After my exciting dinner I went up to brush my teeth and freshen up, then came down to get Diesel ready for the ride to the hotel. He would have to remain in his halter with the leash attached the whole time. He might find that frustrating, because I usually didn’t have to keep him leashed. On this occasion, however, with a number of strangers around, I needed to be sure he remained close to me.
Nearly twenty minutes later we walked into the Farrington House from the rear entrance and made our way to the lobby. Diesel had been in the hotel before, several times in the past. The owners were animal lovers, and they welcomed guests with family pets—other than reptiles or exotics, that is. Diesel no doubt remembered the place and so far showed no signs of fear, though he was walking close by my legs.
Before we went up to Lisa’s suite, I wanted to try talking with Marisue. I pulled my phone out and texted her to see if she had time to chat.
She responded almost immediately and invited me to her room.
I led Diesel to the elevator, empty at the moment, and punched the button for Marisue’s floor. We soon arrived at her door, and she answered my knock so quickly she must have been standing right on the other side.
“Come in,” she said. “I heard something a few minutes ago that might help solve the murders.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Marisue urged me in again when I stood there for a moment, trying to process what she had told me. “Come on, Charlie,” she said. “I don’t want to have this conversation with you standing out in the hall, for Pete’s sake.”
“Oh, right.” I moved forward, and Diesel trotted in ahead of me while Marisue shut the door behind us.
“Make yourself comfortable.” Marisue waved a hand in the direction of the two small armchairs her room offered. I chose the one on the right. Diesel sat at my feet and watched Marisue as she sat in the other chair. She stretched out a hand to the cat, and he rubbed his head against it. “You are so handsome, but I bet you know that.”
When Diesel meowed in response, Marisue laughed, and I could see her visibly relax a little. She had seemed tense when she opened the door, but now she looked less so. Diesel often had that effect.
“Now, what is this you’ve heard that could solve the case?” I asked, trying not to sound impatient.
Marisue shifted her focus from Diesel to me and sat back in her chair. “I was down on the meeting room level until about ten minutes ago. You’ll be happy to know I was talking to your good friend the deputy.” She grinned. “My goodness, that woman can be more than a little terrifying, but I guess she’d have to be in her position.”
“She has to be pretty tough,” I said.
“Anyway, I finished answering her questions, and I headed back to the elevator to return here. When the doors opened, there stood the Bobbsey Twins in the middle of one of their bickering sessions. I almost let the door close to wait for the elevator to come back, but I got on anyway.”
Marisue’s reference to the Bobbsey Twins threw me. I knew all about Bert and Nan and Freddie and Flossie, because I’d read the books when I was a youngster. I knew she wasn’t talking about them, however.
“I don’t know whom you’re talking about,” I said.
Marisue grinned. “Sorry, I forgot you haven’t been coming to these meetings for years like the rest of us. You may have seen them around, two women in their late seventies, maybe early eighties? Nobody knows exactly how old they are. Virginia and Ada Lou. They always come to these meetings together, and most of the time they bicker over the craziest things.”
“Yes, I’ve met them,” I said. “Go on. What were they bickering about when you got in the elevator with them?”
“At first, I couldn’t make much sense of it,” Marisue said. “Their conversations can be incredibly oblique sometimes, you know. But then I realized they were talking about Gavin and something they’d seen or overheard involving him. That’s when I really started paying attention.”
She paused for a moment. “I get tired simply thinking about those two. So they’re talking about Gavin and an argument he was having with someone. Evidently they didn’t hear much of it, and they aren’t completely sure who the other party was, except that they’re sure he was a man.”
“Where and when did this happen?” I asked.
“I think maybe early on Thursday afternoon, when people first started arriving and checking into the hotel,” Marisue said. “They’re staying on a higher floor, I guess, because I had to get out before I could hear much more. They never even noticed when I got on or when I got off.”
“Did you manage to hear anything about the subject of the argument Gavin was having with the unknown man?” This was certainly intriguing, but also annoying, since everything was rather vague. I didn’t envy Kanesha the task of trying to get those two women to talk and then make sense of it all.
“The little bit I got out of it,” Marisue said, “was that Gavin was angry over something the other man had done to him. Mr. X was taunting Gavin with it, and either Virginia or Ada Lou—sometimes I can’t remember which of them is which—repeated that line from Shakespeare about being hoist with your own petard. What play is it from, do you remember?”
With an actress daughter who adored Shakespeare, and as an admirer of the Bard myself, I told her. “It’s from Hamlet.” I could have told her more, but I didn’t want to sound like a know-it-all.
Marisue nodded. “Thanks. Anyway, one of them repeated it, and of course I’m not absolutely certain Mr. X said that to Gavin, or whether that was Ada Lou–Virginia’s interpretation. Do you think it could have any bearing on the murders?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But Kanesha definitely needs to hear about this, and she will of course have to talk to these two women.”
“I really don’t want to have to go back down there to talk to the deputy again,” Marisue said. “I don’t mean to sound whiny, but between dealing with Randi and her broken arm and then spending nearly an hour being grilled, I’m ready to load up on a bottle or two of my favorite wine and do some serious chilling out.”
“I understand,” I said. “Spending time at the ER is a draining experience for anyone. Let me text Kanesha on your behalf. At the moment I’ll tell her she needs to talk to these two women and ask them about an argument they overheard. I can explain later—or rather, you can explain—what you overheard. Okay?”
“Sounds fine to me,” Marisue said. “I could kiss you, Charlie, but I’m too tired to get out of the chair and do it.” She grinned at me.
“I appreciate the thought.” I smiled in return as I got my phone out to message Kanesha.
She responded quickly to thank me and to say that she would follow up with me soon. The important thing now was for her to talk to Virginia and Ada Lou. Marisue could tell her about overhearing the women’s conversation later.
I nearly dropped my phone as a terrible thought occurred to me. “Marisue, do these women go around all the time, talking like that, as if nobody else is around them? Are they that oblivious to their surroundings?”
Marisue nodded. “When they really get going, I think they lose all sense of where they are and who might overhear them.” Then she realized what I was getting at. “Oh my stars, the killer could have heard them gabbling away, and they would never know they had put themselves in danger.” Her earlier lethargy disappeared, and now she was as on edge as I was.
“I’ll text Kanesha again,” I said. “Tell her it’s an emergency and to call me ASAP.”
“Do,” Marisue said. “Those silly old bats. I hope they’re okay.”