his neck had become compressed, causing the blood vessels in his brain to rupture and bleed out.

  As before, the police department was left with no evidence found on the dead man, and useless security footage – just like last time. The addition of the kink factor slightly changed the projected cause of death. The police department released a statement saying the death was being termed accidental.

  “Well, I hope the guy got off on his own death,” Andrew said. “I wonder if his eyes were open while he was dying.”

  “Don’t you think he would have been aware of the danger of participating in these types of things?” Bruce responded. “I mean, sure it’s perverted but you’d think he’d know what he’s doing.”

  “Latex isn’t dangerous, Bruce!” replied Andrew. Seeing he was about to protest, he continued, “Okay, I know some people suffocate themselves for pleasure, like the guy from the INXS band, but those instances are rare.”

  Chapter 11

  Although everyone assumed that he was part of the kink convention, based on all the stuff he was wearing at the time of his death, the coroner was able to positively confirm that he was an active participant in bondage play. He apparently died from suffocation. However, it appeared there had been a real struggle to try and get out of the grasp he was in. In other words, he might not have gotten himself into autoerotic asphyxiation, as it was initially speculated.

  The security camera footage around his hotel room found that several different people had walked into his room during the course of the night. They all had keys to the room and it was assumed there was no problem with any of them, as it appeared there was no forced entry.

  However, one noteworthy discovery about the people in the footage alarmed Andrew and Sandra.

  It turns out that each person who entered into the room was wearing a mask. They were all form fitting and seemed to be standard bondage masks or at least could be suitable for bondage-related activities.

  This posed two different questions—first, if the people who went into the room were wearing masks, then did this mean there were four separate people who went into the room or were there just one or two people who kept on going into the room but had different masks?

  Secondly, if there was some kind of suspicious activity involved, then where was the weapon? The coroner confirmed that it appeared the man had struggled as he was being suffocated, and the people seen entering the room carried nothing with them. Had the man been tied down and unable to defend himself? The facts weren’t clear, but one thing was certain—this might not have been an open and shut case.

  “I know there has to have been some kind of connection between what happened here and what went on a few days ago,” Andrew said. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions but…”

  “You know, I want to believe these are isolated events, but my gut tells me differently. I keep thinking there’s some piece of information that’s being missed. The police want to assign a special task force to look at all of the information again and I
think it’s a great idea,” Sandra responded.

  Eventually, the police report came in:

  “Miss Jones, we found that the person who died appeared to have made some kind of legitimate effort to try and stop either rape or murder. While we have no idea what kind of weapon could have possibly killed him, we noticed a few minor bruises around his chest. We are assuming this is from a struggle to try to get out of a particular position. I’m surprised there wasn’t any blood at the scene.”

  “We found a card that belonged to one of those hookers inside the room. It said something about bringing women to your door in a few minutes after you call; his cell phone records indicated that he did call the number listed on that card a few hours before his death so we’re going to keep that as a possible piece of evidence.

  “Finally, we reviewed his wallet and while we did not find any prints on anything, we did notice there was a slight scent of worn-out dollar bills coming from it. There were no bills in the wallet at all though; therefore, we are led to believe at this point that there might have been someone with him at the time of his death and they stole the money from the wallet.”

  *****

  “Maybe he spent that money before he came to the hotel,” Randall said to Tommy the next day.

  “You know, Tommy, you’ve been kind of quiet about what’s going on around here. Do you have any idea what’s been happening?”

  “I have, but I’ve been paying more attention to my work anyway. I had seven big orders that had to be rushed out by today. I was just worried that they wouldn’t actually show up on time,” Tommy said.

  “Well, I don’t know what the hell is going on here but whatever the case is, I bet there’s going to be loads of changes real soon. I don’t know what they’re going to want to do but it is clear something’s gonna happen, I can feel it.”