A Really Cute Corpse by Joan Hess

Author:Joan Hess [Hess, Joan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2012-06-07T14:00:00+00:00

NINE

The elevator door opened. Eunice Allingham gave me a vaguely surprised look, then started down the hallway toward Cyndi’s room, a small canvas bag swishing briskly at her side.

“She’s not there,” I said. “She left an hour ago.”

Eunice halted and, after a pause, came back to join me. “Oh, that’s good news. The doctor must think she’s completely recovered if he’s already sent her home.”

“The doctor hasn’t seen her lately. It seems the floor nurse was not willing to allow the cameraman and the interviewer to linger in Cyndi’s room for a little press conference. Cyndi was so miffed that she packed her bags and walked out. I suppose she went to her apartment.”

Eunice shook her head. “She wasn’t there fifteen minutes ago. I stopped by to fetch her a pretty nightgown and a few things, and the apartment was vacant.” Her eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms and leaned forward to peer at me. “That aide, Warren Dansberry—did he come to the hospital to visit the gal?”

“I have no idea,” I admitted. “He certainly could have been here.”

“That young man cannot be trusted, any more than his boss. The Senator promised he’d keep Warren away from Cyndi, but I didn’t believe him at the time. If he weren’t a capable liar, then he couldn’t be a politician. I can see it all as clearly as I can spot a potential winner in a pageant well before the talent presentations. Warren either came here or called Cyndi to suggest she meet him at some sleazy motel for a continuation of that tasteless affair. Poor Cyndi was so dizzy from the gas that she probably didn’t know what she was saying when she agreed to meet him. This is vile, vile, vile. We must take steps immediately.”

I resisted the urge to click my heels and salute. “We don’t know that the two are in a sleazy motel. Cyndi might have gone to a friend’s house. She might be at her great-aunt’s house, or shopping, or …” I shrugged, out of ideas where Miss Thurberfest might be at the moment.

“There is no time to lose,” Eunice continued. “This town is riddled with sleazy motels, and that man is devious enough to register under an alias. Not that he would do so to protect Cyndi’s reputation, of course. He undoubtedly aspires to follow in his boss’s path. Warren Dansberry is a very dangerous young man. I’ve said it before, and I do not hesitate to say it again.”

She said it with such volume that a nurse carrying a tray stopped to stare, and patients along the hallway peeped out of their rooms. I took Eunice’s arm and led her toward the elevator.

As we waited, I said, “We can’t raid every motel in town. Heaven knows how many city directors, lawyers, doctors, and judges we might find in flagrante delicto on a sunny Saturday afternoon. We could go by the Senator’s hotel, however, and see if he has any theories.”

She muttered in agreement and followed me to my car.

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