How To Solve A Murder Before Checkout (Tales From A Deep Space Hotel Book 2) by Hadwin Fuller

Author:Hadwin Fuller [Fuller, Hadwin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2026-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

14

Chapter 14

“The garden level?” said the Nimorean, her mist-filled eyes stretched wide with confusion—or was it guilt? “Why would I have visited the garden level?”

Simon frowned across the room at the master lyorp player. Through the wide windows, he could just make out the faint glimmer of the amber lights built into the summit of the waterfall, where the emerald-feathered yulas made their nests. Those lights were warning lights—a backup precaution in case any low-flying starship should fail to observe the cloud-scraping peak on their starmap.

“There’s no point denying it,” said Simon. “You were seen, Nimo.”

The Nimorean stared at Simon. He couldn’t see her face—except for those cloudy eyes—but he felt pretty sure she was frowning.

“Alright,” she said eventually, her long braids swaying left and right as she shifted about nervously. How long had it been since she had last dosed up on cactus oil? “So what if I visited the garden level? I can go where I like, can’t I?”

Simon cleared his throat. “Nimo, about two minutes after you left the garden level, someone died.”

The galactic superstar’s agitated movement abruptly stopped.

“Died? As in dead?”

Simon nodded. “That’s typically what ‘died’ means.”

The Nimorean sank into a nearby chair. It was covered with empty vials of cactus oil and various bits of litter, but that didn’t seem to bother her—nor did the fact that the rest of her room looked like it had been caught up in an explosion.

“Dead…” she said. “He didn’t say she’d be dead.”

“Who didn’t? What are you talking about, Nimo?”

The Nimorean was silent. She’d said too much, and she knew it.

“Nimo…”

The Nimorean scowled. “He just told me she’d get sick for a few days, that’s all. He said he was from a rival company, and that he’d make a lot of credits if she was temporarily out of the picture. I didn’t think to question that. I mean, why would I?”

“Erm, I don’t know. Maybe because you might get tricked into involving yourself in a murder.” Simon pushed out some—but not all—of his anger in a deep sigh. “Tell me what happened, Nimo. Then I can help you. You can keep it to yourself if you want, but that galacticop’s going to find out sooner or later—unless you let me help you. Well? What’s it going to be?”

The Nimorean’s mist-filled eyes studied Simon for a long time.

“Alright,” she said. “This guy came up to me while I was in the grav gym, and—”

“What guy?”

The Nimorean shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask his name.”

“What race was he?”

“Deeton.”

Simon nodded. There weren’t any Deetons staying at the hotel or working on the staff—at least not unless Kazik had transferred himself from the original Celestia, where he was currently working as the manager. Either one had slipped in unnoticed somehow, or else they were dealing with another person in a holosuit.

“Go on,” said Simon.

“Well, this Deeton offered me a vial of cactus oil in return for my help.”

“Just one vial?”

“Alright, ten vials. Is it really that important?”

“It is if you care about the difference between being arrested for possession and being arrested for distribution.

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