The Ghost Who Loved Diamonds by Bobbi Holmes

Author:Bobbi Holmes [Holmes, Bobbi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robeth Publishing, LLC
Published: 2014-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Shortly before noon on Saturday, Joe Morelli arrived at Marlow House. Accompanying him was his partner, Brian Henderson, another officer from the Frederickport Police Department. Lily showed them both to the library, where Danielle was waiting.

Danielle stood up when the two officers, both dressed in uniform, entered the room. “Any news?” She immediately recognized the officer with Joe. They’d met briefly the previous week when Joe had taken her out to lunch. Officer Henderson was much older than Joe, old enough to be his father, she guessed.

“Nothing yet,” Joe said. “We wondered if we could have a look at the room Cheryl was using.”

“What for?” Danielle asked.

“Maybe there’s something up there that might give us a clue as to where she went,” Joe said.

“Umm…okay…but there really isn’t anything up there. The room was straightened up for the party. It looks pretty much the same way it did before she arrived.”

“She didn’t take her things with her, did she?” Brian asked.

“No. As far as we can tell she just took her purse. We found her cell phone in the kitchen after she left with Adam,” Danielle explained.

“What about her other things? I assume she arrived with a suitcase, clothes.” Brian asked.

“Yes she did, but I don’t see how that’s going to help you,” Danielle said.

“Is there some reason you don’t want us to look at her things?” Brian asked.

“Of course not!” Danielle said quickly. “It’s upstairs, come with me.” She reluctantly led them upstairs while dreading what they would find in the suitcase. Damn Walt for trying to help, she silently cursed.

When they got to the Red Room Joanne had just removed the bed sheets. The mattress was bare, save for the quilted mattress pad. “Afternoon Joe, Brian,” Joanne greeted. She looked at Danielle and asked, “Do you want me to put fresh sheets on the bed or just the bedspread?”

“Probably just the bedspread for now. But I’m going to use the bed for a minute, so if there’s something else you need to do.” Danielle walked to the closet and opened the door. She pulled Cheryl’s suitcase from the closet shelf and tossed it on the bed.

“This is it,” Danielle said.

Instead of leaving the room, Joanne stood and watched as Brian opened the suitcase.

“Oh my god,” Brian said, wrinkling his nose. An unpleasant odor emitted from the suitcase, a result of the damp towels in conjunction with the assortment of spilled lotions and toiletries. Gingerly Brian lifted one item after another from the suitcase. “This is a mess. Why in the world would she cram everything in there like this?”

“She obviously didn’t intend to come back. Looks like she’s stained everything in her suitcase with that makeup,” Joe said, looking down at the jumble of fabric, now damp, stained and smelly.

Joanne took several steps toward the bed, looked down at the open suitcase and said, “She didn’t do that.”

“How do you know she didn’t?” Joe asked

“You were here, Joe, when I asked her about cleaning the room—the day before the party.

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