Fred had told me his room number the day we went to get ice cream, but when we got to room 40215 the DO NOT DISTURB sign was up and there was no answer to our knocking.
“There’s a house phone just down the corridor. I’ll go call security,” Polly said, and took off.
I put my ear against the door. There was no sound. Nothing. “I don’t think there’s anyone inside.”
Polly came running back, panting a little. “Security says they’re sending someone up to investigate the situation and we should go back to our room.”
Hmmm, or NOT. Roxy and Tom did in fact go back to my room, but only to grab the evidence we’d found in case we needed it, while Polly and I waited in front of Fred and Fiona’s door. If they were in trouble, I wanted to be there to help.
Little Life Lesson 42: Security officers have very good, if selective, memories.
The first thing Security Officer Kim and Security Officer Reese said when they saw me at the end of the corridor was, “Miss Callihan.” They recognized me! Even though our time together the day before when they escorted me to Mr. Curtis’s office had been brief, it obviously left an impression on them. I would have been flattered if Security Officer Kim hadn’t immediately clicked on his walkie-talkie and said, “Cancel that emergency status on floor forty. It’s a prank.”
“It’s not a prank. That boy, the one I was in the casino with yesterday?”
“The minor you were willfully corrupting? Yes?”
There was so much wrong with that statement I didn’t even know where to start. And I had more important things to get to. “This is his room. He called me and left a message that he was in trouble and we came right down here but now there’s no answer when we knock. I think something is really wrong.”
Officer Reese reached out and flicked the DO NOT DISTURB sign with his finger. “You can read, can’t you, Miss Callihan? Or do you need me to tell you what this says?”
Okay, now, that was just unnecessarily mean. Maybe I was a repeat offender in the eyes of the law, but that didn’t mean I was lying. Or illiterate. I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I looked down and saw three things at the same time.
1. My hands were trembling.
2. I had run to Fred’s room still holding the envelope marked EVIL BOY HAIRS FROM DEATHMOBILE.
3. There was a dark brown drop on the carpet just outside the door, and another, smaller one, a little farther down the corridor.
I also saw Tom and Roxy coming toward us, with Tom’s pockets bulging with our evidence. I put up my hand to stop them, looked back up, and said to Security Officers Kim and Reese, “You’re right. I’m making a big deal about nothing. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. We’ll go back to my room.” I nodded to Polly. “Come on. We’ve caused enough trouble already.”
We caught up with Roxy and Tom. “Don’t say anything, just come with me,” I whispered to them and kept walking, head down, toward the elevators.
“Where are—” Polly started to say when we got in, but changed course when I nodded toward the security camera, and finished with, “—Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man, would make a good song title, don’t you think, Rox?”
When we got out, I made a sharp left. Polly said, “Jas, our room is the other way.”
“But the closest staircase to Fred’s room is this way,” Roxy said, figuring out what I was doing.
We reached the staircase and started going up.
“Okay,” Polly said as we climbed, “I saw that you had your fingers crossed when you were talking up there and knew that meant you were lying, but why did you do it?”
“Because if we stayed, they would never have left.” I stopped at the landing of the fortieth floor. “There were what looked distinctly like blood drops going from the door down the corridor. They got smaller, meaning they were leading away from Fiona and Fred’s suite. The way they looked, I think someone was injured and removed from that room. And Officers Kim and Reese weren’t going to do anything about it.”
“So the sooner the security guards go away—” Roxy said.
“—the sooner I can bypass the electric lock and get us in there,” Tom finished.
“You can do that?” I asked.
“I think so. One of the guys from work this summer is an ace locksmith and told me all about them, but I’ve never tried it before.”
Polly carefully opened the stairwell door a crack, said, “All clear,” and stepped into the corridor. When we were back in front of the Bristols’ room, Tom studied the lock for a moment and turned to me. “Could you lend me your Sheriff’s badge?”
I handed it to him, and from where I was standing it looked like all he did was touch the lock, say, “Abracadabra,” and the door opened.47
Little Life Lesson 43: If you find yourself in a room you’re not supposed to be in, via a means you’re not supposed to use, doing something you’re not supposed to be doing, remember to lock the door.
Putting on the safety chain might not be a bad idea either.