“Won’t that look weird?”

“Lorraine!”

“I’m sorry. Okay. Give me a piggyback ride.”

He turned his back to her, leaned down, and she jumped on board. Her legs wrapped around him, her arms around his neck, they started back up Fifth Avenue. “I’ll walk the last block,” she told him. “To be seen like this wouldn’t be good for my image.”

“Don’t worry,” he muttered. “I’ll gladly drop you when we get close.”

22

R egan, Billy, Melanie, and Cal Hopkins, the head of security at the Gates Hotel, made the arduous journey up a dark, hot stairwell to Georgina’s room. By the time they reached the forty-second floor, they were all sweating.

“Kit’s lucky she had that bunionectomy,” Billy commented as he took a long slug of bottled water.

Cal had handed them each a bottle before they started the trek. “I don’t need anyone passing out on me,” he’d said. They followed him down the long hall. He stopped and trained the flashlight on the door of Georgina’s room and unlocked it with a master key. He pushed the door open. Slowly he started inside.

Regan’s first impression as she shone her flashlight around was that Georgina was not a neat freak. There were two queen-size beds, one of them covered with a jumble of clothes. A half-full suitcase was open and on the floor. A quick check of the bathroom revealed the basics most women bring on a trip. Cleansing cream, moisturizer, toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, hair spray, makeup, etc.

“Nothing looks too unusual,” Regan commented. She took a quick look through the clothes on the bed. She found nothing hidden there or anywhere in the suitcase. A couple of stylish but wrinkled dresses were hanging in the closet. They still had the price tags on them. Maybe the fruits of her shoplifting, Regan thought. Three pairs of shoes were on the closet floor. A quick look through a leather portfolio on the desk revealed nothing but papers regarding the insurance convention. “Melanie, you’re the only one of us who knew her. Is there anything here that strikes you odd in any way?”

“No,” Melanie said with disappointment.

Regan opened the drawers of the dresser. The top two were empty. In the bottom drawer there was a pillow in a red pillowcase. “Does this belong to the hotel?” Regan asked Cal.

“No. A lot of people like to travel with their own pillows. I know my wife does. She wants a flat pillow and can’t stand hotel pillows that are big and fluffy or hard as a rock. Trouble is, she sometimes forgets to bring it home. Our guests do the same. You wouldn’t believe the stuff people leave behind!” He whistled. “It’d curl your toes.”

“I’d like to talk to you sometime,” Billy said. “I’m a stand-up comedian and I’m always looking for material.”

“Really? Well, stop by one of these days. I’ll show you our lost and found department. If you can’t find a few jokes from what piles up in there, then you should give up on comedy.”