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Gertrude banged on the call bell, counted to one, and then hit it three more times.
Calvin put his hand over hers and forced her away from it. “That’s enough. We want to get their attention, not make them run and hide.”
A familiar face appeared behind the counter. “Good morning.” It was the first woman they’d talked to, the one who had rescued Jennesae from the mean movie star. She smiled at them, but it looked forced. “Can I help you?”
“Yes. We’re old friends now, and I don’t even know your name.”
Her smile faltered a little. “I’m Lalima.”
Gertrude blinked. She hadn’t been expecting that. She wanted to comment on the unique name, but she tried to stay focused. “Hi, Lalima. Again, I’m Gertrude. In case you forgot. And I’m here to tell you that you have a guest here who gave me a fake name.”
Lalima looked at Calvin and then back to Gertrude. She didn’t say anything.
“So?” Gertrude said expectantly.
“So?” Lalima repeated. “I’m sorry, but maybe she simply didn’t want to give you her real name? I mean, it’s not illegal to want privacy.” She looked mostly at Calvin while she spoke.
Gertrude snapped her fingers in front of her face. “Hey! Over here. I’m the PI. He’s just the assistant. Who lives in Room 213?”
Her eyes widened. “Why are you interested in that room?”
Gertrude narrowed her eyes. Was this woman daft? “I just told you. The woman staying there, a shifty character, won’t give me her real name.”
Lalima sighed. “Oh. Well, I’m not going to give you her name either. We honor our guests’ privacy.”
Gertrude banged on the old counter in frustration. She didn’t hit the call bell, but it dinged a little anyway.
Calvin stepped closer. “What is the significance of Room 213?”
“Oh, it’s ... it’s one where we see a lot of paranormal activity.”
Gertrude studied the woman. She actually seemed a little scared. “What did you see there?”
“Oh, nothing,” she hurried to say. Then she laughed nervously. “Nothing to worry about. I was just up there cleaning a few months ago, and I swore I heard someone whisper in my ear.” She paused. “I could feel his breath on my ear. It tickled a little.”
“Well, I’ll be. You’re not even lying.”
Lalima recoiled. “Of course I’m not lying!”
“What did he say?” Calvin asked.
“He told me the room looked good. I had just about finished cleaning it, and I stepped back to survey the room, you know, see if I missed anything, and he was just there, and he said, ‘It looks good.’”
“Huh,” Calvin said. “What a kind ghost.”
She grinned, and her shoulders relaxed. “Yes, yes, he is. We don’t have any unkind ghosts here. And I’m supposed to say that all the rooms are haunted, which I suppose they are, but that one, well, that’s the room where I encountered Seth himself, so I just didn’t know if you’d seen something, if that’s why you were asking about that room.”
“No. I was asking because you have a suspicious character living there.”
Lalima’s smile vanished. “Like I said, I can’t help you with that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.”
Gertrude pulled a feather out of her pocket and held it up to her. “Does this mean anything to you?”
Lalima looked at it briefly and then past it to Gertrude. “Should it?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I asked.” She could tell Lalima wasn’t interested, so she added, “I think it has something to do with the ghost of Bullock,” even though she was certain it did not.
Her ruse worked. The woman looked closely at the feather. “It does look familiar, oddly enough, but I don’t know why.” She looked at Gertrude again. “It’s a feather. I suppose all feathers would look familiar if I stared at them.” She gave Calvin a small smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Helplessly, Gertrude watched her walk away. “Well, that was a bust.”
“No it wasn’t. I thought we were here to investigate the Bullock ghost? And we learned that someone has experienced him in Room 213. Forget for a minute that a woman from this century lied about her name. I want to get into that room to look for Seth.”
“Fine.” Gertrude wanted to investigate all of it. She didn’t care what order they worked in.
“Fine,” he repeated. “But I’ve got to use the restroom first.” He pointed his chin at a slot machine. “Will you wait for me there?”
“Fine,” she said again, and went to the machine. But she quickly grew bored. The casino was empty this early in the morning, and there was nothing to look at. Her feet grew restless. She knew it would take her a while to get up the stairs, so she might as well get a head start.
As she reached the second-floor landing, Gertrude discreetly reached into her walker pouch and pulled out a bag of catnip. She didn’t know if ghost kitties liked the stuff, but it was worth a shot. “Here, kitty, kitty,” she said softly, and rolled some of the catnip between her fingertips. She sprinkled it onto the carpet and then backed up a foot and reached into the bag for another pinch. She knew catnip plus carpet was a bad combination, but she didn’t think a ghost kitty’s claws could do much damage. She dropped the second pinch and then reached into the bag again. “Here, kitty kitty, come see me, I want to help you.”
“Help her with what?” a voice said from behind.