Read Online Murder With Reservations by Elaine Viets - Free Book Online

talk.”
    Peggy giggled and ran toward her apartment.
    “I’d better say good night, too,” Helen said.
    “Don’t worry about Rob,” Margery said. “I’m a light sleeper. He can’t go sneaking past me.”
    Helen heard Peggy’s door slam again and watched her friend run lightly across the lawn, the full silk sleeves of her blouse fluttering like butterfly wings. Where did Peggy get the courage to date again, after her last man betrayed her with a stripper? She seemed happy, hopeful and touchingly brave.
    Helen walked to her own apartment, and bolted the door against the man she’d once loved.
     

 

    T he next morning Helen sneaked into the hotel while her ex was in bed. Years ago, she’d dreamed of slipping up some sleazy back stairs and having an affair with her own husband. She’d wanted hot honeymoon sex, with the headboard thumping against the wall.
    Then she found out Rob was already having hot sex, just not with her. Now she was sneaking into a hotel, hoping to avoid her ex-husband so she could rendezvous with a dust rag.
    Helen’s plans had never included hiding behind a smelly Dumpster. But Denise told her to be at the back door by the Dumpsters at eight thirty. The big rusty green containers were hidden by a stockade fence, but it couldn’t hold in the powerful stink of sun-roasted garbage. Guests never used this door unless they were up to no good.
    Denise was waiting at the entrance. “Hurry,” she whispered, though there was no need to lower her voice. “Your ex is still in his room.” Helen could swear the head housekeeper was enjoying this covert operation.
    As she sidled past the Dumpsters, Helen caught some odd top notes to the garbage bouquet. “What’s that perfumey smell?” she said. It was somewhere between her grandmother’s dusting powder and a flowery room deodorizer.
    “It’s the latest thing—trash perfume,” Denise said, leading the way up the stairs. “All the big hotels and high-class condos use it. You put this perfume on the trash and it doesn’t smell so bad. Keeps the kids away, too. Some boys were playing in the Dumpsters, but they won’t get near our trash if they come out smelling like girlie perfume.”
    Hmm. The Full Moon’s owner enjoyed sneaking up on the little buggers in the Dumpsters and scaring them to death. And the rank garbage didn’t bother the guests. Most never even knew about this door. Sybil certainly wasn’t sensitive to odors. Her office reeked of refrigerated smoke.
    “Are you sure there isn’t another reason?” Helen asked.
    Denise stopped on the second floor to mop her forehead with her perpetual wad of tissues. Helen could see the big woman’s sides were heaving and her face was red. Climbing three flights was not easy for her, and she welcomed a chance to rest.
    “Sybil thought she could cut back on trash pickup one day a week if she doused the Dumpsters with perfume,” Denise said. “It’s not supposed to be used that way, but Sybil is always looking for a way to save money.”
    “Now, that makes sense,” Helen said. She thought honest trash smelled better. She’d caught an unpleasant whiff of decay under the perfume. But she didn’t say anything. Denise seemed proud of this pungent cost-cutting innovation.
    “We had a stroke of luck this morning,” Denise said. “A new cleaner showed up at eight o’clock. That’s a minor miracle right there, someone in South Florida looking for work so early in the morning. He saw our ad in the paper. Sybil and I had him clean room 112. He did a good job. We hired him on the spot.”
    “He?” Helen said. “Rhonda’s replacement is a man?”
    “A cute one, too,” Denise said.
    “Cute?” Helen said. Sister Mary Justine never said cute. Denise no longer looked like the stern nun. She was smiling like a love-struck teen. “How old is this guy?”
    “He’s twenty-four,” Denise said. “They were very good years.”
    “Why is a guy that age cleaning rooms?” Helen said.