“Sure, it does,” I said. “Right, Georgina?”
“Definitely. We need to know what happened so that we can ensure it doesn’t occur again. Safety is a big deal to us at the inn.”
“Yeah.” Hannah worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “Yeah, I guess. OK. Well, it started right after you hired me. During my first shift, Jordan kept staring at me. He didn’t say a word, he’d just stare and I’m not the type of girl who keeps quiet about guys making me uncomfortable. I told him to quit it, or I’d punch him in the face.”
“Punch him?” Georgina arched an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” she said. “I grew up around like five brothers. Whenever they messed with me, punching was the way to get them to stop.” She shrugged, unapologetic.
“What happened after you threatened him?” I asked.
“Nothing. He smirked at me. Acted smug and friggin’ weird. I didn’t like it,” Hanna continued, “but what could I do? Report him for staring? He hadn’t done anything threatening. Technically.”
“But things got worse?” I prompted.
“Yeah.”
“Worse how?” Gamma asked.
Hannah seemed loathe to say, but she eventually rolled her eyes at herself. “I caught him setting up a camera to record me. That was just before he died.”
“A camera!” I couldn’t hide my shock.
“Yeah. He kept grinning at me like he thought it was a big joke that I’d caught him in the act. I was livid, and I threatened to tell you about it, Georgina. He didn’t seem to care about that, either. The worst thing is, he went and got himself killed and now the cops are asking me questions. Like when I left the inn last night. Apparently, no one saw me.”
So, Hannah didn’t have an alibi. “Are you sure that Jordan was—you know, being weird? There’s no other explanation for how he acted?” I couldn’t picture Jordan behaving in that way. Ever since we’d met him, he’d been humble, albeit a loner.
“I’m sure,” Hannah said.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with that,” Gamma said. “If anything like that happens to you again, please report it to me immediately.”
“I will. I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize.” My grandmother’s tone was brisk. “Can you point me in the direction of the camera?”
“It was over there. In the corner of the room behind the incubator.”
Hannah hung back while Gamma and I checked it out. We didn’t need to shift the incubator away from the wall, as there was enough of a gap. But there wasn’t a camera back there.
“Nothing,” I said.
“He must’ve taken it down.” Hannah shuttled her fingers through her short hair, fluffing it so it stood on end. “Look, I’m not lying. I saw him doing it.”
“Did you see him take it down?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“No one’s calling you a liar,” Gamma said. “Did you notice anything else that might’ve been odd in the time before Jordan’s death? Was he talking to anyone in particular?”
“He kept to himself.” Hannah’s reply came slowly, after a minute of reflection. “But I noticed him talking to a woman recently.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, a guest. She came down to the center on her first day in the inn and introduced herself to me and him. After that, she came every day to talk with him. I swear, she was flirting with him, but I can’t fathom how anyone would want to flirt with… yeah, I shouldn’t say that. He’s dead, so… probably shouldn’t be mean. But he was a creep, in my defense.”
“What was her name?” I asked.
“Huh?”
“The guest who kept coming to visit.”
Hannah met my gaze, her expression equal parts curious and somber. “Kayla. Kayla Wart.”
9
“It checks out,” I said, as Gamma and I made our way up the stairs to the first floor of the inn. “On the morning after Jordan’s death, Kayla was alone at breakfast in the dining area. She was puffy-eyed and in a terrible mood.”
“And her sister?” Gamma asked, prim and proper in a neat blouse and a pair of slacks, her hair done in curls.
“Nowhere to be seen.”
“Suspicious. There might be something going on between them. Something to do with Jordan.”
“Only one way to find out, right?”
“Correct.” Gamma took the lead as we moved down the inn’s cozy hallway, complete with the occasional painting or tapestry that had come from the old museum.
The Gossip Inn was steeped in history, what with its creaking floorboards, Persian rugs, and nooks and crannies containing rickety tables and odd collections of trinkets that my grandmother had carefully placed on display. Every corner of the place seemed to whisper with secrets.
I didn’t often dwell on how much I loved the inn’s atmosphere, unless I was partaking in my favorite cleaning duty, dusting. The thought of catching my ex and leaving this place tied my stomach in knots.
“This is where they’re staying,” Gamma said, though she knew I’d cleaned these rooms this morning. Perhaps it was more to draw attention to what we’d find once we were inside the rooms. Would Kayla and Josephine be gossiping? Completely closed off from one another? “Lavender and Rose Rooms adjoining. Shared bathroom. Kayla’s in the Rose Room.” She straightened, checked her hair was neat, then knocked.
Shuffling came from the other side of the door, and the ornate door handle depressed. Kayla opened the door a crack, looking out at us with red-rimmed eyes. “H-hello,” she said.
“Hi,” I replied.
“Good afternoon, Miss Wart.” Gamma took the lead. “I wanted to check in with you. Are you happy with your service at the Gossip Inn? I understand this has been a trying time for all the guests.”
“I-I guess.”
“My assistant, Charlotte, tells me you’ve been having a rather tough time of it the past day or so. And we haven’t seen your sister at meals?”
Kayla’s expression darkened at the mention of her sister. “Yeah.”
“Are you OK?” I asked. “You look upset.”
Kayla opened her door a little more, providing a glimpse of the white and rose gold theme of the room beyond. Gamma had an eye for decorating, and the space was both classy and
