RESORT TO MURDER (18 page)

"So tell me what happened," Maggie
prodded.

"Well, what you heard is right. It wasn't
long after Eric started here. I knew Burnelle had been working here
for a while, but I didn't realize how much influence she had with
management, with Ms. Crawford. Housekeeping poking into
landscaping.” He shook his head. "Doesn't make much sense, except
when you realize how she watches over that kid of hers."

"She does, doesn't she? Has she had to
rescue him from many other problems?"

Jack shook his head. "I don't know, but it
wouldn't surprise me. He's just that kind of kid, kinda shrewd and
kinda dumb at the same time. You know?"

Maggie nodded.

Jack picked up a twig and started peeling
the bark from it. "I first ran into Burnelle years ago, though she
doesn't remember it."

"Where was this?"

"A little town west of here. I was about
nineteen, hitchhiking from place to place, looking for a job. She
hasn't changed much, just some gray hair now, a little heavier, you
know. Same with Ms. Crawford, older and heavier since I first met
her. I ran into her around that time, too, not managing any hotels
then, though. She's really worked her way up, and brought her
daughter along with her. But they're two of a kind, Crawford and
the girl. Smart, and tough.

"Anyway, I guess I didn't make much
impression on either of them, Burnelle or Crawford, or else I've
changed a lot. Suppose I must have. I was just a teen then. Jack's
face froze, and he looked away from Maggie.

"What's the matter?"

"I was just reminded of something. Something
that still gives me the creeps."

"What?"

"I had hitched a ride from this guy. But we
split up at a diner. He was going south. By the time I found
another ride I heard about a pretty bad accident on the highway he
had taken. I'm just about sure it was him. The car was completely
burned up. If I had stayed with him, I would have been killed."

"Pretty scary."

Jack nodded.

"So now you're working at the same place as
both Burnelle and Ms. Crawford."

"Funny, isn't it? It's almost like something
pulled us together here.” Jack stood and grabbed the handles of his
wheelbarrow.

Maggie rose too. "Thank you, Jack, for
talking to me."

Jack nodded, his face somewhat bemused, as
though he had surprised himself with all the words that came
tumbling out, breaking through his normal reserve. Maggie wondered
if she had stirred up things in his head that he preferred to leave
undisturbed, but he didn't look uncomfortable, only thoughtful,
like someone discovering long-forgotten items in an old box.

They separated and started off in different
directions, Jack continuing the way he had first been heading, and
Maggie walking back to the hotel. They were several yards apart
when Maggie heard Jack calling to her.

"Miss. Miss!"

She turned, barely able to hear him across
the distance.

"She had the kid then, just a baby at the
time," he said. "But she didn't like to talk about it."

"Who, Jack? Who do you mean?"

"At the diner. She didn't want to talk about
it."

"Who do you mean, Burnelle or Ms. Crawford?"
Maggie called again, but Jack was too far away. He disappeared into
the thick shrubbery.

Maggie was about to hurry after him when she
heard the voices of the twins calling to each other. They were
running from the parking lot towards the hotel.

"You sure that was Rob?" one was asking.

"I think so. Over that way. It looked like
his shirt, anyway. C'mon, maybe we can catch up to him."

Was Rob nearby? Maggie suddenly didn't want
him to see her questioning hotel employees and maybe ask what was
going on. She turned back to the hotel and in a moment saw the
twins racing by. There was no sign of Rob, but she continued on,
confident that she could catch Jack at another time.

Back in her room Maggie sat staring out the
window. The sun glinted on the mountains, highlighting their
intricate shapes. Closer by, flowers showed off their stunning
colors against grass that was lush and green. But her thoughts
weren’t on the beauty before her. They moved restlessly over her
recent conversations with the twins and with Jack, gradually
shifting from Burnelle, Kathryn Crawford, and Eric, to Rob. They
lingered on Rob.

