Shayne followed him in to a large room with a very thick carpet on the floor. A totally bald man with sunken cheeks and slightly protruding eyes sat behind a highly polished mahogany desk.
He said, 'Shayne?' and rose slowly as his bulging eyes studied the rangy detective from across the bay. He nodded and said, 'All right, Rawson,' and held a hand out to Shayne without noticeable cordiality.
'Heard a lot about you, of course. Is this social or business?'
'Business.' Shayne sat in the chair he indicated. 'A man named Barnes in twelve-ten.'
'No trouble, I hope.' Gerdon turned in his swivel chair to a card filing cabinet and drew out a long drawer. He flipped through the cards and withdrew one, placed it on the desk in front of him.
Shayne said, 'I'll know better when you give me the dope.'
'Mr. and Miss Barnes from New York. Brother and sister. Twelve-ten is a two-bedroom suite,' Gerdon explained. He read the New York address on East 63rd Street. 'Credit rating A-1. They checked in sixteen days ago. Everything regular. Paid the first week's bill with a New York check that cleared.' He looked up with a frown.
'What are their first names?'
'Charles and Mary.'
Shayne leaned back in his chair and blew smoke at the ceiling. 'Nothing else on their card, huh?'
'No notations of any sort. That means run-of-the-mill so far as any observations go.'
Shayne said, 'Can you get someone in who can describe them both to me?'
Gerdon hesitated. 'If you'd tell me what you have in mind-?'
Shayne said, 'A man carrying Charles Barnes's wallet was pulled out of the bay tonight. Dead. First time 1 knew he had a sister.' His gaze was withdrawn, his voice speculative.
Gerdon sucked in his lips. He pressed a button on his desk, leaned forward to speak in a low tone into a small microphone on a stand in front of him on the polished mahogany. Then he leaned back and said, 'We'll have the room-maid in. And the night-boy who serves that floor. Dead, eh? An accident?'
Shayne shook his head. 'Murder.' He moved the side of his hand across his throat expressively. 'There's some question about the identity of the body-whether Barnes is dead or may have done the job himself. Would you work on the desk and switchboard? Try to find out about their movements tonight. Phone calls in or out?'
Gerdon's face indicated polite disbelief that any guest of the Roney Plaza could possibly be mixed up in anything as sordid as being a murderer or the victim of one.
However, he spoke into the microphone again at some length, and settled back as there was a light tap on his door. He called, 'Come,' and a pretty, plump girl dressed in a maid's uniform entered hesitantly. She looked quickly from Shayne to Gerdon, and then moved to stand in front of the desk with downcast eyes.
Gerdon glanced at a notation he had made and said, 'It's all right, Irma. This gentleman would like to ask you a few questions about twelve-ten.'
'That's Mr. Barnes and Miss Mary,' she said ques-tioningly, turning to Shayne. 'Real nice, both of them, I'm sure.'
'I'm glad to hear that, Irma,' Shayne reassured her.
'First, I wish you'd describe them to me the best you can.'
'Miss Mary is real pretty. A little thing. Young-like. About twenty, I guess. She's got real blonde hair and- and, well, she's real nice. A lady. You know. She always says thank you. And tips me when she wants something; extra. I do hope nothing's wrong.'
Shayne said gravely, 'I hope so too. Now, about her brother. Does he-have a scarred face?'
'Oh, no.' Irma looked shocked by the question. 'Real nice-looking he is, too. Some older than Miss Mary, I guess, but not really if you know what I mean.'
'You're sure about the scar?'
'Of course I'm sure. I've seen him plenty, being in and out like I am.'
Shayne sighed. 'About how tall? What weight?'
'Just medium, I'd say. Shorter than you by inches. I don't know how much men weigh. But he isn't fat-nor thin either. Just medium-like.'
Shayne didn't show his disappointment. He said, 'I know you're a smart girl, Irma, and you girls are trained to notice all sorts of things about your guests. Now think hard and see if you can remember anything in particular about the Barnes. Anything you overheard or noticed.'
'Well, they- I'd say they had plenty of money and were used to nice things. Their clothes and all. And they acted like they were having a good time. Miss Mary in particular, she loved swimming and went in twice most every day. Mr. Barnes went out more than she did. And he-well, he had a sort of way about him.' She drooped her head and a slight color crept into her cheeks.
'What sort of way?' Shayne urged her.
'Well, it was just-it wasn't nothing, really.' The girl spread out her hands and her blush deepened as she looked up at Shayne. 'You get used to it, sort of, working in a hotel. He'd say things to me sometimes-and-and touch me. But always joking, it was,' she added hastily. 'I never thought it meant anything. But Miss Mary she got mad once or twice and told him it wasn't nice to say those things and he had ought to be ashamed of himself. But he'd just laugh it off and say I didn't mind, did I? And I'd tell him no, of course. And that's all.'
'Did they entertain much? Seem to have many friends in Miami?'
'No, they didn't for a fact. Miss Mary, she'd stay in mostly in the evenings. Have her dinner served up there a lot, and then she'd read.'
'While her brother was out?' Shayne supplied.
'Well, yes. He likes a good time, all right. But that's why folks come to Miami on vacation, isn't it?'
Shayne agreed it was, and after a few more questions he dismissed her with thanks. He shook his head wryly at Gerdon when she went out.
'There went a beautiful theory up in thin smoke. I'm beginning to think maybe it is Barnes who was murdered. The rather vague description fits him all right. We may have to ask her to come over to the morgue to look at him.'
'Anything you want,' Gerdon said. There was another knock at the door and a very thin pimply-faced college boy came in and stood stiffly at attention.
Yes, he took care of twelve-ten until midnight, and knew both the occupants by sight-the girl much better than her brother because she was mostly in and wanting service while he was on duty.
His descriptions of Mary and Charles Barnes coincided in all important details with the maid's. He guessed Charles was twenty-five and his sister maybe twenty-one or two. He put Charles at five-eleven and about a hundred sixty pounds. He was equally positive about the absence of any scar on his face. Sometimes he'd have a late call close to midnight for a scotch and soda after Charles had come in, but he never saw him drunk. Miss Mary always had a double martini before dinner when it was served in their suite, and very rarely a drink later. Then, only one. She tipped well, but not excessively, and according to him it was a pleasure to take care of twelve-ten in comparison to some of the other people he had on his floor.
As he was leaving, a girl came in the ofi amp;ce with two sheets of paper that had typing on them.
Gerdon studied them in frowning silence for a time. They were day-by-day notations of out-going calls from twelve-ten, kept by the hotel for billing purposes, and they disclosed little of real interest to Shayne except the recurrence of calls to a certain number in Miami which he recognized at once as the Hibiscus Hotel.
The first day or so after registration there had been a spate of local calls to various numbers, and two long- distance to New York. Then the calls lessened to two or three or four each day. Generally before noon, and only a few in the evenings.
Shayne studied the list as Gerdon passed it to him, found the first listing of the Hibiscus number almost a week after they arrived. Then it appeared irregularly every day or so afterward. The last time that number had been called was 4:30 p.m. of that day.
There was also a scribbled notation from the desk to the effect that both Mr. and Miss Barnes were now out, and it was believed both of them had been away most of the evening.
And that was all Shayne was able to get from the Roney Plaza about Charles and Mary Barnes.
Gerdon politely asked if he cared to go over the suite, but Shayne declined the offer. He did suggest that a definite watch be kept for the return of either of the Barneses, immediate notification of the Miami police and quiet surveillance in that event.
He also asked for a tap on the telephone in the suite to trace all incoming calls and to gather as much
