“Judgin’ by the sound of it. Why?”

“No reason.” He glanced over at the front desk. “You know, I just remembered—I locked my key in my room this morning. Have you got a spare?”

“Sure, let me get it for you.”

“Don’t bother, I can see it from here. I don’t want you two to miss out on any of the action there.”

Nick stepped behind the front desk and scanned the rack of room keys; there were two keys on every hook except for two of the rooms. He took the spare key to his own room to keep from arousing suspicion, then took the key to Marge’s room as well. He lifted one of the keys from an adjacent hook and placed it on Marge’s to cover the empty space.

Nick stopped at the card table as he passed and lifted a puzzle piece from the corner. “See that one over there? The one with a little bit of orange?”

“This one here?”

“This piece fits on the right side.”

The man took the piece from Nick and tried it; it snapped perfectly into place. He squinted up at Nick. “How’d you do that?”

“I don’t know. Thanks for the key—I’ll bring it right back.”

He went down the hallway to his room and opened the door—then quietly closed it again and continued down the hallway to Marge’s room. He listened at the door for a moment; he could hear the tinny, echoing sound of Bosco clawing at the metal grating of his crate—but nothing else. He quietly knocked and waited, but there was no response. He used the spare key to open the door and let himself in.

There was Bosco, locked in his dog crate in the corner of the room— but there was no sign of Marge anywhere. The dog became agitated and began to whimper at the sight of Nick. Nick walked over to the cage and bent down to quiet the dog; he was met by the stench of feces and urine. He looked into the cage and saw a pair of aluminum food and water bowls; both were empty. Nick had a bad feeling; even if the dog lacked a nose, it was still a very expensive and well-groomed animal. It was conceivable that Marge might overlook the dog for a couple of hours, but not like this—she would never neglect the animal’s basic needs.

He took a quick look around the room. There was no sign of a disturbance. He found a set of car keys on the dresser; Nick remembered seeing the white SUV in the parking lot when he pulled up. He found no purse or pocketbook; Marge had apparently taken it with her, suggesting that she had left on foot and of her own free will.

But she didn’t return—and Nick had a feeling he knew why.