Room for Murder - Tim Myers [46]
So the radio station had lost her hesitation altogether. Alex wondered how the visual of the debate could be so different from the audio alone, then he remembered stories of the Kennedy-Nixon debate on television. His folks had told him that the people who heard it on the radio thought Nixon won, while the television viewers gave the nod to Kennedy. Maybe her stilted beginning hadn’t crushed Tracy’s candidacy after all.
Then he remembered the photograph, and the mannequin. When word got out what had happened, it would most likely ruin the last of her chances, and Alex didn’t relish the idea of Conner Shook being the mayor of Elkton Falls for the next two years.
Alex had just gone to bed when there was a frantic knocking on his door. As an innkeeper, he was used to being awakened at all hours of the night. Pulling on the robe by his bed, he was startled to see Greg and Denise, the two rockhounds who had checked out the day before.
Denise looked frantic, to the point of tears.
Alex asked, “What’s wrong?” fearing the worst.
She said, “My ring. It’s gone. Did you find it? Is it here?”
Greg added, “It’s a three-and-a-half-carat Russian Alexandrite stone set in Mexican gold. It’s worth a small fortune.”
Denise said, “It’s more than that. It’s my engagement ring.”
Alex said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t see it when I was cleaning yesterday. I don’t know how to tell you this, but we had some other folks stay in that room last night.”
“Oh, no.” Denise looked shattered.
Alex said, “Let’s go upstairs and check anyway. We might have missed it.”
“I can’t believe it’s gone,” Denise said.
Greg tried to comfort his wife. “It’s probably still up there, Honey. We’ll find it.”
Alex had his doubts, but he kept them to himself. He grabbed his master key and they went upstairs. Thirty minutes later they’d torn the room apart, but still no ring.
Alex was about to admit it was a lost cause when he saw something glittering on an old iron filigree hanging on the wall that served as a curtain stay. He walked over, and to his amazement, it was indeed the missing ring.
Denise hugged him when he presented it to her. “You’re a genius. Where was it?”
Alex showed the couple where it had been. Denise said, “I remember now. I took it off to take a bath, then Greg, you called me from the other room. I put it there so I wouldn’t forget it, if you can believe that.”
Greg smiled. “Sure, blame the husband, take the easy way out.”
Alex surveyed the mess they’d created and said, “It’s getting too late to drive anywhere and the room’s free for the night. Let me get this cleaned up and you’re welcome to spend the night here, with my compliments.”
Denise said, “We’d love to, but friends are expecting us in Charlotte tonight. We’ll stay and help clean up before we go, though.”
Alex shook his head. “I can handle this. Why don’t you two go ahead? And enjoy the rest of your vacation.”
“Oh, we will,” Denise said happily. “And we’re even going to come back next year.”
Greg said, “Thanks, Alex. I can’t tell you how much this means to us.”
Elise showed up as Greg and Denise were leaving.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Denise lost her engagement ring, but the panic is over. We found it.”
She followed Alex back upstairs, and they had the room back in neat order in no time.
Elise said, “There’s never a dull moment around here, is there? Good night.”
“Good night,” Alex answered, though he had hoped their late night proximity would ease some of the discomfort between them.
No such luck.
It appeared that the damage they’d done was irreversible.
Chapter 14
“Well, the celebrity arrives,” Elise said as Alex walked into the lobby the next morning.
“What are you talking about?” Alex asked.
She showed him the newspaper, and he was appalled to see that Logan, that newshound, had used two of the shots he’d taken in the auditorium. Side by side, there were photos of Tracy fainted dead away in