Page 38 of The Lady Has a Past

Hiram rushed around the end of the desk and charged after her. “Madam, you must not go into the bathhouse unless there are attendants available. Madam Guppy and the hotel management have very strict rules. Swimming alone in the mineral pools is not allowed. It’s dangerous.”

“You are welcome to come with me,” Lyra sang out.

She disappeared into the gardens. The horrified clerk followed.

Simon waited until they were both out of sight before he emerged from the hallway.

He went to the front desk and opened the guest register. He flipped back to the previous day and went quickly through the list of people who had checked in.

Raina Kirk was not on the register, but he hadn’t expected things to be that simple. Only three single travelers had arrived on that date, however. Two of them were women—Miss J. Granville and Miss E. Coulson. He made a note of the names and the rooms they had been assigned.

He closed the register and checked the wooden board behind the desk. The keys for the rooms that had been assigned to Miss Granville and Miss Coulson were gone, indicating they were in their rooms. He had not noticed any single women in the bar or the dining room, but that was not unusual. Women traveling alone often ordered room service.

Lyra’s lilting laughter drifted in from the gardens. It sounded like she was on the far side of the courtyard. That meant the clerk was still safely out of the way.

In addition to the night clerk’s office, there was another office doormarkedprivate. He took out the lockpick he had slipped into the pocket of his evening jacket and started around the end of the front desk.

Lyra’s voice was louder now. She was singing “Too Marvelous for Words.” He got the message. He changed his mind and went back around the front desk.

He was lounging against the desk, banging the service bell, when Hiram escorted Lyra back into the lobby. She gave him a sparkling smile.

“Oh, hello, darling,” she said. “I am trying to convince this nice man to let me take a swim in one of the bathhouse pools. He says I can’t swim alone, and he refuses to join me. Would you like to take a swim?”

“Not tonight, dear,” Simon said. “I’ve got a headache. Let’s go upstairs. I think we both need some sleep.”

He crossed the room to take her arm. Hiram was visibly relieved.

“Good night, sir,” he said. “Madam.”

“Good night, Hiram,” Lyra said. “Thank you for showing me around the gardens.”

“Anytime, Mrs. Cage,” Hiram said.

He hastened into the inner office.

Simon kept his grip on Lyra’s arm and steered her toward the stairs. When they reached the landing on the next floor she made to pull away from him. He realized he did not want to let go, but he could not think of a good excuse to hang on to her. Reluctantly he released her.

“Next time you can play the role of the ditzy dame who’s had too many cocktails,” she said.

“I doubt if I could top your performance,” he said. “You were magnificent in the part.”

“I was, wasn’t I? Those drama classes I took in college finally paid off. Well? Were you successful?”

He smiled. She was a little giddy, and it wasn’t from the pink ladies. He recognized the sensation because he was experiencing a similar rush of exhilaration. It was the energy of action; of moving forwardon a case. Maybe the new lead would go nowhere, but at least there was a path.

“We’re about to find out,” he said. “Raina Kirk’s name was not on the register, but two single women checked into the hotel yesterday in the afternoon.”

“Do you think one of them was Raina?”

“It’s possible. There’s only one way to be sure. I’ve got the room numbers. We knock on doors and see who answers.”

“This could and probably will get very awkward,” Lyra warned. “Unless we get lucky with the first door, we’re going to wake up a stranger who will no doubt be extremely annoyed.”

“In that case we go into our act.”

“Which is?”

“Intoxicated honeymooners who got lost on the way back to their suite.”

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