Lifting the Lid(14)

‘She wouldn’t have hurt you, you know.’

‘Tuh.’

Trevor headed for the doorway. ‘Come on, Milly. Hurry up.’

Milly jumped down off the bed and took a step towards the two women. This time, both of them screamed as if they really were being savaged by a demented hound from hell.

Trevor was almost at the stairs when Milly came bounding up behind him, her tail held almost perpendicular and wagging like a hyperactive windscreen wiper.





CHAPTER TEN



With a full stomach and the prospect of being two grand richer in the next couple of days, Sandra Gray felt nothing but utter contentment as she strode out of the hotel dining room. When she reached the foyer, she saw there was a queue for the lift.

What the hell, she thought. It’s only two flights, and the exercise will help salve my conscience about the extra toast.

She made her way to the staircase and started to climb. Rounding the corner onto the first floor landing, she had little time to register the man who was hurtling down the stairs towards her. The collision was inevitable, and she almost went down under the force of the impact but managed to stay on her feet by grabbing hold of the handrail.

She pulled herself upright and realised that the guy seemed to have come off worse than she had. He’d dropped his canvas holdall and was supporting himself with one hand against the wall and the other clutched to his chest as he fought to catch his breath.

‘You all right?’ she said.

‘S… sorry… ‘bout that.’ He wheezed out the words between gulps of air.

If she hadn’t been feeling quite so pleased with herself, Sandra would probably have given him a good tongue-lashing, but instead she settled for: ‘That’s okay. No harm done.’

She waited for him to recover, not knowing what else to say until she spotted the black and tan mongrel gazing up at her and frenetically wagging its tail.

‘That your dog?’

‘Er, yes.’

‘I didn’t think you were supposed to—’

‘No, you’re not. But we’re leaving now anyway.’

‘Ah.’

His breathing seemed to have returned to normal, and he stooped to pick up his bag. ‘Look, I don’t want to be rude, but I’m in quite a hurry and I—’

‘Sure.’ Sandra smiled and stepped to one side to let him pass.

‘Sorry about…’

‘Don’t worry. No broken bones.’

‘Come on, Milly,’ he said and nodded a goodbye.

Sandra reciprocated and watched him scurry down the staircase with his dog and disappear from view into the foyer.

Nice enough, she thought as she began to climb the second flight of stairs, and not bad looking in a rabbit-in-the-headlights kind of way. The eyes were a bit on the boggly side, and the thick, mousey hair could have done with a trim, not to mention a comb, but other than that, not bad at all. Sexy? Five out of ten maybe, although, to be fair, the grey fleece jacket didn’t do him any favours, and the jeans were much too saggy to tell whether he had a decent arse on him. There was something odd about him though. Something… furtive. Perhaps it was just that he was in a hurry, or possibly it was her private detective mind being a little overactive.

By the time she reached her room, Sandra had all but forgotten him and was planning what she would need to do in the next few hours. She closed the door behind her and headed straight for the bathroom. Too much coffee always had this effect on her.

What the f—

The open-topped cistern and the pieces of broken porcelain on the floor stopped her in her tracks. A moment later, her heart almost stopped as well.

Oh Christ, no.

She dropped to her knees and rummaged frantically amongst the shattered remains of the cistern lid.

No, no, no. This can’t be happening.

Sandra’s bladder reminded her of her pressing need, and as she sat, she leaned forward and continued to sift through the broken porcelain. But it was no good. The bloody thing just wasn’t there.

Okay, girl, calm down. It can’t have vanished into thin air. It was here last night when you arrived, exactly where you’d been told it would be, and it was still here an hour ago when you went down to breakfast. So somebody must have taken it. Why though? And more importantly, who?

All right, think about who had access to the room, who had been in here last… Then she remembered passing a metal laundry cage in the corridor a few minutes earlier. Of course. The cleaners must have accidentally dropped the cistern lid and then spotted the envelope and put it somewhere else.

She scanned every surface in the bathroom as she got to her feet and rearranged her clothing. Not here.

She rushed into the bedroom and searched desperately but fruitlessly, all the while trying to suppress the rising panic in her chest.