everything you told me.”
“Oh, thank you, Liz!” Eileen said. “I just can’t thank you enough!”
I could hear someone in Eileen’s room speaking to her, but she came back to me and said, “I’ve got to hurry, Liz. Martin and Randolph are scheduled to have a fistfight during the breakfast buffet in the ballroom, and I’ve got to make sure they’re ready and it comes offon schedule. I’ll tell the sleuths about you when we meet for the detective’s report at nine.”
“Okay,” I said, but as I hung up the phone I wondered how I’d let myself get into this mess.
I was supposed to show up at the health club at eight, and I wanted a big breakfast, so I quickly showered and dressed in my shorts and T-shirt uniform and hurried down to the employees’ cafeteria in the basement.
Fran already had a table and a head start on scrambled eggs, bacon, and everything that went with it, but he put down his fork as I joined him and said, “How come the eggs and bacon we’re eating probably came from the same hen and pig as the eggs and bacon that’s being served in the hotel’s dining room, only theirs tastes so good, and ours doesn’t?”
“They’re paying for theirs,” I said.
“Good reason,” Fran said, and began to eat again.
I told him about Eileen’s phone call as I spread strawberry jelly on my toast and thumb.
“Wow,” he said and stuffed his mouth with limp hash browns. “You are a sneaky one.”
“The show must go on,” I mumbled.
“So must the health club,” Deely said over my shoulder. “Hurry up and finish your breakfast. I’ll open up.”
There were a couple of media people and a TV cameraman in the lobby as I walked through on my way to the health club. I assumed they’d come about Devane’s murder, but a few of the mystery sleuths preened and giggled at the cameraman, and I heard one of them say, “This is all so realistic! Isn’t it fun!”
There was a meeting with Detective Pat Sharp scheduledfor eight-thirty, so none of the hotel guests who were playing the mystery game came into the health club, which gave me time to scrub the tiles and fish leaves out of the outdoor side of the pool. I expected all the sleuths to rush in after the detective’s talk, point their fingers at me, and ask a million questions, but around nine o’clock only Mrs. Bandini and Mrs. Larabee hurried in, both of them a little out of breath.
They cornered me in the office, and Mrs. Bandini said, “Detective Smart isn’t finished with her report yet, but we asked our teammates to take notes for us. We feel it’s our duty to talk to you, Mary Elizabeth.”
“About my slugging Randolph Hamilton?” I asked.
“We’ll get to that later,” Mrs. Larabee said. “What we have to say is more important.”
The two of them looked at each other, and Mrs. Bandini spoke up. “The first time we met you, I said, ‘Isn’t that a lovely, sweet girl?’ Didn’t I say that, Opal?”
“Your very words,” Mrs. Larabee said.
“And the way you helped solve the murder at the hotel in June—well, you were any mother’s pride and joy.”
“But last night …” Mrs. Larabee said. “Well, frankly, we’re concerned about your behavior.”
“It’s just a part I’m playing,” I told them, but they weren’t listening.
“We’re afraid this change in your formerly perfect behavior comes from bad companions,” Mrs. Bandini said.
I knew who she meant. She had wanted me to dateher gorgeous grandson, Eric, and wasn’t too happy that I chose Fran instead.
“I don’t have bad companions,” I told them, but their lips tightened and their eyes grew all-knowing, and it wasn’t hard to figure out that I wasn’t reaching them. These women had been my friends ever since I came to work at the Ridley health club at the beginning of summer. I didn’t want them to think badly of me. What was I going to do?
I sighed and leaned back against the desk. “None of it happened the way they said,” I
“Oh, thank you, Liz!” Eileen said. “I just can’t thank you enough!”
I could hear someone in Eileen’s room speaking to her, but she came back to me and said, “I’ve got to hurry, Liz. Martin and Randolph are scheduled to have a fistfight during the breakfast buffet in the ballroom, and I’ve got to make sure they’re ready and it comes offon schedule. I’ll tell the sleuths about you when we meet for the detective’s report at nine.”
“Okay,” I said, but as I hung up the phone I wondered how I’d let myself get into this mess.
I was supposed to show up at the health club at eight, and I wanted a big breakfast, so I quickly showered and dressed in my shorts and T-shirt uniform and hurried down to the employees’ cafeteria in the basement.
Fran already had a table and a head start on scrambled eggs, bacon, and everything that went with it, but he put down his fork as I joined him and said, “How come the eggs and bacon we’re eating probably came from the same hen and pig as the eggs and bacon that’s being served in the hotel’s dining room, only theirs tastes so good, and ours doesn’t?”
“They’re paying for theirs,” I said.
“Good reason,” Fran said, and began to eat again.
I told him about Eileen’s phone call as I spread strawberry jelly on my toast and thumb.
“Wow,” he said and stuffed his mouth with limp hash browns. “You are a sneaky one.”
“The show must go on,” I mumbled.
“So must the health club,” Deely said over my shoulder. “Hurry up and finish your breakfast. I’ll open up.”
There were a couple of media people and a TV cameraman in the lobby as I walked through on my way to the health club. I assumed they’d come about Devane’s murder, but a few of the mystery sleuths preened and giggled at the cameraman, and I heard one of them say, “This is all so realistic! Isn’t it fun!”
There was a meeting with Detective Pat Sharp scheduledfor eight-thirty, so none of the hotel guests who were playing the mystery game came into the health club, which gave me time to scrub the tiles and fish leaves out of the outdoor side of the pool. I expected all the sleuths to rush in after the detective’s talk, point their fingers at me, and ask a million questions, but around nine o’clock only Mrs. Bandini and Mrs. Larabee hurried in, both of them a little out of breath.
They cornered me in the office, and Mrs. Bandini said, “Detective Smart isn’t finished with her report yet, but we asked our teammates to take notes for us. We feel it’s our duty to talk to you, Mary Elizabeth.”
“About my slugging Randolph Hamilton?” I asked.
“We’ll get to that later,” Mrs. Larabee said. “What we have to say is more important.”
The two of them looked at each other, and Mrs. Bandini spoke up. “The first time we met you, I said, ‘Isn’t that a lovely, sweet girl?’ Didn’t I say that, Opal?”
“Your very words,” Mrs. Larabee said.
“And the way you helped solve the murder at the hotel in June—well, you were any mother’s pride and joy.”
“But last night …” Mrs. Larabee said. “Well, frankly, we’re concerned about your behavior.”
“It’s just a part I’m playing,” I told them, but they weren’t listening.
“We’re afraid this change in your formerly perfect behavior comes from bad companions,” Mrs. Bandini said.
I knew who she meant. She had wanted me to dateher gorgeous grandson, Eric, and wasn’t too happy that I chose Fran instead.
“I don’t have bad companions,” I told them, but their lips tightened and their eyes grew all-knowing, and it wasn’t hard to figure out that I wasn’t reaching them. These women had been my friends ever since I came to work at the Ridley health club at the beginning of summer. I didn’t want them to think badly of me. What was I going to do?
I sighed and leaned back against the desk. “None of it happened the way they said,” I
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