So far everything was going according to plan. She had made notes of the table with the wobbly leg and the light bulb that needed replacing in the gents toilet. Just the upstairs corridors left to check. She could almost taste the hot brew and maybe today cut down to two biscuits rather than her usual four. She knew she had the willpower. After all, she gave up smoking three months earlier. If she could do that she can certainly shed a few pounds.
Diane silently made her way along the two corridors that made up the first-floor. For a second she thought she heard a dog bark, but couldn’t quite make out where it came from and dismissed it when she didn’t hear it again. As she made her final sweep along the front hallway, she noticed the door to the Trinity Suite was slightly open.
After knocking and saying a hushed “hello”, she tentatively pushed the door fully open. Initially, she saw nothing amiss. The curtains were closed but the bright morning sunshine peered in through a small gap illuminating the space, the bed looked like it had either been carefully made or unslept in, then she noticed a towel on the floor, half hidden by the contour of the L-shaped room, which led to the bathroom. Instinctively, she went over to straighten it at the same time as she sensed a metallic tang in the air. As she reached the towel and peered towards the door of the bathroom her eyes widened as they came across the man lying face down. A large knife protruded from his back. Then she saw the blood pooled around him, lurid in the early morning light highlighted from the bright sheen of the bathroom’s powerful spotlights.
She gasped for air, almost blacking out, stepping backwards, her left hand reaching into her pocket for her mobile.
Downstairs the water in the kettle would go cold before Diane got her first cup of green tea today.
Chapter Three
As Diane stood trying to gather her composure, it took a few seconds before she was able to muster her thoughts. As an avid viewer of the TV show CSI, she knew not to disturb any potential evidence. She carefully moved away from the body and shut the door, trying not to leave her fingerprints on the doorknob.
She needed to put some distance from what she had just seen. Still shaking, she placed one arm against the wall to steady herself as she hurried down the corridor then holding onto the stair rail before reaching the safety of her office and using her mobile to dial 999.
“Emergency. Which service?”
“Police, and send an ambulance please.” Although she was pretty sure things had gone too far for resuscitation.
Seven minutes after she dialled the number, a police car screeched to a halt with its blue lights flashing and siren blaring. Diane stood at the front entrance of the hotel. In her left hand was one of the cigarettes from her emergency pack. As she took a deep drag and dropped the butt onto the floor, crushing it with her shoe, she glanced at her watch and noted the time was 6.20 am.
Police Constable Howard Mitchell got out of his vehicle and walked over.
“I… I was checking the hotel and found someone in the Trinity Suite. He’s lying face down, and there is blood everywhere. Oh, God.”
She had had the foresight to take the master key from the locked drawer behind reception and was leading the uniformed officer up to the first floor. “I didn’t touch anything. I just closed the door, came down and dialled 999.”
As they got near to the Trinity Suite, Diane stopped a few feet before reaching it and pointed to the last door on the right of the corridor. “He’s in there. I can’t go back in. I just can’t.”
PC Howard Mitchell put on a pair of latex gloves as he took the key card from Diane and walked the five steps it needed to reach the Trinity Suite. He knocked firmly on the door. Diane stood still and waited: Did I imagine it? Will he tell me there’s nothing there?
After a few seconds, Diane watched as PC Mitchell entered the room and seconds later, he carefully walked backwards, it looked like he was trying to re-trace his original steps.
“You weren’t mistaken. Let’s go downstairs. I need to call for back-up.”
Diane didn’t know whether to be relieved to know she hadn’t imagined it or upset because someone was dead. A thought flashed through her mind. ‘What effect would this have on the reputation of the hotel?’
Downstairs next to reception, the PC was on his radio, telling the control room that it was a major crime scene and requesting a senior investigating officer and a SOCO team.
PC Mitchell explained to Diane, “Other officers will be arriving shortly, but until then no one is allowed to enter or leave. All the staff members who arrive for work must remain outside and all the guests are to stay inside. It’s only routine, but as you discovered the body, the investigating officer will want to talk to you.”
With the hotel manager away on holiday Diane phoned a number she had been given for the owner, only to be used in an emergency. She thought this qualified.
“Hello Mr Sheldon, this is Diane Dempsey from the Albion hotel. I’m not sure how to tell you this but one of the guests has been murdered in their room. The police are here but what with Jonathan on holiday I’m really not sure what to do.”
“Stay calm Diane. The police will handle it. Just co-operate and give them what they ask for. I have every confidence in your ability, as does Jonathan, so I’m sure you’ll manage to cope with everything. Think of it as an executive training exercise. Who discovered the body?”
“I did. I was doing my daily inspection and the door was open. I thought I’d check if everything was
