The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl by Lisa Hall

Author:Lisa Hall [Hall, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

‘Miss? Excuse me, miss?’ A voice murmurs close by my ear and I jerk upright, my muscles screaming. ‘You shouldn’t be in here.’ The voice is low, and I squint in the bright light of the now illuminated restaurant.

Locked in. The security guards locked the door when they left. I must have drifted off. ‘I’m sorry.’ I swallow, my throat dry, and haul myself up using the hostess desk as leverage. ‘I—’

‘What were you doing in here?’ A woman in a pale pink skirt suit, her waist impossibly tiny in the girdled blazer, stands beside the desk, her arms folded across her body.

Before I can answer I hear my name being shrieked from the restaurant doors. ‘Lily! Oh Lily, thank goodness we found you.’ Tilda hurries across the floor, her cheeks flushed, and her hair scraped back into a high ponytail. ‘Thank you, ma’am. I’m so relieved you found my friend.’

‘But I still don’t understand why she’s here.’ The woman turns a stern gaze on me, arching a perfectly groomed eyebrow. I feel grubby and wrinkled in comparison. ‘Are you… a hostess here?’

Sheepishly, I nod, hoping no one can hear the crinkle of the reservations page where I tucked it into the top of my uniform last night after realising I really was locked in and there was no way out. ‘Sorry, I came here for…’ I cast a panicked glance behind her, to the coffee machine on the counter. ‘For coffee. Last night. There wasn’t any at the bar, so I thought I could grab a cup here for one of the…’ What was the term? ‘High rollers! One of the high rollers, you know how we have to make sure they’re kept happy…’

‘Stop babbling. Whatever the reason, you shouldn’t have been in here.’ The woman eyes me with distaste. ‘You need to leave. I’m expecting customers.’

‘Come on, Lily. Let’s get you washed up.’ Tilda takes my arm and guides me gently to the lobby, where she whirls on me. ‘What the heck, Lily? We’ve been so worried about you. When you didn’t come back to the room last night…’ she trails off, biting her lip.

‘I got locked in; it was an accident. But I did get this.’ Slipping my hand inside my uniform, I fish out the page I tore from the reservations book, pointing to the two p.m. slot. ‘Look. Jonny Valentine met Bess Greenwood for lunch three days before she died.’

‘What!’ Tilda snatches the page from me and peers at it closely, running her finger over their names. ‘So, he did know Bess.’

‘Did you manage to speak to Jonny last night?’

Tilda shakes her head. ‘He had a bodyguard hanging around, and his wife was there too.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘I hovered on the perimeter for a bit, but getting close to Jonny is proving a little difficult.’

‘I met her last night,’ I say. ‘The wife, I mean. Antonia. I spilled a drink on Jonny and he got kind of mad… she was very sweet to me, although I got the impression that Jonny isn’t always a terribly pleasant guy.

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