THE BRIGHTSEA SPA KILLER an enthralling murder mystery with a twist (Detective Inspector Jack Dawes Mystery Book 9) by FRANCES LLOYD

Author:FRANCES LLOYD [LLOYD, FRANCES]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thrillers, suspense and mystery
Published: 2022-01-05T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DCS Garwood strode down the corridor and burst into the MIT room as if he expected to catch the team playing darts or listening to the cricket. They had been suspiciously quiet, although no murders had been reported for some time, so it was to be expected. He looked around. ‘Where’s Acting Detective Inspector Malone?’

‘Sick leave, sir.’

‘Toothache, sir.’

‘He was in agony, sir.’

It was when Aled started to describe Bugsy’s fictitious root canal filling, in gory detail, accompanied by drilling sound effects, that Garwood, who had a phobia of dentists, had had enough. ‘All right, DC Williams, that’ll do. Notify me when he’s back, and in the meantime, if you need guidance from a senior officer, you know where to find me.’

Garwood was suspicious. First Cynthia had gone missing, allegedly to ‘do his job for him’, and now Malone. He feared a conspiracy was forming to get Dawes out of jail. If he did anything, it could be construed as collusion. Better to pretend he knew nothing about it. Cynthia could simply have gone to the spa to stay with her friend and have some female pampering nonsense. Nothing more. In fact, when he’d rung Cynthia’s mobile, Corrie Dawes had answered it and told him his wife was having a massage. He’d said he hoped that she and Cynthia were enjoying the spa and rung off. As far as he’d been told, Malone was off sick with toothache. He decided a little more masterly inactivity was required.

* * *

‘Phew, that was close,’ said Mitch. ‘What’s the latest from the sarge?’

‘He’s booked into a hotel, next door to the Now to Zen,’ answered Aled.

‘Mrs Garwood’s there, too. And Carlene, Mrs Dawes’s deputy,’ put in Gemma.

Clive looked up from his computer screen. ‘Blimey, the storm clouds are gathering.’

‘You’ve got to feel sorry for the poor buggers on the receiving end,’ said Mitch. ‘They won’t know what’s hit ’em.’

Clive tapped on his keyboard. ‘I’ve managed to get into the Now to Zen check-in technology. It was fairly simple — their security is weak. Most guests prefer face-to-face service at the reception desk, with the exception of a few who used the self-service app, which lets you book directly. Those people use their individual booking number on arrival to check in through the hotel kiosk. No need to interact with reception staff at all.’

‘Much quicker,’ confirmed Gemma. ‘But I expect they would have had to meet with a real person to book their treatment programmes, wouldn’t they?’

‘Not necessarily. It’s what I’d expect from the Now to Zen Corporation,’ said Clive. ‘It’s a revenue optimisation tool. It’s a subtle way of upselling guests. Because they’re able to book dinner reservations, spa treatments and any other sports activities online, guests are tempted towards the more exclusive options.’

‘What’s the relevance of this, Clive?’ asked Aled.

‘It means that chummy could have booked in and stayed there without the staff or management having any personal contact with him at all. He’d have booked his own pampering sessions and his meals, everything.

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