“Nothing comes to mind. It's all been a bit upsetting, as you can imagine. It's not the sort of thing you expect. I can only feel sorry for Diane discovering the body with an eight-inch knife in his back in that way. I’ve known her for years. She makes out she’s strong and coping with it but I’m not so sure. She’s got some good friends here. So we’re all keeping an eye on her to make sure she’s okay. It’s a good place to work. We try to look out for each other.”
“Okay, thank you, Dawn. Thank you for your time.”
“Can I ask, sir? Are you the new detective?”
“No, Dawn. I’m not with the police. I’m working for the lawyer of the man accused of the murder. Someone thinks he may not be guilty. And besides that I’m the owner of this hotel.”
“Oh, oh you’re that Mr Sheldon. I see. I hope you don’t mind me using the computer?”
James laughed. “No, that’s fine. As long as it doesn’t interfere with your duties I see no harm. And Diane speaks highly of you. So please don’t worry. It seems like a good team of people here. I leave everything to Jonathan. As long as he’s happy then so am I.”
“I’d best get back to work then. Bye.”
“Before you go… You mentioned a room maid. Zoe? Is she on duty at the moment?”
“Yes, sir, she is. Would you like me to send her down?”
“Yes please. And thank you, Dawn.”
As Dawn walked off, the waitress returned to leave his bill for the orange juice and check everything was to his satisfaction as he hadn’t touched his drink.
“Yes, thank you. Everything is fine.”
James spent the next few minutes going through all the things in his head, while he waited for Zoe. He noticed the waitress checking all the customers were happy.
George Leeman had mentioned her. She was an attentive waitress from what he had seen. He could see why the bar had a lot of repeat customers. It looked like his wages bill would be a lot higher from the following month but as profits for the hotel had increased by twelve percent since the refurbishment he couldn’t complain. He was still new to running a business and the hospitality trade certainly had problems with finding and retaining good staff. So the employees who went above and beyond in their duty and service to customers were worth their weight in gold. And so far, according to his accountant, the hotel was making a handsome profit.
Here he was the owner of a hotel and running a detective agency. Plus he had people running the charity he had set up when he won the Lotto. He had spent £75 million buying a run-down housing estate of 880 houses called Asbury Park. The charity was helping local families to have a place they could call home. The rents the charity were charging were far less than private landlords charged and the houses would all be maintained to high standards. But the most important thing was that young families had a decent house and a garden for their kids to enjoy. The local school on the estate was now open and the doctor’s surgery would be finished and ready in two months. James had dedicated the charity to his late wife and two kids. He had named it the MJA Housing Foundation after his wife Miriam and his two kids Jack and Abigail.
Since his Lotto win, he had been invited to all sorts of local functions. Most of them he would turn down unless it was for a worthy cause. Of course at such events he would meet a lot of attractive women but he had never had any dates with them. His heart still ached for his wife. So he was alone. He needed something like this to keep his mind occupied or he could easily end up back on the booze or succumb to his old gambling habit.
After all the interviews and work he had put into the case, he was more certain than ever Norman Gentle was innocent and there were several people who could have done it. The list included the three antique dealers and Kevin O’Connor.
And following the searches he had asked Eden Gold to undertake, fresh information had come to light that put a new suspect in the frame. It seemed possible one of the antique dealers hadn’t been telling the whole truth.
Chapter Thirty-Six
James looked at his notes. Zoe Keltman, a nineteen-year-old housemaid.
As she walked across the bar towards him, James had his first impression of Zoe. She looked older than nineteen but then he thought that someone who had decided to move from Poland to the UK must have already had some experience of life beyond their years.
“Hello, Zoe. Thank you for agreeing to this. I appreciate it. Tell me, how are you enjoying working here?”
“It’s a nice place to work. I really enjoy it. I’m very happy here. Thank you.”
“Are there other people of your age? Are you making friends?”
“Yes, yes. Some of the people who work in the kitchen, they are nice. I have made friends with them. It is good.”
“That’s nice. Now, I wondered if you could tell me about the argument you heard last Thursday.”
“Yes. Dawn and I were cleaning out room 106 just down the hallway. We were sorting out fresh linens for the beds when the man came out of 113 and knocked on the Trinity Suite. I heard the man shout something like ‘Where is he?’ Then he went in. A few seconds later, I could hear him shouting and screaming. It went on for a few minutes, and then he came out. He was crying. He walked past his room. I didn’t see where he went from there.
“The older man, you know the one who was killed, he went after him. We just carried
