“I thought I made it clear to your father that no one is allowed in the Worths’ suite until I say so,” said Agent Pearson. “I’ll send Officer Martinez when he’s done.”
“Oh, and there’s one more thing. Did anyone tell you that someone threw a brick at the Worths’ car yesterday? Supposedly there was a note attached.”
“No,” she said. “Do you know what happened to the note?”
“Pierre, our chef, told me that Iris Kimball might know. She saw David Worth come into the hotel with the rock sometime in the afternoon.”
“I sure wish we knew where that woman was. If you see your father, please tell him I must cancel tonight and that I’ll explain later.”
“Will do. Dad said that you know David Worth plans on staying here for a few days, until he can get his affairs in order. You’re okay with that?”
“Yes. But I told your father, Mr. Worth isn’t allowed to go into their suite without a police escort.”
“Understood. I’ll also tell Aunt Amelia. Are you allowed to share how Regina was strangled?”
“No, I’m not allowed to tell you, and I hope your father knows better than to give out any information in an ongoing murder investigation.”
“Um, yes. I’m sure he knows that.”
Agent Pearson changed her tactics and attempted a smile before continuing, “I am aware of how disliked Mrs. Harrington-Worth was in this area because of the proposed demolition of her family’s mansion. Do you know of anyone else who might have wished her harm?”
“I thought she was killed because of a robbery? I do know about the shoddy way she treated people, including her husband. And about all the rumors.” Liz didn’t like to talk ill of the dead, but if anyone could conjure up a dozen enemies, Regina would have been the one.
Agent Pearson looked up from the papers in front of her. It was the first time since Liz had walked into the library that she’d looked directly at her. “What rumors?”
“That she’d killed her father.” Liz regretted what she said as soon as it came out of her mouth. Hadn’t she been crucified in the press herself because of rumors and false innuendos?
“I know Mrs. Worth didn’t like you. She accused you of stealing her necklace, right?”
“Um, yes. But her husband found it, remember?” Charlotte wasn’t going where Liz thought she was, was she?
“Why were you in the Worths’ suite? You’re a writer, aren’t you?”
So, the detective knew all about Liz’s past. “I cleaned their suite to help my eighty-year-old great-aunt, because Iris, the housekeeper, was missing, per usual. I hope you’re not suggesting I killed Regina for a necklace and earrings? I think if you look in my financial records, you’ll see I don’t lack for money.”
“The jewels she was wearing were very rare and valuable. I’ll be looking into everyone connected to the hotel and shops. Can you send in Ryan Stone?” Then she hesitated a few seconds before adding, “Please?”
Liz left the library and stepped into the corridor. Ryan was there alone, intently typing a text to someone on his phone. It was possible he had a girlfriend back in New York. Hell, maybe even a wife. Though he didn’t wear a ring, and she thought Aunt Amelia or Pops would have mentioned that by now.
“Your turn, Snoopy Pants.”
He laughed as he passed her. “That all you could come up with, Bossy Pants?”
At least he hadn’t called her “princess.”
Chapter 21
It was time for Liz to do some snoopy-pantsing of her own. She went to the housekeeper’s closet and took the ring of room keys off the hook. On her way to the service elevator, she noticed that the dumbwaiter that stood next to the ice machine wasn’t completely pulled shut. Liz had been warned as a child, first by her father, then Aunt Amelia, to stay away from the dumbwaiter and keep her games of hide-and-seek with Pierre confined to the lobby, dining room, or kitchen. She would tell her father about the dumbwaiter at the same time she told her father about his buddy Charlotte’s aspersions regarding Liz and the missing necklace and earrings. She’d also tell her father that his date for the evening had been canceled.
As Liz took the service elevator up to the second floor, the key ring jangled in her hands. She was never one to slow down at an accident, and she felt relief when she passed the door to the Worths’ suite and saw that it was closed, crime scene tape crisscrossing the door frame. She headed to the other end of the hallway and used the key to open Iris’s suite.
Iris’s rooms appeared the same as she’d seen them yesterday, untouched with personal effects. Liz went to the housekeeper’s closet and found white long-sleeved collared shirts, pressed below-the-knee khaki shorts, khaki pants, a rain slicker, a windbreaker, one black dress, one pair of low black sandals, and four pairs of white sneakers with thick rippled soles. The woman’s wardrobe would fit in an airplane’s carry-on, befitting of her no-frills personality. Liz was about to give up on finding anything in the closet, when she spied a green beach towel in the back right corner. She pulled it out and opened it. Inside was a black scuba-diver suit, flippers, and a mask. Not unusual for anyone living on a barrier island. The towel was damp and smelled of the briny ocean. Next to the towel was a duffel bag. Liz looked inside. Captain Netherton’s missing chart of the water depths surrounding the barrier island lay on top. She zipped up the duffel and backed out of the closet.
Liz rummaged through Iris’s desk and dresser drawers and didn’t find anything. Not one clue to where she’d gone. She’d saved under the bed for last. There was only one small
