River City Dead by Nancy G. West

Author:Nancy G. West
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Amateur Sleuth, Women Sleuths, Murder Mystery Series
Publisher: Henery Press
Published: 2016-12-23T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-One

Nothing stirred. I listened for sounds. There were none. I tiptoed down the hall. Police had put a “Do Not Enter” sign on the crime scene suite and removed the yellow tape. I noticed a new sign on the door to the penthouse lounge and inched toward it. “The lounge is closed. Penthouse patrons are invited to enjoy Happy Hour at the lobby bar.”

Since the standard key to my cubbyhole wouldn’t open the lounge, I’d snitched the McVeys’ extra key so I could enter the lounge to study the bathroom. Right now, I was more interested in the door midway down the hall marked “Employees Only.”

I looked both ways and didn’t see anybody. No sound came from the rooms. This was the best time to check the maids’ storage closet for cleaning products. If anyone got off the elevator and saw me, I’d act like a confused person trying to get into the wrong room.

I thought about Sam’s admonition not to snoop. How dangerous could this be? I was in the penthouse of a luxury hotel in downtown San Antonio in the middle of Fiesta. All I had to do was scream and a dozen people would show up. Monica must not have screamed.

Since my cubbyhole was usually reserved for staff, I hoped the standard key they issued me would open the “Employees Only” storage closet. I guessed right. The door opened.

Cleaning supplies filled the shelves: vacuum cleaner and bags, dust rags, furniture and metal polish, Windex, ammonia, toilet bowl cleaner, tile cleaner, light bulbs for lamps, pillows and blankets, toilet paper rolls, tissue boxes, soaps and toiletries.

Next to the vacuum cleaner were two vertical boxes. I pulled them out and opened the taller one that pictured a skylight tunnel. I found a lens cover, rim and a three-to-five-foot extendable metal cylinder, a tunnel to the roof. I replaced the items, put back the box and opened the second one. It contained a standard recessed light fixture with a housing for the bulb and a lens cover and rim identical to the one for the tunnel skylight. I replaced the parts and put back the boxes. I looked again at light bulbs on the shelves. Most were soft three-way bulbs for lamps. Others would fit in the housing for recessed ceiling lights.

I heard the elevator open, backed out and swirled around to face Harry Haddock.

He stormed over, walked up close and squinted down at me with his hand on the open door frame. My back was against the door.

“A little late to be getting toiletries, isn’t it, Ms. Mundeen? On the penthouse floor?”

“I needed a few things for my cubbyhole. I thought they might have prettier soaps up here. Larger. Better shampoo.” Before my reasonable self had time to take over, I took a deep breath and spilled out words.

“Somebody heard you and Monica Peters screaming at each other in the middle of the night Saturday, heard her slam the door and saw you blast out of her room.”

I wasn’t positive it was him and Monica, but the odds were good.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.