He told me the price and handed me a key. “Do me a favor and try to brush some of that off in the parking lot. Housekeeping is going to kill me.”
“I’ll do what I can,” I said and headed out.
Ida Belle found a spot close to our room despite the unusually crowded parking lot, and we all hopped out.
“The clerk said to try to shake some of this off outside,” I said. “I think he’s afraid housekeeping will give notice.”
“Sounds like the new clerk is as uptight as the last one,” Gertie groused, and she shook her head, flinging glitter everywhere.
“Oh, it’s the same old clerk,” I said and explained why he was back as we headed inside.
While one of us showered, the other two tackled the clothes. I swear, it was like the glitter was covered with glue the way it stuck to fabric. I could see why the clerk was concerned. It would still be in the carpet until they changed it, which was probably slated to happen on the right side of never.
Finally, we’d done the best we could do. Gertie shifted her revolver and Mace out from her cleavage to her new purse, along with the lint rollers, and we stuffed the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash back into the plastic bag. We figured we probably needed to put together an emergency kit and this was a start. Then we did once last inspection. Our clothes were pretty good but if I dug my fingers into my scalp, I still came up with glitter. And since lint-rolling my hair was out of the question, I figured I’d have a fabulous scalp for some time to come. Hopefully, Carter wouldn’t take a close look.
We’d bought beach towels at the store and covered the seats with them to prevent getting glitter on our clothes again when we got back in the SUV. So all we needed to do now was head for the car wash and give the SUV a good vacuum and use the lint rollers to try to get the glitter out. At least Ida Belle was all about utility and had leather seats and rubber floors instead of carpet. That helped.
Chapter Fifteen
I had just opened the motel room door to step out when I caught sight of Tiffany crossing the parking lot. I practically shoved Gertie down getting back inside and closing the door, then ran over to the blinds and lifted one to watch. Sure enough, her red Mustang was parked at the back of the parking lot almost hidden by a dumpster and a big hedge. I couldn’t remember if it had been there when we arrived but then, I hadn’t been scanning the parking lot like normal as it wasn’t that kind of visit.
“What the heck?” Gertie asked as she pushed herself off the dresser.
“It’s Tiffany,” I said.
Gertie and Ida Belle rushed up beside me to peer out.
“What are the odds?” Ida Belle asked.
“In Sinful?” I asked. “Probably higher than most.”
“Did you see what room she came out of?” Gertie asked.
“Not even,” I said. “She was already crossing the parking lot. But as soon as she drives off, we need to pull the SUV down some and keep an eye on the rooms in line with her path. Maybe we’ll recognize someone coming out.”
“You don’t want to follow her?” Ida Belle asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “It looks like she met someone here. So unless she has two secret meetings, she’s probably headed back to Sinful.”
We watched as Tiffany got in her car and drove away and Ida Belle pulled out her cell phone and dialed.
“Yes. May I speak to Liam please?” she said. “Oh, okay. Do you know when he’ll be back? He was going to help me with some choice rib eyes for a dinner party I’m having. Okay. I will. Thanks.”
She frowned as she hung up. “Liam’s out sick.”
We all headed outside and Ida Belle moved the SUV closer to the entrance but back from the motel so we could see all the room doors. We waited a good ten minutes, but no one emerged from the rooms.
“Maybe he’s staying put,” Gertie said.
“Or left before Tiffany did and we missed him,” Ida Belle said. “I don’t see his truck anywhere.”
“Or he could have ridden the moped over and left it in the woods,” I said. “The motel isn’t far from the butcher shop or his house.”
“So what now?” Gertie asked.
“Well, unfortunately for the clerk, I’m about to go back in there and see if he can identify someone for me,” I said.
“Do you have pictures of them?” Ida Belle asked.
I nodded. “One of the first things I do when we’re on a case is make a file with pictures of people we’re checking out.”
“Smart,” Gertie said.
“Stay parked here, just in case Liam comes out,” I said. “You don’t want to be right in front of him.”
I hopped out of the SUV and headed back for the office. The clerk looked up as I walked in and sighed.
“What now?” he asked.
I handed him the room key and he looked relieved.
“I saw a guest leaving when I walked out of my room,” I said. “She’s a suspect in a murder investigation.”
His relief turned to dismay. “Of course she is.”
“Since she lives in Sinful, I can’t see any reason for her to be here unless she was meeting someone.”
“Maybe she moonlights at a glitter job like you.”
“I’d like to show you some pictures and see if you recognize these people.”
“Do it. And hurry up about it. You know, I’m certain that all your questions are going to get me killed one day.”
“Maybe if you weren’t always renting to criminals, that wouldn’t be the case.”
“Then the place would go broke. Do you think the most upstanding of citizens stays here?”
I flipped my phone around with a picture of Tiffany on it.
He leaned forward and shook his head. “No. I’d remember her if I’d seen her. She’s totally my type. Shame about the murderer thing. Let me know if she’s not guilty. Maybe I can get her number. Who is she suspected of killing?”
“Her husband.”
He swallowed. “Okay, maybe skip the number. I don’t need a date that bad.”
I pulled up Liam’s picture and showed him. He studied it for a few seconds, then shook his head again.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “But he’s a really normal-looking dude. I mean, I don’t give dudes a big look, you know. Unless they have something out of the ordinary going on, most of them don’t register.”
“How full is the motel right now?”
“About eighty percent booked.”
“Really? I thought the parking lot looked fuller than usual.”
He nodded. “Fishing rodeo over in Mudbug. We get the overflow.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
I headed back out to the SUV and filled Ida Belle and Gertie in.
“Do you want to stay here longer?” Ida Belle asked.
“No,” I said. “Like you said, he could have left before Tiffany. And if she wasn’t meeting Liam, there’s no way we’d know who she was meeting—not with a bunch of fishermen staying here. He’d just be another guy in the crowd.”
“We could do a drive-by of the butcher shop and Liam’s house and see if the moped and truck are there,” Gertie said.