‘Give the credit cards and the receipts to Charlie Flynn, Dave. He might be able to tell us if there’s anything interesting on the various accounts. And check out the number on this napkin.’
‘There’s this mobile on the bedside cabinet, guv.’ Dave picked up the phone with latex-gloved hands and scrolled through to the record of sent messages. ‘There’s nothing on it,’ he said. ‘I suspect it’s a pay-as-you-go throwaway job.’
‘Is there anything to say whether it’s Sharon’s?’ I asked. ‘There is a receipt dated yesterday in her handbag for a mobile purchased in Uxbridge. Oddly enough it was a cash purchase, but she paid for the other items with a card.’
‘Looks as though she didn’t want it to be traced,’ said Dave. ‘I’ll check it out, but I doubt I’ll be able to confirm it. It’s probably one that she used to arrange a meeting with her lover and wiped clean after she made the call. Either that or it hasn’t been used at all.’
‘It’s not the one we found at the airport, then?’
‘No, it’s not,’ said Dave, ‘but we’re fairly sure she didn’t go back there, so that one’s probably still in her locker. Which is why she had to buy another one.’
‘I suppose she might’ve used the hotel phone from this room.’
‘I’ll have a word with the receptionist,’ said Dave. ‘She’ll be able to tell me. Guests get billed for calls. Usually quite heavily.’
‘I know,’ I said, recalling the commander’s horror when he’d discovered the cost of the calls we’d made to London while in Bermuda on an enquiry a few years ago.
Dave and I returned to the ground floor to be met by Kate Ebdon.
‘I’ve spoken to Natalie Lester, the receptionist who was on duty at the desk yesterday afternoon and evening, guv.’ Kate indicated a smiling Eurasian girl who was dealing with a couple of casually-dressed middle-aged Americans. Half a dozen other people were vying impatiently for the girl’s attention. ‘She said that they were extremely busy during that time and she doesn’t recall anyone asking for the Gregory woman. She also said that a visitor could’ve asked any member of staff who happened to be helping out on reception. And she confirmed that no one was with Sharon when she checked in.’
‘That’s what I expected,’ I said.
‘But she pointed out that if a visitor knew which room Sharon was staying in, there’d be nothing to stop him or her going straight up,’ continued Kate. ‘There are so many guests milling about that they never know who’s who. Incidentally, she mentioned that Sharon Gregory had stayed here before. At least four or five times during the past year, and she always asked for a double room with a double bed.’
‘Did anybody see an agitated man leaving during the afternoon or early evening?’ I knew that it was a hopeless query, but sometimes a piece of vital evidence resulted.
‘You must be joking, guv.’ Kate laughed outright at such a preposterous idea. ‘There are always crowds of people in the hotel. And if any of yesterday’s guests saw anything, you can bet that they’re on the other side of the world by now. Most of the people who stay here are transiting airline passengers who book in for just the one night.’
‘Thanks, Kate. I’d guessed that the killer wouldn’t have made himself known to the receptionist. Judging by the saucy underwear in Sharon Gregory’s room, I think she knew the guy and had probably arranged to meet him here for a quick tumble. And told him the room number where he’d find her. What we don’t know is why it went so disastrously wrong.’
‘Of course, we’re assuming that it was lover boy who topped her,’ said Dave, injecting his customary valid scepticism into the discussion. ‘On the other hand, it might’ve been a passing floor waiter who happened to walk in and find Sharon prancing about in a thong.’
‘That’s in hand,’ said Kate. ‘I’ve got a team interviewing all the staff. And we’ll have to carry on tomorrow because not all yesterday’s people are on duty today.’
‘The receptionist confirmed that Sharon didn’t use the hotel phone, guv,’ said Dave, ‘but as I said earlier, she probably used the mobile we found and then deleted the call from the sent calls list.’
‘I wonder why?’ I asked, half to myself.
‘There again, her killer might’ve been a careful bastard and deleted the calls himself before taking off.’
‘Maybe,’ I said, ‘but why not take the damned phone with him? He could’ve chucked it in the river rather than leaving it here for us to find.’