Jack had mentioned the hidden dark side some
people had. Did Rob have a dark side? He had explained away the
rumors of violence at Wimbledon, but then he had lied to her almost
immediately about keeping his lesson with Mr. Anderson at ten
o'clock, the same time she was being menaced by the blue van. Had
he lied to her about the rest? Maggie didn't like that thought, but
knew she had to pursue it, examine it. Her feelings didn't matter.
She couldn't let them matter. Facts mattered.

And now she had evidence of Eric lurking
within hearing range of her conversation with Dyna. He must have
overheard her talking about Lori's journal. What had he done about
it, if anything? But that waiter, Chuck, she remembered, had
certainly seen the journal. He almost soaked it by tipping her
water glass and could have destroyed it. And Maggie saw him talking
to Ms. Crawford soon after. Telling her about the journal?

The phone rang, and Maggie jumped. As she
picked it up, the sound of her brother's voice broke through her
tension and brought on a smile. His tone, though, was not
happy.

"Why are you still there Maggie?" he
demanded.

"Hi Joe, how are you?"

"Don't `Hi Joe' me. Maggie, you promised
you'd get out of there."

"Don't put words into my mouth, Joe. I never
promised anything. I've had things to do here. I'll leave when I'm
finished."

"Things to do? What? What are you talking
about?"

"I think I'm getting close to finding out
who killed Lori."

“
You’re getting
close? What do you think you're doing? You're not
the police."

"I don’t see that the police are doing much
at all. They seem to be waiting for some drifter to walk into their
office and say `Hi, I'm the one who did it.' Lori's parents deserve
better than that. How can they rest until they know the truth,
until they get justice?"

"What about
our
parents, Maggie?
Mom's worried enough just thinking about you being off somewhere on
your own. How do you think she'll feel when she finds out about all
this?"

"Someday Mom - and Dad - are going to have
to face the fact that I'm all grown up. I'm sorry it's been so hard
for them.” The thought of Burnelle's overprotectiveness flashed
through Maggie's mind, and she gritted her teeth. "Just please keep
them out of this, for now. Look, Joe, if you'd do something for me,
it'd be a big help, and I might be able to finish and come home
soon.” Maggie knew if she dangled that carrot in front of Joe he'd
jump for it.

She was right. "What can I do?" Joe
asked.

"Go to a library, one that has old
newspapers in their files, and look up something for me.” She
explained what she needed. She could hear Joe scratching away with
a pencil, taking it all down. She could also envision him leaping
into the family car and screeching toward the library.

Good old Joe. Her dear baby brother who felt
he had to look after her and would probably be up here dragging her
out of her room if he thought it would work. She hoped he would
find what she wanted, but in the meantime it would keep him out of
her hair.

The phone rang again, and Maggie picked it
up, half expecting to hear Joe's voice. Instead it was Charles,
from the front desk.

"Miss Olenski, I'm afraid I have some bad
news. There's been some damage done to your car."

***

CHAPTER 19

Maggie burst from the elevator into the
hotel lobby. She glanced around and caught sight of Dyna blinking
at her with surprise from the magazine stand.

"Come on", Maggie called as she hurried on
by. Dyna dropped her copy of `People' and ran to catch up with
Maggie as she flew down the hallway to the side door. Once in the
parking lot, they slowed and approached Maggie's car
apprehensively. Horror spread over both faces.

"Oh, Maggie. Your poor car!" Dyna cried.
Maggie stared, unable to say anything, the pain of what she saw
taking her breath away.

A huge rock lay on the back seat of Maggie's
car, having made its way through the back window which now had a
gaping hole and spider webs of cracks and splinters. Several large
and small shards of glass lay next to the rock and on the floor of
the car.

"Who could have done it?" Dyna asked.

Charles came up next to them, having left
his desk and followed quickly behind. He looked equally mournful,
seeming to take this almost as personally as Maggie. "We have no
idea," he said, shaking his head. "A guest noticed it on his way in
and reported it to us. I can't say how sorry I am about this."

