The Girl Who Knew Too Much(24)
“Which brings you to me.”
“Yes, it does.” Oliver watched her with unreadable eyes. “I couldn’t help but overhear that last part of your conversation with Miss Picton. You have an appointment to meet with Tremayne at my hotel this afternoon.”
“Yes, I do. I’ve been invited to conduct an exclusive interview with Tremayne over tea in something called the Garden Room. Will you allow me on the grounds, Mr. Ward?”
“You’re welcome to do the interview in the Garden Room. But I wouldn’t be too hopeful of getting anything useful out of Tremayne, if I were you. He’ll do his best to charm you. I understand he has a real talent for that sort of thing.”
“I’m sure he’ll try to dazzle me, but I’m not naïve, Mr. Ward. I fully anticipate that Nick Tremayne will try to convince me that his former girlfriend’s death was nothing more than a tragic accident.”
Oliver nodded, satisfied. “A word of warning. He really is a very talented actor.”
“I know. I saw him in Fortune’s Rogue.”
“I see. Well, in that case, good luck with the interview.”
“So you will allow me into your hotel.”
“Yes, Miss Glasson. You are free to come and go at will. All I ask in return is that you keep me updated on whatever you learn.”
She thought about that for a few seconds and then nodded. “Fair enough, so long as you let me know whatever you find out about Gloria Maitland’s death.”
“Agreed.” Oliver looked amused. “Are you saying that you trust me, Miss Glasson?”
She smiled her reassuring reporter’s smile, the one Peggy had taught her. Peggy had called it the just-the-two-of-us-chatting smile.
“No more than you trust me, Mr. Ward,” she said. “However, as you pointed out last night, at the moment we do seem to share some similar interests.”
“One of which is the security of my hotel. This morning I went over events with the head of my security department. We retraced your steps. As a rule, the spa chamber is locked at night, but there was no sign of forced entry. I assume the side door was unlocked when you arrived?”
“Yes.”
“Who unlocked it for you?”
“I assumed Miss Maitland unlocked it. She chose the spa as the location for our meeting. She said it would be empty at that hour of the night. Would it have been difficult for her to get her hands on the key?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Oliver said. He sounded grim. “There are several keys to the spa because various departments have reason to go in at various times—housekeeping stocks the robes and towels, the maintenance people have a key, and several members of the spa staff have keys.”
“In other words, someone who wanted to borrow a key for a short time could probably figure out how to do it.”
“Yes.” Oliver hesitated briefly. “Something else has come up. My security people talked to the housekeeping staff.”
“Why?”
“The maids are one of the front lines when it comes to hotel security. No one ever notices them.”
“I see what you mean,” Irene said.
“One of the housekeepers witnessed what was evidently a very hot quarrel between Tremayne and Miss Maitland the day before Miss Maitland died. The maid didn’t catch all the details, but Tremayne appeared to be threatening Maitland.”
“Very interesting,” Irene said.
Oliver watched her intently for an endless moment.
“What?” she finally asked.
“There is one other possibility that should be considered.”
Irene did not move. “Are you about to suggest that I stole the key?”
“It did occur to me.”
“For what it’s worth, I didn’t take it.”
“For what it’s worth,” Oliver said, “I’m inclined to believe you.”
“Really? Why?”
“As far as I can tell, you had no motive to kill Gloria Maitland.”
“All I wanted from her was information.”
“As I said, I’m inclined to believe you.”
“Be still my beating heart.”
Oliver stretched out his bad leg and contemplated her with an unreadable expression. A shiver of knowing iced her nerves. He was waiting for her to make some small slip.
“I’m sure you’ve heard that Nick Tremayne has a fairly good alibi for last night,” she said. “Miss Picton told me he was at a nightclub here in Burning Cove.”
Oliver nodded. “The Paradise Club.”
“You checked?”
“Last night, after you left.”
“Miss Picton said that Tremayne spent the evening there and that several people saw him.”