Maggie nodded. Several thoughts and feelings
coursed through her, not the least of which was a quickly growing
anger at the person who had done this. She circled the car, looking
at the damage from all angles.

"Nobody saw or heard anything when this
happened?" she asked.

"Apparently not. We've asked around, but the
kitchen staff was busy setting up for dinner, the maintenance crew
had quit for the day, and that lone guest was the only one passing
through, after the fact.

"Very convenient. Someone certainly knows
exactly when to strike."

"Let me make a few phone calls, Miss. The
sheriff should be notified. And I’ll report it to management. This
sort of thing should not happen at our hotel.” He paused, and
Maggie knew they were all thinking of Lori. Another, more terrible
incident that shouldn't have happened there. Charles coughed, and
continued.

"At least we can arrange for the
repairs."

"Thank you Charles. That's very kind."

Charles hurried off, and Maggie ran a finger
along a deep scratch in the paint which ran nearly front to back
along the driver's side of her car. "This wasn't from the guard
rail. Whoever threw that rock took the time to scratch the car
first."

"But why?" Dyna asked.

"I think it's all a grim message. They might
as well have scratched the words into the paint: `Go home, Maggie.
Get out of here.'"

"Maybe you should," Dyna said softly.

Maggie just looked at her. "I must be
getting close, Dyna. Someone is very worried.”

"Someone also has the advantage, Maggie.
They know who you are, and where you are. But you don't know who
they are."

"I mean for that to change."

It wasn't long before the sheriff's car
pulled up, quietly, with no lights flashing. This was no emergency.
In fact, Maggie was surprised they would take the time to
investigate it at all. But the deputy was all business, writing
down all he could see and that she could tell him about the damage
done to her car.

A small crowd had gathered by this time,
attracted by the presence of the official car. Maggie caught a
glimpse of Holly peering from the side door, wearing her uniform
and holding an empty tray. Her face was distressed, but she didn't
come out to look closer, or to talk to Maggie.

The twins, Tyler and Travis showed up, in
bathing suits with towels wrapped around their necks, stepping
gingerly with their bare feet onto the gravel. Maggie went up to
them, the deputy following.

"Hey, guys, did you happen to be around when
this happened?"

Their eyes grew big. "It wasn't us, honest!
We were kicking the soccer ball around, but we headed back onto the
grass and away from here. We didn't break your window!"

"I know. It wasn't your ball that broke it.”
Maggie explained to the deputy that the boys had been near the
parking lot as she left it. "Somebody hurled a heavy rock through
the window. I just wondered if you saw anyone hanging around that
looked like they might have that on their mind?"

The twins looked at each
other and shrugged. "We didn't see anyone like
that
."

"After I left you, I heard one of you
calling out that you saw Rob. Was he coming this way?"

"Rob? No, I thought I saw him going towards
the pool, but when we got there we couldn't find him. We were hot,
so we decided to get our suits and go swim."

Maggie was sure that Rob was probably the
last person they would want to tattle on, but she could read in
their faces that they were telling the truth.

The deputy said, "If you think of anything
that would help us, let me know," and handed them his card. They
took it solemnly, as if it were their own personal Junior G. Man
badge, and nodded in unison.

"We're not going to find out who did it, for
now," Maggie said, as they walked back to her car. "But I am sure
it was the same person who drove a blue van and tried to kill me
out on the road, and the same person that killed Lori Basker."

The deputy didn't comment, but looked at her
with a grim face. He entered something in his notebook, then
flipped it closed. "I'll need to go in and talk to the front desk
person, and the guest who reported this. We'll be in touch.” Before
he turned to go, Maggie noticed him glance up in the direction of
the hotel side door. Holly was gone, and Maggie saw the waiter,
Chuck, standing in her place. To her surprise, he and the deputy
seemed to lock eyes for a moment. Was she imagining it? If not,
what did it mean?

"Maggie, now what?” Dyna stood at her side,
agitated and nearly plucking at her sleeve.

The deputy had left, and the side doorway
was now vacant. Maggie shook her head. "I don't know."